Park yourself . . A ustin is rich with smaller parks scattered throughout the downtown area and larger parks on the outskirts.
Youngsters enjoy the giant playscape and miniature train.
It hosts an outside theater, botanical gardens, Barton Springs Pool, hiking trails, soccer fields, and canoeing. A park of over 600 acres, McKinney Falls State Park on the southeast side of town, is great for camping, hiking, trails, and swimming. On the west side of Austin at 2525 S. Lakeshore Blvd., Mount Bonnell lifts you up for a magnificient view of downtown and the Hill Country. A unique park to this area is the Bastrop State Park , located 30 miles east of Austin, near Bastrop. If you don't want to stray too far outside the Austin area, you will still find a host of metropolitan parks scattered pleasantly throughout town.