Austin Local Highlights
Austin, TX, USA
Hours vary by location.
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local-highlights
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There is an abundance of activities to keep you and your kids entertained in Austin, Texas!
Definitely visit the Austin Zoo (10808 Rawhide Trail, Austin, TX 78736) if you get a chance! It’s a relatively small zoo, but they rescue animals from bad situations and give them a good home. You’ll see everything from bears and lemurs to goats and deer. Another favorite stop in Austin is the Dinosaur Park (893 Union Chapel Road, Cedar Creek, Texas 78612). It’s a nature walk a few miles outside Austin with life-size dinosaur replicas placed around the trails. The park offers I-Spy activity sheets for kids to fill out while they are walking and holds events for kids daily.
Playgrounds in the city are still closed but there are still plenty of places for your kids to play and run around. Mueller Lake Park (4550 Mueller Blvd, Austin, TX 78723) is still open and offers stroller accessible trails. The lake provides lots of ducks, geese, and fish to excite your kids. The park often has food trucks parked on one side for an afternoon picnic. Austin’s first-ever public park is also a fun place to visit with your kids. Pease Park (1100 Kingsbury St.) has paths for running, walking, and biking, public art installations to enjoy, and lots of open grass. Their splash pad is sadly currently closed. If you’re looking for something to do in the evening and you aren’t afraid of critters, head to the Congress Street Bridge to watch the bats fly at sunset. All the bats fly out in one large hoard and are a sight to be seen. Kids love it.
McKinney Falls State Park (5808 McKinney Falls Pkwy, Austin, TX 78744) is a great place to visit with your kids on a hot day. They can swim in the cold and clean water and there are great hiking and biking trails as well as camping spots. Bastrop State Park (100 Park Road 1A, Bastrop, TX 78602) is also a great stop for swimming, hiking, biking, and camping. The landscape at the park is especially interesting as it is recovering from a wildfire burn in 2011.
Looking for some sweets in the city? Lick Honest Ice Cream is made using local ingredients and is always delicious. Everything in the ice cream is made by Lick Honest in their shops and many of their flavors, like Cilantro Lime, are Texas-inspired. Amy’s Ice Cream (1301 South Congress, Austin, TX 78704) is a local favorite that is sure to please everyone in your group. We recommend their Mexican Vanilla. If you’re looking for soft-serve, Cow Tipping Creamery (4715 S. Lamar Blvd, Sunset Valley, TX 78745) is always a crowd-pleaser. Their flavors are super fun and they offer a wide variety of toppings to try.