At the bend in Cliffside Drive, near 128 and 200 Cliffside, the ground falls about 20 feet to the Salado Creek Greenway. The city puts the top at an elevation of 914 feet and the bottom at 894. Until now, the way down has been what the City of Shavano Park calls a "rough-hewn path." The city scheduled construction of its replacement to begin November 6, and the new trail is expected to be finished the second week of December.
Almost every choice in the design points the same way. This is a small entry built for the people who live around it. It is six feet wide, fenced and gated, and the city's stated preference is to limit it to Shavano Park residents. Revenue from the signs along Loop 1604 is paying for it.
What Is Going In Below Cliffside
According to the City of Shavano Park's project page, the finished connector will be:
- A 400-foot concrete nature trail, six feet wide
- Colored light brown so it blends with the forest floor
- Finished with a brush and rock-salt texture for grip in wet weather
- Built by Abelar, Inc., the company that built 12 miles of the Salado Creek Greenway itself
The chosen route has an average slope of 5 to 6 percent, with one short stretch near Cliffside at 11 to 12 percent. It avoids drainage conflicts and keeps a 30-foot buffer from nearby homes. The city says engineering found that this route meets ADA accessibility without switchbacks or extra safety rails. For a 20-foot drop over 400 feet, that means a path most people can walk down without trouble.
The contract specifications use the U.S. Forest Service Trail Accessibility Guidelines as a reference. These are best-practice standards for making trails accessible while keeping their natural character.
Six Feet Wide Was a Vote
The width was not left to engineers. In October 2025, the City Council asked the Planning & Zoning Commission to review the Cliffside entry point, gave it $25,000 for engineering and drawings, and asked it to involve residents. The commission formed a subcommittee whose members came from the Estates, Cliffside Road, Bent Oak and Shavano Creek. In December it chose eight residents for a Citizens Advisory Panel from 19 applicants. Panel members came from Cliffside, Painted Post, Wagon Trail, Happy Trail, Binham Heights and Bikeway. The group met on January 20 and March 4 and walked the trail together on February 25.
At a town hall on March 18, 2026, 62 attendees looked at three designs:
- Option A: a 10-foot concrete trail
- Option B: a 6-foot concrete trail
- Option C: a 6-foot nature trail of loose gravel
The city's explanation shows what the difference means. The Salado Creek Greenway is 10 feet wide and counts as a "shared-use path," wide enough for cyclists and walkers to pass each other safely. A 6-foot trail is about as wide as most sidewalks along roads. Option A would have extended the greenway's own width up to Cliffside. Option B makes the connector a neighborhood sidewalk that ends at the greenway.
Option B got the most support, at 54.76 percent. On April 1, the commission voted unanimously to finish its report and send it to the City Council, recommending Option B at $170,000, including the gate and fence. The commission called it a cost-effective middle choice between the more expensive Option A and the higher-maintenance gravel of Option C. The town hall survey results are posted on the city's site.
The Gate Is Part of the Plan
All three options came with a fence and gate, and all three carried a stated preference for limiting access to Shavano Park residents. The proposal calls for a 300-foot wrought-iron fence from the corner of 128 Cliffside to the point where the cliff becomes impassable. Power is already within 90 feet of the planned gate, which allows for built-in access controls.
City staff describe the purpose as twofold. The trail gives residents and cyclists across the city an outdoor amenity, and the fence and gate control access and improve security for the nearby neighborhood.
Resident-only access is still a preference, and the details are still to come. The staff summary in the October 26 City Council packet says that fencing along Cliffside Road, the controlled gate, electrical service to the gate and landscaping were not part of the construction contract and "will be considered at a later date." The city's construction notice says the fence is planned for early December, as the concrete work finishes.
Paid For by the Signs Along Loop 1604
The money behind the trail is unusual. The City Council funded it in the FY2027 budget with Loop 1604 sign-lease revenue held in the city's Community Enhancement and Engagement Fund. The budget set aside $170,000 for Cliffside Trail improvements, and building the trail and gated access is one of the council's goals for FY27.
The trail itself costs much less than that. The city issued a request for proposals in late September. Twenty-one companies attended the required pre-bid meetings, and 13 submitted bids by October 16. The October 26 council packet proposed an $85,000 contract with Abelar for the concrete trail. The council awarded it that night. That leaves the rest of the $170,000 budget for the fence, gate, power and landscaping.
The trail has its own source of money. The city's bigger infrastructure item this fall was a Phase II street reconstruction and drainage plan, with an estimated total cost of $4,242,051 and expected financing of $4 million to $5 million. The Cliffside trail does not depend on that work.
Five Weeks of Work on Cliffside
The city's posted schedule covers about five weeks of construction, and its first two steps were set for early and mid-November:
- November 6: erosion control and tree protection
- Week of November 9–13: excavation and rock milling
- Early December: fence construction as the concrete trail wraps up
- Second week of December: expected completion
Cliffside Road is not expected to close at any point. The city does expect traffic disruptions near the bend around 128 and 200 Cliffside, and it advises against using the existing rough path while work is underway. For project updates, the city suggests texting COSP EVENTS to 91896.
Where the Greenway Goes From the Bottom of the Hill
The connector is only 400 feet long, but it leads to a large trail network. The City of San Antonio's Salado Creek Greenway page describes the North segment as running from Loop 1604 to Rittiman Road. It is built of asphalt and concrete and passes large pecan and live oak trees, cliff faces and natural limestone. The city's 2025 greenway trail map counts more than 20 miles of paved multi-use trail on the North Salado system.
Until the Cliffside gate opens, the city's listed trailheads are the closest public ways onto the North segment:
- Loop 1604 Trailhead, 3104 N. Loop 1604 W.
- Eisenhower Park, 19399 NW Military Hwy.
- Phil Hardberger Park East Trailhead, 13203 Blanco Rd.
- Voelcker Homestead Trailhead, 1021 Voelcker Ln.
- Walker Ranch Park Trailhead, 12603 West Ave.
The 2025 map lists Eisenhower Park, the Loop 1604 Trailhead and Hardberger Park among the trailheads with parking. The paved stretch from Loop 1604 north to Eisenhower Park is about four miles, according to a San Antonio Report trail column.
Heading south, the greenway has a known gap. The San Antonio Report reported in June 2026 that a 3.7-mile break between John James Park and Jack White Park divides the north and south sides of the system. A planned 10-foot trail across Fort Sam Houston would close it. Construction is expected to start in summer 2027 and finish in fall 2028, as part of a $1.3 million project that also covers trailhead amenities, safety beacons, signage and striping. Once that connection is built, the path that starts at Cliffside will join a continuous trail that extends well past the North Side.
Jennifer Santrock follows changes like the Cliffside trail because they shape everyday life on Shavano Park's streets. If you'd like to talk about how the greenway connection fits into life in Shavano Park or a move nearby, Jennifer Santrock can help. Request your free relocation kit to get started.
