Budget · 3-hour walk · Austin
The Capitol to the bats in three hours
The state house and its grounds, the music strip, and a million and a half bats leaving a bridge at dusk.
Austin's downtown is a small grid between the Capitol and the river and it walks easily. Time the whole route backwards from sunset: from March to October, around a million and a half Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from under the Congress Avenue bridge at dusk, which is the largest urban bat colony in the world and entirely free to watch.
The route, stop by stop
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Texas State Capitol
Taller than the national Capitol in Washington, by about three metres, deliberately. Free self-guided entry.
40 min here Walk here → -
Congress Avenue
The main axis from the Capitol down to the river, lined with restored 19th-century storefronts.
20 min here Walk here → -
Sixth Street
The live music strip, closed to traffic at weekend nights. Loud from about nine.
25 min here Walk here → -
Congress Avenue Bridge
Up to 1.5 million bats emerge from under the deck at dusk, March to October. Stand on the east side.
35 min here Walk here → -
Lady Bird Lake
A dammed stretch of the Colorado with a sixteen-kilometre trail around it, and the bridge view back at the skyline.
20 min here Walk here →
More in Austin
Every walking route in Austin, or the full Austin guide for where to stay and what a day costs.