Barton Springs and Barton Creek Greenbelt, Austin, TX

Located among the hills in south Austin is Barton Springs and the Barton Creek Greenbelt. There are about 9 miles of trail here running along the creek in a narrow limestone bluff canyon.  Lots of foliage, a bit jungle-like in places.  We have been there twice to explore most of the trail system.

Once again, you are in the middle of Austin and the trail goes under the freeway at one point.  There is also that trash thing that you get in larger cities.  Unfortunate, but seems to be a fact of life here.  Not to discourage, we really enjoyed the trail especially starting from the Scottish Wood Trail entrance which took us by several small waterfalls.  The first trip down there we started from Zilker Park and it rained about half the time we were on the trail.  Wet limestone is very slick and we only went 2 miles one way on the trail that day before turning back due to the slippery surfaces.

Barton Springs is damned up at Zilker Park creating a 3 acre man made swimming pool which remains a constant 68 degrees year round.  To cold for me but I'm sure refreshing in the summer months!

The Scottish Wood Trail starts off with this steep half mile limestone loose rock staircase.  Just keep it in mind if it is a rainy day!

This is your reward, though, at the bottom of the "staircase"

Sculpture Falls

Twin Falls