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Thumper

Type: Trail

Length: 8.00 Miles

Elevation Gain: N/A

Cost: Free

Rating:

(3.33)3

Difficulty: 3stars

(3.33)

Solitude:

(4.00)

ADA Accessible: No

Bikes Allowed: Yes

Dogs Allowed: N/A

Interpretive Guide: N/A

City: Austin

County: Travis

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Map

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Photos

Most of the trail is under the cover of trees, but there are a few clearings such as this one. (Photo by heatharcadia)

I just liked how the moss on this tree look. (Photo by heatharcadia)

I passed over many of these dry creek grottoes on my hike. (Or maybe I passed over the same couple several time; I'm not sure!) (Photo by heatharcadia)

This was an unexpected find as I came into a clearing! (Photo by heatharcadia)

At the second creek crossing I came to (Photo by heatharcadia)

At the first creek crossing I came to (Photo by heatharcadia)

What does it all mean? (Photo by heatharcadia)

Log Entries

Tons of twisty, windy paths to choose from!
By heatharcadia on 1/30/2016
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.31 Miles Duration: 2 hours, 5 minutes

I ended up here because I was originally going to hike at St. Edwards Park but on a nice day such as this it was packed and I wanted more solitude.

Wow, there are so many paths to follow here! Many were quite steep and made more difficult by the fallen leaves (made it hard to get/find good footholds). The odd part was I could often see another trail and would think "Okay, after this bend I'll be on THAT part of the trail," but then the trail I was on would take another turn and I'd never made it to the trail I saw (or if I eventually did it would be a lot later in my hike).

I made it down to the creek and crossed it, hiked on the other side of the creek, and then crossed it again. Both crossings had rocks in the creek so my feet didn't get wet at all.

I saw only a handful of others while I was on the trail. One trail runner, one other hiker, and two mountain bikers are all who passed me (I saw two or three other bikers on different paths, but our trails never crossed).

I had to knock some points from how enjoyable this was only because I got frustrated and couldn't find my way out easily. There were signs on trees and arrows pointing every which way, but I couldn't make sense of it at all. Every so often I'd pass a map tacked to a tree but there was nothing on the map indicating where exactly I was. At one point I was certain I was heading in the direction of where I parked my car-- certainly not on a trail I had been on-- when I passed the same tree where someone had hung a water bottle that I had passed fifteen minutes early, only going in a different direction. I have no idea how I managed to loop around and get back on that section of the trail, only heading in a different direction.

I'm plan to come back to this place with more water so I can stay out on the trails longer.

Very windy
By texaskdog on 6/15/2013
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 2.81 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes

The Dominion Neighborhood Association created this trail, which I found on a mountain biking site, trails.com which calls it Thumper (though we didn't see anyone on the trail at all save for a few deer). Park on Yaupon by the rock near the pool. Begin descending the rocky trail slightly and then head to the left, and you'll see an arrow pointing left into the woods. This trail was seemingly built to cover every square inch of this wooded area, we passed the same picnic bench 4 different times on different parts of the trail, and you'll see a few signs naming parts of the trail. Periodically you'll see maps though they don't tell you where you are. We got down to the creek and lost the trail but got back to the entrance fairly easily, but be prepared to not find easy exits of this trail. It's much like walnut creek for the amount of trails and dry smelly creeks. I think the HOA built such a long trail that no one bothers to hike it, nice if you want a long hike close to town. I took a bunch of pictures but the site is not letting me upload them, sorry!

By texaskdog on 6/8/2013
Rating:

Difficulty:

Solitude:

Distance: 3.00 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Our first visit, last week. We went down the gravel hill and as much as we missed the actual trail, enjoyed this hike. We went to the bottom of the hill and then took the 2nd left, and took that loop around. Very different trail from the marked HOA trail.

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