San Marcos Webcam, Hays County, Texas

The San Marcos Webcam is a City of San Marcos traffic camera at the corner of Sessom Drive and Comanche Street, on the north side of the Texas State University campus in Hays County, Texas. It looks across a wide signalized intersection striped with crosswalks and green bike-lane markings, toward a low stone entrance wall carrying the Texas State name in front of a brick building on the far corner. Signal heads hang from a mast arm on the right, and the road curves away past more signals into the distance. This is a working traffic camera rather than a scenic view, so what it shows is the daily rhythm of a college town: cars, cyclists and people on foot, a flow that typically swells around class changes. Three more city cameras sit in the player tabs.

About San Marcos

San Marcos is the Hays County seat, a city of 67,553 people at the 2020 census that sits at about 175 meters (574 feet) on Interstate 35, roughly 48 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Austin and 82 kilometers (51 miles) northeast of San Antonio. The town center was laid out in 1851, and the Hays County Historic Courthouse, built in 1908, still anchors a downtown of bars, restaurants, boutiques and music venues about 1 kilometer (0.7 miles) southeast of this corner.

Texas State University was founded here on May 10, 1899, as Southwest Texas State Normal School and has carried its current name since 2013. Lyndon B. Johnson studied on campus from 1926 to 1930 and came back on November 8, 1965, to sign the Higher Education Act at his alma mater. Old Main, built in 1903 as the first building, crowns the highest hill of a 209 hectare (517 acre) main campus. The Sessom and Comanche corner is one of its northern gateways, a short walk from Chautauqua and Gaillardia halls, the Student Health Center and the Roy F. Mitte building.

The city grew up around the San Marcos Springs, the third-largest collection of springs in Texas. They rise from the Edwards Aquifer into Spring Lake and spill over a dam to become the San Marcos River, which has never run dry in recorded history and supports threatened species such as the Texas blind salamander and the fountain darter. The old Aquarena Springs park on the lake, remembered for its mermaid shows, was bought by the university in 1994 and is now the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, about 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) east of the camera.

The San Marcos Webcam tabs fill in the rest of town. Aquarena Springs Drive at Charles Austin Drive looks past a Texas State wayfinding sign pointing to Alkek Library and the LBJ Student Center, with maroon university buses passing. Hopkins Street at LBJ Drive is a downtown corner a block from the courthouse, and Hopkins Street at Moore Street sits about 600 meters (0.4 miles) west under a web of overhead wires. All of them belong to SMTX/Go, the traveler information map run by San Marcos Public Works, which lists 23 camera locations.

Weather and Climate in San Marcos

Summers are long and hot. July averages a high of 35 C (96 F) and a low of 23 C (73 F), and the pavement bakes through most afternoons. Winters are mild by comparison: January averages 17 C (62 F) by day and 4 C (39 F) at night. Spring and fall sit between the two.

About 928 millimeters (36.6 inches) of rain falls in a typical year. When a storm moves through, the San Marcos Webcam can show the intersection as a sheet of reflections, with headlights on at midday and water beading on the lens. The view follows the academic calendar as much as the seasons: foot and bus traffic at the campus corners usually peaks during the fall and spring semesters and thins out in summer.

Things to Do Near San Marcos

Spring Lake is the obvious first stop. The Meadows Center runs 30-minute glass-bottom boat tours, one of only two spring-fed glass-bottom boat attractions in the United States, where you look straight down at the spring outlets pushing clear water up through the lake bed. It also has a Wetlands Boardwalk, Discovery Hall with its aquaria, and paddling and snorkel tours by reservation. On campus, Old Main is worth the climb, and Sewell Park, a 2.4 hectare (6 acre) green on the riverbank with swimming steps and kayak and paddleboard rentals, is open to Texas State students, alumni and their guests.

The river is the town’s summer playground. Rio Vista Park, a city park on the water, has tubing, kayaking, a public swimming pool and hike and bike trails, and the float from Sewell Park down to Rio Vista takes about an hour. Lions Club Tube Rental runs floats through the middle of town, and the water stays near 22 C (72 F) all year. Back on dry land, the courthouse square downtown is the place to eat and hear live music, Wonder World has drawn cave visitors since the 1960s, and the city’s outlet malls pull in about 14 million shoppers a year.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more Texas towns and campus cameras, try these next:

• Kyle Webcam
• San Angelo Webcam
• University of Arizona Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is San Marcos located?

San Marcos is in Hays County, Texas, on Interstate 35 about 48 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Austin and 82 kilometers (51 miles) northeast of San Antonio. This camera stands at Sessom Drive and Comanche Street, on the north side of the Texas State University campus.

What can you see on the San Marcos Webcam?

A signalized intersection with crosswalks and green bike-lane markings, the Texas State University entrance wall in front of a brick building on the far corner, and traffic signals on a mast arm to the right. The tabs add a second campus gateway and two Hopkins Street corners.

What is the weather like in San Marcos?

Hot summers and mild winters. July averages 35 C (96 F) by day, January 17 C (62 F) by day and 4 C (39 F) at night, and about 928 millimeters (36.6 inches) of rain falls in an average year.

Who runs the San Marcos traffic cameras?

The City of San Marcos. The feeds are part of SMTX/Go, the city’s real-time traveler information map run by Public Works, which lists 23 camera locations and links each one to a live YouTube stream.

Is the camera on the Texas State University campus?

It sits at a campus gateway. The stone wall on the far corner carries the Texas State University name, and Chautauqua and Gaillardia halls, the Student Health Center and the Roy F. Mitte building are a short walk away. Old Main and Sewell Park are farther into campus.

Can you go tubing on the San Marcos River?

Yes. Rio Vista Park is the main public spot for tubing, kayaking and swimming, and Lions Club Tube Rental floats through the center of town. The spring-fed water stays near 22 C (72 F) all year.

Source: City of San Marcos SMTX/Go