How to Explore Austin's Zilker Park

The 358-acre Zilker Park is the center of Austin community life, offering recreational facilities, natural features and cultural activities. Here are a few of the park's main attractions.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Barton Springs Pool. This chilly, spring-fed 1000-foot-long pool is used by 400,000 swimmers every year.

2. Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum. The former home of sculptor Charles Umlauf displays 130 works of art indoors and out. The botanical garden is a popular site for weddings.

3. Zilker Zephyr miniature train. This train, popular with children and adults, takes riders on a three-mile, 25-minute tour throughout Zilker Park.

4. Boat rentals. Canoes and kayaks can be rented for paddling on Lake Lady Bird.

5. Athletic facilities. The park includes a disc golf course, polo and soccer fields and a volleyball pitch.

6. Austin Nature and Science Center. This facility offers educational programs for schools and the general public, an eco-discovery trail, a small collection of mammals, birds of prey, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals and a discovery lab offering experiments in geology, mammalogy, ornithology, botany and herpetology.

7. Zilker Botanical Gardens. Spread over 31 acres and visited by as much as half a million people a year, the Botanical Gardens include Japanese gardens, cactus and succulent gardens, rose and herb gardens, fragrance gardens and a butterfly trail.

8. Events. Zilker hosts such events as the Zilker Gardens Fest, the Zilker Summer Musical, the Zilker Park Kite Fest, Ballet in the Park, Freedom Festival and Fireworks, the Barton Springs diving championship, the Austin Shakespeare Festival and the Zilker Fall Jazz Fest. The 3-day Austin City Limits Music Festival attracts over 100 important bands from all over the world. The Christmastime Trail of Lights, while enchanting, also results in huge traffic jams.