Barton Springs & Zilker: Austin's Front Yard

Cold, clear, and about 68 degrees no matter the season, the spring-fed waters of Austin's west side are the reason this city has always thought of itself as an outdoor town. Long before there was a Zilker Park, William "Uncle Billy" Barton settled beside these springs and kept tame buffalo that drew the first sightseers; a century later the surrounding land became the beloved municipal park that Austinites still treat as their shared back yard. This driving loop links the great swimming holes and the pioneer stories underneath them — the fault-fed springs, the limestone house that became the park's front door, a pioneer village of rescued cabins, Austin's oldest pool over on Deep Eddy, a sculptor's wooded studio, and a small farming-family cemetery. It is the honest history behind the swimsuit-and-cooler version of Austin everyone already knows.