My friends and discovered this quite cove not too far from Devils Cove. Its a great place to get…read moreaway from the typical Devils Cove party and just relax out on the lake. Every time we stop in we see a few turtles, hence the name Turtle Cove. I cant say enough about the peace and quite and excellent view here. I get such a strong feeling a serenity whether I'm swimming or relaxing at this spot. If you are looking for a sweet location on the lake to hang out and have fun this is probably the best. Hope I see you there sometime.

My sister, her kids, and I all wanted to go swimming in the lake but all the parks we knew either…read morehad really rocky beaches or didn't have easy access to the water. We finally settled on West Lake Beach. WLB isn't actually on the lake; it's on the Colorado river. It's got a really nice park that not only has easy water access, but it's also got lots of shady spots to cool off. They also have BBQ pits for cooking, picnic tabels for eating, and a vollyball court; they even have water volleyball! We all spent a really nice day at WLB and wouldn't hesitate to go back another day :-) Tip: Be forewarned; while there are rest rooms here, they're not particularly clean, they don't have toilet paper, and they don't have doors.

We learned of this beach from several guides that listed places to go swimming around Austin…read more Their website says they open on Memorial Day Weekend. Their Facebook page doesn't mention that they're closed and neither does their voicemail message on their listed number. Unfortunately, when we went on Memorial Day Weekend, there are signs everywhere that say they are closed. There is a Marina there and that is still open but unless you want to reserve the entire place for your party, the park area is closed to the public. If anyone knows the owner tell them that they should update their information to say Beach and Park Access by Reservation Only.

Springtime made for an excellent time to visit this park, as there were lots of enjoyable…read morewildflowers springing up out of the ground everywhere (my partner could tell you how often I paused our hike to get photos of a new flower I saw along the trail, LOL). Entry was a very fairly priced $5 per person. We were given a map, which if I'm being honest, helped guide us to the parking but didn't offer quite as much help later with the trails, LOL. Really they need some better signage up for the trails. More than half the time we weren't sure which trail we were on or if we were even on a trail that was marked on the map... Good thing the park ranger told us we were "free to explore!" Some of their plaques with information on them could use replacing too, as sun or weather damage has made them fairly illegible. (I'm one of those weirdos that actually likes to stop and read those things, haha. I especially enjoyed the one that had the history of the Reimers family on it.) Seemed to be plenty of parking, all paved too. There was a really nice station at the first parking lot with indoor plumbed bathrooms, a shady overhang, picnic tables, and water fountain (it even tasted pretty good!). The trail that runs along and overlooks the river is probably the "main event" for most visitors to this park, however it is also somewhere you can get adventurous with rock climbing, mountain biking, and riding on horseback. Pretty neat! There were also trails that led all the way down to the river, where you were permitted to swim and/or fish. Hooray for somewhere you can do unattended swimming! Sometimes that's a rarity, so I appreciate you can get in, splash around, and cool off here. =) My partner and I really only explored about half of the trails available at this park, so we may have to come back again sometime to do the rest. The big loop looked to have some good elevation changes and scenery that most parks near Austin are mostly flat or boring hills.

Came in on a Saturday for a short hike as part of a trip to lake Travis. Overall great experience,…read more10$ per person. Lots of different hiking trails as well as rock climbing for a fee as well. Saw some people in the river/beach area as well although we didn't join. Amazing nature and scenery, would come back to explore further if Im in the area.

Nice park area for the kids. Appears well maintained although we were only in the SCUBA area and…read morethe playground. Bring water, several of the water fountains were out of order. Apparently they broke after the freeze but still haven't been fixed so that's a bummer.

Mansfield Dam Park located in Austin, Texas, is a beautiful lakefront park that offers a relaxing…read moreoutdoor experience. The park is located on Lake Travis featuring spectacular panoramic views, access to boating and water sports, and areas for picnics. Park visitors can swim in a designated cove, go fishing, launch boats and water skis onto Lake Travis or simply have a delightful picnic in the great outdoors. The park is well-maintained and includes amenities such as playgrounds, picnic tables, barbecue grills, restrooms, and walking trails. It also has a scuba diving area to observe fish, marine plants and other items underwater. The park also provides life jackets, which you do not see very often. In addition, there is an EMS helicopter pad available for air evac if an individual gets hurt at the park. You could easily spend an entire day at Mansfield Dam Park. The park is so serene and calming with wide views of Lake Travis. It was a great place to meditate and reset.

The hubs and I are on a walking tour of nearby parks. We get dedicated talk time in a focused…read moremanner and we also get a number of steps in with walking (10,000 steps a day is the goal). St. Edward's park is small somewhat unkemp park. The entry is filled with prickly cacti. Once you make it past the cacti, the park opens to small, narrow and rocky walking or hiking trails. There is a section of the wooden fence which is falling down. While the foliage is appealing, navigating this park can be very challenging. We did not stay for an extensive period of time. It's a high probability we will not be returning to this park. There are more visually appealing parks in Austin and there surrounding areas to choose from.

Don't come here until Austin get out of drought condition. Also there are other posts about car…read morebreak-in so be careful. A lot of trash at the parking lot btw. Some people just don't take care of things. Currently the weir is dry and the creek drying up. Without water, the scenery is not as vibrant as before. You can tell they been sun bleached. If you get close to the water you can see there are still small fishes living in the water.

Bob Wentz Park located on Lake Travis was recommended to us by the guard at Hippie Hollow. It has…read morescenic views from beautiful Lake Travis. He told us that Bob Wentz Park was known for sailing, windsurfing, scuba diving, and picnicking. This park is on a relatively lower elevation of Lake Travis, so views are not as spectacular as the higher elevations. Apparently, clear underwater conditions make it idea for scuba diving. However, do not expect the beautiful coral reefs like in Hawaii or Caribbean islands. Bob Wentz has an large selection of picnic tables, benches, and grills for grilling. This park is family friendly.

There is an entrance fee of $5 (which is totally fine) which goes to the "maintenance and…read moreimprovement" of the park and making it nice. However, it looks bad. Like grass overgrown on "trails" and everywhere walkable. Paper that says swimming highly discouraged because of the bacteria growing atm but when there's no swimming or water activities it's just either sitting under a small picnic pavilion with grass overgrown around it or just looking at the water. We immediately left. Also when leaving their stop cement things ripped off a piece of my bumper

Quin sucks. Unclear on the rules about jumping off the small cliff. Tried to wave for his attention…read morebefore we jumped so we wouldn't get in trouble. Instead of waving us back or trying to get our attention, he took pictures. If it was such a safety hazard you should probably do everything to prevent it instead of doing nothing about it in the moment and then kicking us off. 36 days sober tho!!! 10k hours.

Our group of 4 had a great experience renting a pontoon. Now don't go looking for 5 star, red…read morecarpet service. It's no frills, but the staff is friendly and they give you what you need for a good time. We are not experienced boaters, but that wasn't an issue because the staff provided a quick training on how to drive the boat. Unlike many other company's renting boats in the area, you can rent for an hour if you want. Many other require 3-4 hour minimums, which can get pricey, especially if you'd prefer a short excursion. There is free parking there and the pontoon we rented had a bluetooth system for playing music too. You can't beat their prices, so overall value is A+ in my book. If I'm in the ATX area again, I'll return.

So glad I found this trail! It's ducked off in a neighborhood off grand avenue/ wells branch area…read more Perfect place for a walk, a jog, or to just come chill & clear your mind. semi shaded area with plenty of trees through out. there were wild flowers, ponds with people fishing, swings, restrooms, basket ball courts, small stair cases, a play scape , picnic tables ,& plenty of open space. parking is the only down fall as the designated lot holds about 10 or so cars. definitely enjoyed my time here and can't wait to come back.

I was out looking for new places to hike and found this pond. It is a nice small park with a little…read morepond that you can actually fish in with Texas State Fishing License. There are lots of places to sit as well, if you just want to be outdoors. There are several tables to eat at too, so bring a picnic basket. The trail is dirt therefore less stress on your knees. You can also bring dogs but they must be leashed. There is a small dock and a gazebo that juts out into the water so you can fish off these if you want. So for a relaxing walk with fresh air stop by Mills Pond.