The Outdoors Lover

While it’s best known for hosting the Austin City Limits music festival, Zilker is also a city favorite for family picnics, flying kites, and sports like sand volleyball and soccer. In the fall, you can also forage pecans from the mature trees that frame the grassy meadows.

Austin’s central running and biking trail circling Lady Bird Lake—or Town Lake, as it’s known among locals—is one of the city’s best spots to exercise and people watch. Along with sleek overwater pathways with rest areas and downtown skyline views, pathways cut through off-leash dog parks, through wooded areas, and across city bridges.

This 809-acre reserve, crisscrossed with hiking trails bordered by pecan trees and Spanish oaks, is easily accessible from various points in the city. There are nature trails, swimming holes, and even limestone cliffs that attract seasoned climbers.

Also on Lady Bird Lake, stop by SUP ATX where you can rent kayaks or ever-popular stand-up paddleboards by the hour. Unfamiliar with the sport? Ask for a free lesson.

Like the popular Barton Springs, this 30.5-meter pool is also spring fed, but has the look of your classic neighborhood swimming grounds: a rectangular, white-bottomed pool with swim lanes and a walk-in shallow end. It’s a dream on a hot day, and it’s full of ATX history. It’s the oldest pool in Texas, and has a bathhouse built during the Great Depression.

For a memorable afternoon, get a group together to rent a ski or pontoon boat on Lake Austin. The lake is flanked by beautiful houses and parks, and has several coves that are known for swimming, (if not the occasional party).