By Phyllis Domingo, REALTOR® · San Antonio Relocation Specialist · 5 min read The Cibolo Nature Center has welcomed visitors free of charge since Earth Day 1990, protecting more than 160 acres and six miles of trails along Cibolo Creek, about a mile from downtown Boerne. Here is what to know before you go.
The headline numbers
The Cibolo Nature Center sits at 140 City Park Road in Boerne, about a mile from downtown, and has been open to the public free of charge since Earth Day 1990, per The Cibolo. The nonprofit Cibolo Center for Conservation now protects more than 160 acres of Hill Country across the Nature Center and Herff Farm, with more than six miles of trails, and the whole place is open daily from dawn to dusk.
The original 100 acres opened in 1990, and the 2007 purchase of neighboring Herff Farm expanded the organization into what it is today. However you count it, a morning here is one of the best free things to do in Boerne.
The creek is the star
The trails wind through four distinct ecosystems: tall-grass prairie, a spring-fed reclaimed marsh, upland woods, and the Cibolo Creek corridor. Locals wade in the creek and walk its banks in the warm months, which is exactly the kind of easy, no-reservation Hill Country day that families remember.
Bring water shoes if the kids want to get in the creek, and mosquito repellent in the warm months. The marsh and creek hold water year-round, so the green they feed stays emerald even in dry summers.
More than trails: the education side
The Cibolo runs the Nest Nature School, a nature-based preschool and kindergarten at Herff Farm, plus school and youth programs, community gardens, and a weekly farmers market on the Herff Farm campus, per The Cibolo's education pages. A community amphitheater at Herff Farm hosts events through the year.
Pair it with a Boerne day
The Nature Center is a short drive from Boerne's Hill Country Mile, which makes a painfully easy two-part Saturday: creek in the morning, main street after lunch. If the kids still have energy afterward, Boerne City Lake is close by with disc golf, a fishing pier, and swimming.
The honest fine print
Admission is free and the trails need no ticket or reservation, but programs, camps, and special events do charge and require registration. Check the event calendar before you plan a program day, and expect the parking lot to fill early on pretty spring and fall weekends.
Moving near green space
When relocating families tell me they want trail time and creek access nearby, I point them at Boerne and the Hill Country towns on its edge. If you would like the neighborhood-by-neighborhood version, call or text me at 210-744-5478, or use the contact page. No pressure, just a local who grew up taking trails like these for granted.
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Sources
The numbers in this post were checked against these sources on October 1, 2026.
