Swimming Holes

There are many places to swim in freshwater in and around Austin.  The next few posts will cover the Hill Country, the Highland Lakes, the Guadalupe River, the San Marcos River, Wimberley and more.  Stay tuned.

Lake Austin

Lake Austin • Constant level lake with colder than usual water. The 1,830-acre Lower Colorado River Authority lake flows 20 miles down the Colorado River to Austin and Tom Miller Dam.

Fritz Hughes Park • This Travis County park is located just below Mansfield Dam.  Take Low Water Crossing Road off FM620 and go left at the “Y” in the road on Fritz Hughes Park Road. Fritz Hughes has a playground and nice picnic area, but not a great swimming area. If you go straight at the “Y” you get to the old low water crossing where the water is usually running pretty swift, and is more popular with fishermen than swimmers. Day use only.

Mary Quinlan Park • From the intersection of RR 620 and FM 2222, take RR 620 south to Quinlan Park Rd. Turn Left onto Quinlan Park Rd. and travel 5.5 miles to the park entrance. Mary Quinlan Park is located on the upper reaches of Lake Austin. This small, moderately visited park offers 5.8 acres of rolling hills with 200 feet of shoreline access, including the only public boat ramp for several miles.

Selma Hughes Park • From the intersection of RR 620 and FM 2222, take RR 620 south to Quinlan Park Rd. Turn left on Quinlan Park Rd. and travel 4.6 miles to Selma Hughes Rd.  Selma Hughes has restrooms and picnic tables. This is a small scenic park, with a nice, sandy lake bottom and plenty of shade trees. Day use only. Travis County Park.

Lake Austin

Emma Long Metropolitan park • Also known as City Park, Emma Long Metropolitan Park is located 6.2 miles off FM 2222 on City Park Road. The park is on the shores of Lake Austin, and consists of a total of 1150 acres, 70 of which are developed. Features include: 2 boat ramps, 2 sand volleyball courts, and 3 sets of volleyball standards. Emma Long Park has a designated swimming area in Lake Austin and has a large sandy beach. Men’s and women’s rest rooms, hot showers and dressing areas are also available. 20 camping sites are available with water and electricity hookups as well as 46 tent camping sites in which water is available at every 3rd site.

Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park • Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park is located on Lake Austin off of Commons Ford Rd. The Park consists of 215 acres and features opportunities for boating, fishing, nature study, picnicking, swimming, hiking and wildlife observation. The Waterfall Trail is a 1.25-mile round trip and takes visitors along a wooded creek to several small waterfalls, while the slightly shorter Pecan Grove Loop includes access to Lake Austin.

Westlake Beach • Private Park off Westlake Drive on the lower end of Lake Austin at 2509 Westlake Drive, Austin, TX 78746-2926. (512) 327-9004.

Barton Creek Watershed

Barton Creek • Barton Creek is part of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone and is a eautiful urban natural area in the middle of the city. Access points to the creek are at Zilker Park, Loop 360 east of Loop 1, Barton Skyway at Spyglass, Gus Fruth Park on Barton Hills Drive, Camp Craft Road at the end of Westbank Drive, and Loop 1 south of Loop 360. Greenbelt and parks are alcohol-free areas. There are several popular spots on the creek, but these are the most popular.

Barton Springs Pool In Zilker Park • This gorgeous swimming hole is one of the top 10 tourist attractions in Austin. The spring-fed water is a consistent 68 degrees year-round. Showers, restrooms, a snack bar, playground, picnic tables, and canoe rental are available. Fee.

Campbell’s Hole • About a mile upstream from Barton Springs Pool on Barton Creek Greenbelt. Also accessible from Spyglass Road. It is s a wonderful location with a deep pool that has water most of the year and small rapids upstream when the creek is running.

Gus Fruth Park • One of the best parks and swimming holes on the Barton Creek Greenbelt, it has white water around big boulders and deep pools. It’s accessible by a rough, steep climb from Barton Hills Drive or a long walk on the greenbelt hike and bike path.

Twin Falls • Two small waterfalls here empty into a small pool. It’s a better place to people watch than to swim. Accessible from the entrance off the access road Loop 1 just south of Loop 360.

Bull Creek

Bull Creek District Park • Bull Creek, also known as Lakewood, is located in North Austin, just minutes from the Loop 1 and FM 2222. An alcohol-free park. Access to the creek is from a hike and bike trail that follows much of its winding course. The park is between FM2222 and Spicewood Springs Road along Loop 360, and the main entrance is off FM2222 at the end of Lakewood Drive. Day use.

Percy Pennybacker Bridge • Under the south end of the bridge over the creeks. The bridge has a boat ramp and dock. Primarily a parking lot for boat trailers.

Onion Creek

McKinney Falls State Park • The park has camping, hiking trails, and summer cabins for rent. From Ben White Boulevard (TX71) east of I-35 take Burleson Road south to McKinney Falls Parkway. Fee.

More to come . . .

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Kissimmee Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.

Kissimmee

Most people think of Orlando when they plan their trip to Disney World and Epcot Center. However, Kissimmee is just minutes south of the city of Orlando and the Orlando International Airport.

Kissimmee is close to all of the central Florida attractions and the price of accommodations  and meals in Kissimmee are less expensive than those at the Disney resorts.

I would love to stay at Tropical Fun RV Park in our travel trailer.  In addition to RV sites, Tropical Fun RV Park offers home rentals and furnished vacation cottages. Amenities include a heated outdoor pool, kiddie pool, playground, volleyball court, basketball court, shuffleboard courts, nine-hole mini-golf course, a nature area and biking and walking trails.

Activities

There are enough activities to keep you busy at the RV park for a day or two, but you must explore the surrounding area.

Spend at least one day at the Alligator Chain of Lakes.  Kissimmee and the nearby towns of St. Cloud and Celebration have lake front parks to explore.

For some excitement, take an airboat ride, hot air balloon trip or whiz through the trees on a zipline. All of these modes of transportation will allow you to see the real Florida.

Take a trip back in time by spending an afternoon or evening in Old Town (just down the street from Tropical Palms) and enjoy the classic car parades, rock n’ roll music, thrill rides and boardwalk.  This is a great place to purchase souvenirs.

Do not forget to save one or more day to explore Magic Kingdom® Park, Epcot®, Animal Kingdom® or Disney’s Hollywood Studios™.

There are freshwater springs at Silver Spring State Park and Blue Spring State Park. If you have time, do not miss the mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.

You might also want to visit the beaches of the Gulf Coast or the Atlantic shore or the Kennedy Space Center.

I have just touched on the many activities, parks and events in and around Kissimmee.  Below is a sample itinerary to try and put things in perspective.

Sample Itinerary

Day 1 – Check into RV park or hotel, go swimming and pick up maps and literature.  Purchase tickets for Disney parks you wish to visit.

Day 2 – Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the day at one of the chain of lakes.  Look into making reservations for a boat ride, balloon ride or zipline experience for the next day

Day 3 – Boat ride, balloon ride or zipline.  Visit Old Town in the afternoon/evening.

Day 4 – Disney

Day 5 – Disney

Day 6 – Visit Weeki Wachee Spring State Park. Take your swimsuit and enjoy Buccaneer Bay water park, located right next door to Weeki Wachee SP. Drop off your film to be developed on the way home.

Day 7 – Relax, pack and pick up your photographs.  Return home.

On the way to Florida, we had stayed at Fontainebleau State Park on Lake Pontchartrain for one night in the rain.  We wanted to return and explore the park in better weather.  We were rewarded with two days of sunshine on the return trip.

The park is surrounded on three sides by water (Lake Pontchartrain, Bayou Cane and Bayou Castine). The Tammany Trace, a 31-mile scenic trail, forms the other boundary of park.  The paved hiking/cycling trail with a parallel equestrian trail is the first of the Rails to Trails program in Louisiana.

The size of the lake and the sandy beach were surprising, as were the huge pavilion and an even larger fishing pier on the shore.  The power of hurricanes was demonstrated by a portion of a brick wall lying on the beach, part of the ruins of the sugar plantation that once stood nearby.

At the interpretative center, we met a ranger who asked if we wanted to see Bald Eagle hatchlings.  She met us outside and set up a spotting scope.  There is a photograph of the nest above, taken through the scope.  If you can spot the hatchlings, you have better eyes than mine.

This park has everything a RVer or camper might want.  There are 23 camp sites with full hookups, 103 with electric and water, 37 unimproved sites, 10 cabins, a lodge and group camping areas.  Add playgrounds, trees with grape vines large enough to swing, lots of shade and picnic areas and you have everything needed for family fun.

These pictures were taken in Louisiana in late February and during the first week of March. At the time, it was snowing just north of Interstate Highway 10, from Texas to Florida.  We seemed to find pockets of sunshine as we traveled from Fontainebleau State Park on Lake Pontchartrain to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park in the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to Sam Houston Jones State Park just outside of Lake Charles.

I looked up one day and saw buds on all the trees and little flowers bursting out everywhere.  I was amazed as it appeared to happen overnight between cold snaps.

Leaving St. Martinville and New Iberia behind, we hit the Atchafalaya Levee Road and went south to the entrance of Lake Fausse Pointe State Point.

The Atchafalaya Basin was once contained by the natural levees of Bayou Teche and the Mississippi River.  Two protection levees where built to help with flooding.  Lake Fausse Pointe State Park encompasses 6,000-acres of swamplands that were cut off when the new levee was built.

The park is on an island in the middle of Lake Fausse Pointe.  There are 50 RV or tent sites with water and electricity.  Each campsite has a small fishing dock on the water.  There are also 18 waterfront cabins, primitive camping and canoe campsites.

There are three hiking trails, one of which may be biked as well.  Trail A is.75 miles, Trail B is 1.6 miles and Trail C is 3.3 miles.  There are also two canoe trails.  The inner canoe trail, which has two canoe campsites, takes 2-3 hours to paddle.  The outer canoe trail, which has three canoe campsites, takes almost a day to complete.

You might also leave the park and bike the levee road or walk the top of the levee.  You can see for miles at the top of the levee.

It was a beautiful park and we recommend it highly.  We stayed two nights in a travel trailer.