San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk, Paseo del Río, follows the San Antonio River through downtown San Antonio, Texas, one storey below street level. Its core downtown loop is often linked with extensions that now run about 24 kilometres in total, north to the Pearl district and south to the Spanish colonial missions.

After a deadly flood in 1921, there were plans to cover the river in the city centre. The architect Robert Hugman proposed instead to turn the river bend into a landscaped walkway with shops and restaurants. Construction began in 1939 with funding from the Works Progress Administration. The River Walk grew in popularity after the 1968 HemisFair world's fair, and the Museum Reach opened in 2009, followed by the Mission Reach in 2011.

The downtown section is lined with cypress trees, stone bridges and stairways, and the cafés, bars and hotels have terraces along the water. River barges run narrated cruises, and the Arneson River Theatre has seating on terraced steps facing a stage across the river. The Alamo is a few blocks away, and the Mission Reach connects to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The holiday season opens with a river parade after Thanksgiving, and in December the Museum Reach is lit with thousands of lights.

Walking the River Walk is free and it is open at all times. River cruises, run by a licensed operator, need a ticket. Some sections have stairs only, so check accessible ramps on the city map.

The 1921 flood that started it all killed 51 people and left 23 missing. Work on the Olmos Dam and a bypass channel began in 1926 to keep floodwater out of the downtown bend, and that control of the water level is what made a walkway at river height possible. The WPA work from 1939 laid about 17,000 feet of paths, some twenty bridges and extensive planting.

The 1968 extension carried the river to the new convention centre, and the Hilton Palacio del Rio opened beside it the same year. Barge cruises have been run since 2017 by GO RIO San Antonio under a city contract, with tickets sold online and at ticket stations along the water.