Nolan Creek is downtown Belton's little tube-and-kayak run

Nolan Creek runs right through the middle of Belton, and the city has treated it as more than a drainage channel. In 2015, limestone drops were built into several stretches between Harris Park and what is now Liberty Park, smoothing the water and giving people safer spots to kayak, tube, or fish. A put-in for tubes and kayaks went in near the Martin Luther King Jr. bridge in 2016.

You will find parking at the Nolan Creek Nature Trail by the bridge and at Liberty Park, so it is easy to make a short afternoon of it close to the courthouse square. This is also why downtown Belton feels tied to water in a way you might not expect from the highway.

One caution: parts of Nolan Creek can carry elevated bacteria after rain, so the city points to clearer, normal flow as the better time to get in. Check the City of Belton's Nolan Creek page for current conditions before you wade or launch.