Crystal Creek Greenbelt

By Mary Van Zant, SMGA Conservation Chair

You have probably never heard of Crystal Creek in San Marcos, unless you are friends with the Lochman brothers. They grew up in a house near the Southern end of Craddock Street, and as children they would wander down to the creek bed and find beautiful crystals. They would load up their Red Flyer wagon and bring them to sell for nickels and dimes. Eventually, their childhood geologic oasis was covered up with fill dirt during the construction of a subdivision on either side of the waterway. As adults, they created the Crystal Creek Boys, a bluegrass/Americana band, named in memorial for their creek. You may have caught this band playing at last year's Naturescape Photography Contest.

The creek, a tributary to Purgatory, has five existing parks along it. San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance envisions creating interconnected parks along waterways – land that cannot be built upon due to the dangers of flash flooding. These long corridors of greenspace are perfect for hike and bike traffic, wildlife habitat and watershed protection – features that improve the economic value of surrounding land, the natural integrity, and the quality of life in San Marcos. So SMGA is putting Crystal Creek on its maps, and working towards a vision of a Crystal Creek Greenbelt.