Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Out and About: Zilker Park

Zilker Metropolitan Park
2100 Barton Springs Road

Zilker Park is often billed as Austin's most popular park and I can see why. It's totally awesome! We've been there twice now and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves each time. At 351 acres, there is quite a lot of park to explore.

The first time we went, the first weekend after our first full week here, we visited the Botanical Garden, which boasts a host of smaller gardens such as: the prehistoric garden, the rose garden, the Oriental garden, and much more! The Oriental garden in particular was gorgeous. Here's a picture:



We happened to be there on a gorgeous day and there was just something very magical about the botanical gardens. I'm sure we'll definitely be back. Hopefully we get to see the roses in bloom next time!

More recently, we went to the off-leash dog area near Rock Island to let our dog run around for a bit. Later, we put him back on the leash and took a stroll down part of the walking path that runs along Barton Springs and Lady Bird Lake. It was another gorgeous day. Here's a picture of downtown Austin as viewed from across Lady Bird Lake:



The one and only bad thing I have to say about this particular day is that the trail was VERY crowded. But I suppose that's to be expected at Austin's most popular park!

There's still a lot of Zilker Park that we haven't seen: the Austin Science & Nature Center, the Dino Pit, and the Umlauf Sculpture Garden, just to name a few. Nor have we completed the walk along the springs/river. And then there's the canoe rentals!

Needless to say, we'll be returning to Zilker Park again and again.

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