Johnson Settlement Trail
in Texas · centroid 40 mi from Austin
The sidewalk ahead leads to the Johnson Settlement. From the visitor center, this trail is approximately one mile (1.6 km) in distance and can be walked as a loop. Before there was a town of Johnson City, this central area of Blanco County was simply known as the "Johnson Ranch." It was from here that the president's grandfather and great-uncle drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail in the late 1860s to the railheads in Kansas.
Visitors today can experience some of the historic landscape in the restored prairie. Early pioneer heritage is also evident with original structures of the post-Civil War era (1867-1880s) from the Johnsons and subsequent owners, the Bruckners.
- States
- Texas
- Trail type
- National Historical Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Austin, TX · 40 mi · ~1.2 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 30.2748°, -98.4108°
About Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park
This trail is inside Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park, a national historical park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/000/johnson-settlement-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/lyjo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Johnson Settlement Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.