City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 2200 Barton Springs Rd.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 2100 Barton Springs Rd.
48. Cedar Park Parks and Recreation (PARD)
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (512) 401-5500
Address: 715 Discovery Blvd.
Description: As Cedar Park grows, the number of city parks increases as the city attempts to keep up with the area’s booming population. There are 11 neighborhood parks, most of them with picnic facilities and playscapes. Many also have tennis and basketball courts, and some have sand volleyball facilities. The city’s parks and recreation department offers information on all city parks and recreation programs.
49. Pflugerville Parks and Recreation Department (PARD)
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (512) 251-5082
Address: 400 Immanuel Rd.
Description: The city of Pflugerville boasts that the city’s parks are a “hometown kind of place, where you and your friends and coworkers can celebrate without a lot of big-city fuss and bother.” The city’s PARD has developed a master plan aimed at helping the city make the transition from a tiny, rural town to a growing suburban community. The city’s parks are connected by an integrated trail system, connecting many of the neighborhoods in the city. PARD also provides swimming, gymnastics, aerobics, soccer, volleyball, and basketball programs. There is the Summer Pfun Camp and PARD-organized events such as 5K Pfun Run and Walk, Pfall Pfest, and the Pumpkin Pflyer bicycle tour.
50. Round Rock Parks and Recreation Department (PARD)
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (512) 218-5540
Address: 301 Bagdad St.
Description: The city’s parks department operates about 30 parks in the city limits, most of them small neighborhood parks that serve as play areas for neighborhood children and places to relax, perhaps jog, play tennis, or shoot a few baskets for teens and adults. The city’s PARD publishes a program brochure and guides to the city’s parks that are available on request. In addition to athletic programs, PARD offers country and ballroom dance classes, Jazzercise, programs for toddlers and seniors, preschool and youth programs, plus Cool Kids Camp, an afternoon recreation program for elementary kids.
51. Austin Nature and Science Center
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (512) 327-8181
Address: 303 Nature Center Dr.
Description: The center’s central exhibit is “The Nature of Austin,” illustrating four habitats found in the area—ponds, grasslands, woodlands, and a Hill Country cave. The live exhibits feature Texas wildlife—animals that have been rescued and because of permanent injury or extensive human contact cannot be returned to their habitat. The center also has a discovery lab and is surrounded by 80 acres of nature preserve with 2 miles of trails. The “dino pit” exhibit features fossils and bones found at a Congress Avenue building site.
52. Barrow Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 7715 Long Point Dr.
Description: This 10-acre preserve is on the upper reaches of Bull Creek in Northwest Austin. It has spring-fed canyons and hiking trails.
53. Blunn Creek Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 1200 St. Edwards Dr.
Description: This preserve near the St. Edward’s University campus in South Austin boasts two lookout points that offer great views of the city, one of which is atop a 100-million-year-old coral reef. This area of Central Texas once was an inland sea. Within its confines can be seen the remains of volcanic ash deposits spewed out by a dozen active volcanoes that rumbled in this area some 80 million years ago.
54. Colorado River Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 5827 Levander Loop
Description: On the banks of the Colorado River, west of the Montopolis Bridge in East Austin, this 43-acre preserve offers views of river life, including turtles, herons, and cranes along the sandy banks of the river.
55. Indiangrass Wildlife Sanctuary
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 6614 Blue Bluff Rd.
Description: The sanctuary is in a 200-acre section of Walter E. Long Park in Northeast Austin and is designed to protect Blackland Prairie habitat, notably a variety of prairie grasses. The wetlands along Lake Long are home to an abundance of wildlife. Access is limited to guided tours only.
56. Goat Cave Karst Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 3900 Deer Lane
Description: This interesting preserve is off Brodie Lane in Southwest Austin and adjacent to the Maple Run subdivision. Karst is the name scientists have given to the type of honeycombed limestone formations found in several areas of the world, including the Texas Hill Country. This 8-acre site, and this part of Austin, is riddled with sinkholes, caves, and honeycombed limestone.
57. Mayfield Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 3505 West Fifteenth St.
Description: This is a small city enclave that reflects 19th-century Austin. The 22-acre preserve in Central Austin embraces 5 lily ponds, palm trees, woodlands, and several old cottages, including one from the late 19th century. A cross between a preserve and a park, this quiet spot is very popular with children, who can approach the peacocks (watch out, they have tempers!) and tame deer for close-up viewing. The preserve is next door to Austin Museum of Art Laguna Gloria in West Austin.
58. Onion Creek Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 7001 Onion Creek Rd.
Description: This secluded preserve is north of Highway 71 along Onion Creek and is open to guided tours by reservation only.
59. Zilker west Nature Preserve
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: This is a 60-acre preserve at the western end of the park, which includes 2 miles of trails along cliff edges on the banks of Barton Creek.
City: Austin, TX
Category: Parks & Recreation