McKinney Falls State Park is an oasis on the outskirts of Austin, featuring wildlife, hiking trails, and--the main attraction--a series of limestone ledges and pools over which Onion Creek flows. One particular site within the park along Onion Creek served as a key crossing point along El Camino Real de los Tejas. The park is named for Thomas F. McKinney who came to Texas in the early 1820s as one of Stephen F. Austin's first 300 colonists. Sometime between 1850 and 1852, McKinney moved to Travis County and to his property on Onion Creek, where he built a large two-story home, stone fences, and the first flour mill in the area.

Information on Thomas F. McKinney and the history of the park's land use is interpreted in the Smith Visitor Center.