Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Austin
Zilker and Barton Springs in six hours
The spring-fed pool, the botanical garden, the greenbelt trail and the bat bridge at dusk.
The three-hour route does the Capitol and Sixth Street. This is the other half of what Austin is actually about — outdoors and in the water. Barton Springs runs at 20°C year-round out of the Edwards Aquifer, the greenbelt trail follows the creek that feeds it, and the day still ends under the bridge, because a million and a half bats is not something you skip twice.
The route, stop by stop
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Zilker Metropolitan Park
Three hundred and fifty acres on the south bank, and the site of the music festival. The miniature train still runs at weekends.
35 min here Walk here → -
Barton Springs Pool
A three-acre pool in the bed of Barton Creek, fed by springs at a constant 20°C. Swimmers here sued and won to protect the aquifer; it is a civic institution, not an amenity.
90 min here Walk here → -
Zilker Botanical Garden
Twenty-six acres of themed gardens including a Japanese garden built by one man over three years in the 1960s.
50 min here Walk here → -
Barton Creek Greenbelt
Arrive by taxi from the previous stop
Twelve miles of trail along limestone bluffs, with swimming holes when the creek is running. Access from the Spyglass trailhead.
60 min here Walk here → -
Lady Bird Lake Boardwalk
Arrive by taxi from the previous stop
A mile of boardwalk over the water closing the gap in the hike-and-bike trail, with the skyline across the lake. The stretch under I-35 is fenced off for the highway rebuild, so walk it from the Congress end.
40 min here Walk here → -
Congress Avenue Bridge
A million and a half Mexican free-tailed bats emerge at dusk from March to October — the largest urban bat colony in the world. Get there thirty minutes before sunset.
45 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.