Bear Creek is a tributary of Onion Creek and I get to drive across it every day. I always look over the bridge or down the side of the road to see how it’s running. I guess I do that with all the creeks I drive by.

I knew that it would be flowing well today, but I wondered how accessible it would be. It turned out to be pretty easy to get to. I parked my car by the side of the road and hiked down.

Bear Creek flows for about 16 miles through Hays County and enters Onion Creek about a mile into Travis County. It’s intermittent, but right now it’s running nice and full. This spot is near the Hays / Travis boundary and the creek is surrounded by neighborhoods.

The water here is quite deep, about 6 feet. You can see the rocky limestone on the eastern bank. The bank is about 5 feet tall, so the water may be even deeper when the creek is really running.

Bear Creek

Here’s a view to the opposite or western bank from where I was standing. Here the limestone bank is not as tall. There’s surprisingly little debris or trash in the water and it’s very clear.

Bear Creek

Near the creek, I spotted many patches of bluebonnets. The plants are best known by their blue flowers in the spring, but I think the tiny winter plants are quite pretty.

Winter Bluebonnet