Mount Bonnell

Mount Bonnell rises about 775 feet above sea level on the east bank of the Colorado River, now Lake Austin, in western Austin. Native peoples used the height long before any written record. The first known written mention comes from George W. Bonnell, a journalist who rode out in 1838 with Edward Burleson and the editor Simon Mussina. His Topographical Description of Texas, published in April 1840, gave the peak its name, claimed a precipice of seven hundred feet down to the water and called the view one of the grandest and loveliest in nature.

It has been a place for outings ever since. After the Civil War, George Armstrong Custer, posted in Austin, picnicked on the summit with his wife Libbie. They found it too steep for a cavalry horse and climbed on foot, while the regimental band played below. Local lore said a couple who came once would fall in love, came twice would be engaged and came three times would marry; Lieutenant Thomas Tolman and Corinne Barret became engaged here on Christmas Eve 1866, as their son told it in 1924. James Michener later lived on the mountain while writing Texas.

In 1939 the sons of Frank M. Covert Sr. deeded the top to Travis County as Covert Park, and about 100 limestone steps were laid to the crest, with stone tables and pylons along the overlook. The city took the five-acre park in 1972, and in 2006 it became part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Houses cover the slopes below, so stay on the park paths.