Business Hours
ClosedMonday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
1706 City Park Rd, Austin, TX 78730, USA Get directions
Emma Long Metropolitan Park is one of Austin's oldest city parks, stretching along the shore of Lake Austin in the Hill Country northwest of downtown, and Picnic Areas A and B sit close to the water with shade trees, tables, and easy lake access. Arrive early on warm weekends, since the park has a vehicle entry fee and tends to fill up once the swimming and boat-launch crowds arrive.
Monday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Austin
Barton Springs Pool is a three-acre spring-fed swimming hole in Zilker Park, where water bubbles up from the Edwards Aquifer to hold a steady 68–70°F year-round, cold enough to take your breath in summer and oddly tolerable in winter. Watch for the Barton Springs salamander, an endangered species found nowhere else, which is part of why the limestone-lined pool is managed as carefully as it is.
Austin
Zilker Metropolitan Park sprawls across more than 300 acres along the Colorado River just southwest of downtown Austin, and it's the gateway to Barton Springs Pool, a spring-fed swimming hole that hovers around 68 degrees year-round. You'll find people picnicking on the Great Lawn, paddling Lady Bird Lake, and walking the trails here, and it's also home to the Zilker Botanical Garden and the annual Austin City Limits festival.
Austin
McKinney Falls sits where Onion Creek spills over wide limestone ledges on the southeast edge of Austin, forming the upper and lower falls that give the park its name and its swimming holes. Beyond the water, you'll find hike-and-bike trails through Hill Country woods, the ruins of an early stone homestead, and a bald cypress estimated to be centuries old—all within about a 15-minute drive of downtown.
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