Lady Bird Lake is the stretch of the Colorado River that runs through the middle of Austin, and the Butler Trail is the ten-mile loop that runs around it. It is where the city runs, walks its dogs, paddles and, at dusk on summer evenings, watches a million bats leave from under the Congress Avenue bridge. For our West Campus guests it is the closest thing to a daily outdoor habit.
The trail is crushed gravel, flat and shaded for much of its length, with the downtown skyline on one bank and trees on the other. You can do the full loop or cut it short at any of the bridges. Kayaks, canoes and paddleboards are for hire at several points along the north shore, and paddling under the Congress Avenue bridge with the skyline overhead is the best cheap hour in the city. Motor boats are banned, so the water is calm.
The bats are the evening event. From roughly March to October, 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats leave the Congress Avenue bridge at sunset. Stand on the bridge, on the lawn on the south-east bank, or hire a kayak and watch from the water.
Go early morning or the last hour before sunset from May to September; midday is too hot. The trail is a fifteen-minute walk or five-minute rideshare south of our homes.
