Pinta Trail (Texas)

The Pinta Trail is an historic trail in Central Texas that was first traveled by indigenous tribes, and later explorers, settlers, soldiers, and travelers. The 19th-century Germans who settled the Texas Hill Country used part of the Pinta Trail on their journey northward from New Braunfels to found Fredericksburg. An historic battle between a Texas Rangers patrol and a band of Comanches is often said to have occurred near a ford where the Pinta Trail crossed the Guadalupe River.

The Pinta Trail began in San Antonio and proceeded through the Texas Hill Country, crossing the Guadalupe River near Sisterdale and fording the Pedernales River east of Fredericksburg. From there its route is not certain, but it appears to have continued north to the Llano River along a route shown on an 1847 survey map drawn by James P. Hudson.

Historic maps and original Texas land surveys establish that north of San Antonio the trail traversed the Balcones Escarpment through a canyon that is now the route of the Northwest Military Highway. From there, the trail passed Comanche Spring before crossing Cibolo Creek at Post Oak Creek, below Balcones Creek. The trail proceeded northwest to the Guadalaupe River near Sisterdale, crossing Spring Creek, Sabinas Creek, and Wasp Creek on the way. After fording the Guadalupe, the trail followed West Sister Creek to Jung Creek, then followed that stream to its headwaters before crowning a ridge and dropping into the Grape Creek drainage, then fording the Pedernales River about 4.5 miles east of today’s downtown Fredericksburg.

The Pinta Trail makes its first appearance in the journals of Nicolás Lafora and the Marqués de Rubí chronicling a 1767 inspection of Spanish frontier presidios. Leaving the Presidio San Saba, their expedition followed the San Saba Road (which was to the west of the Pinta Trail and was known to German immigrants as the Camino Viejo) until the road reached the Guadalupe River. There, they followed the river until they came to the Pinta Trail ford near today’s Sisterdale, where they picked up the Pinta Trail and followed it to San Antonio. Neither Lafora nor Rubí (nor any other Spanish writer) gave a name to the trail, but geographical landmarks mentioned in Lafora’s journal mark the route clearly.

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