Austin's Colony Colorado River Park
Managed by Austin's Colony Rivercreek HOA
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Hornsby Bend
Hornsby Bend has 6.7 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
90% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 33 acres are parks and preserves, 2.7 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #303 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
30 acres · of 9.4 sq mi of land
Trails
6.7 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
2.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
90%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
2.3 mi lanes · 1.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Hornsby Bend?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Hornsby Bend have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Hornsby Bend is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #303 of 642 in Texas. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Hornsby Bend’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (7 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home90% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 53%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Hornsby Bend’s 1% is ahead of 25% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 82% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Austin's Colony Colorado River Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Austin's Colony Neighborhood Park
Managed by Austin Parks and Recreation Department
10 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Elm Creek Park
Managed by Austin's Colony Rivercreek HOA
9 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Charlie Dobbins Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
30 conserved acres
1% of Hornsby Bend’s land. Who manages Hornsby Bend’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners42 ac
Town or city9 ac
Joint9 ac
Local Park · 30 acConservation Easement · 30 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin's Colony Elm Creek Park Local Park | Private owners | 13 | Open |
| Austin's Colony Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Austin's Colony Park Local Park | Private owners | 8 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Hornsby Bend
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Hornsby Bend
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Tennis
3Basketball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Hornsby Bend
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 63 | 67 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 93 | 96 | 98 | 91 | 83 | 72 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 2.9 |
July is the driest month (2.0 in) and August the warmest (highs of 98 °F). 4.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 98 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Hornsby Bend →
Next door
Hornsby Bend and its neighbors
Hornsby Bend has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornsby Bend | 1% | 0.7 | 3 | 90% | C+ |
| Garfield | 1% | 0.3 | 46 | under 1% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Hornsby Bend
Where can I hike in Hornsby Bend?
The longest trail networks: Austin's Colony Colorado River Park, 0.2 miles; Austin's Colony Neighborhood Park, 0.2 miles; Elm Creek Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Hornsby Bend is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Texas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Hornsby Bend’s trails?
Austin's Colony Colorado River Park and Austin's Colony Neighborhood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Hornsby Bend?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of painted or protected lanes and 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Hornsby Bend?
10,688 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Hornsby Bend or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 45 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Hornsby Bend have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #303 of 642 in Texas. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Hornsby Bend neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →