Barton Springs is the thing Austin people mention first and mean most. It is a three-acre, spring-fed swimming pool in the middle of Zilker Park, held at around 68°F all year by water coming up from the Edwards Aquifer. On a July afternoon when the city is pushing 100°F, it is the best-value experience in Texas. In January there are still people swimming laps in it, and they are not all mad.
The pool is long, deep at one end and shallow at the other, with grassy banks on both sides where people spread out towels and read. It is not a resort. There is a changing room, a lifeguard and not much else, which is the point. Bring a towel, water and sunscreen, and go in slowly the first time.
Entry is a few dollars for non-residents and free before 8am and after 9pm, when it is unguarded and quiet. The pool closes on Thursdays for cleaning. Weekend afternoons in summer fill up and the car park is the hard part, so go early, or leave the car at our West Campus home and take a rideshare; it is a ten-minute ride.
Combine it with a walk through Zilker Park or the Botanical Garden next door, and a breakfast taco on the way in.
