Barton Springs Pool Austin swimming hole

Quick answers before you go

The questions I get from every houseguest, answered in a sentence or two with the longer version linked.

Pool first or tour first?

Swim in the afternoon, then do the bat kayak at dusk. If you want the pool near-empty, the 5–8 AM window is the one — details on best time to visit.

Which tour if you only book one?

The sunset bat kayak: around $50, two hours, top-rated across hundreds of reviews, and it ends a pool day properly.

Guided tour or plain rental?

The kayak rental, around $28, is self-guided, and so is the ~$55 paddleboard — a rental, not a tour, which has caught people out. The bat kayak is the guided option. Comparison on kayak & paddleboard.

How do I get there and park?

2201 William Barton Dr, inside Zilker Park. Weekday parking is free; on weekends and holidays from March 1 to Labor Day it’s $3 an hour, and it is a walk from the lot to the gate. CapMetro Route 30 stops at the pool. More on getting there.

Barton Springs Pool, explained

I’ve been swimming laps at Barton Springs before work since 2009, and the question I get most often isn’t about the water. It’s “where do I buy tickets?” The answer this site is named for: you don’t. Entry is $2 to $9, paid at the gate, and for a good chunk of the year it’s free. Here is the rest of what I tell people before their first visit.

What it actually is

Barton Springs Pool is three acres of dammed spring water inside Zilker Park — roughly 1,000 feet long, 150 feet at its widest, anywhere from zero to 18 feet deep, with an eighth-mile marker for lap swimmers and a diving board. The water rises from the Edwards Aquifer through the Main Barton Spring, one of four springs on Barton Creek, and holds 68–70°F every day of the year. It is not chlorinated. The endangered Barton Springs salamander lives in it, along with fish and turtles, which says more about the water quality than any report could. The Joan Means Khabele Bathhouse partially reopened in late October 2025 with new bathrooms and showers, and the Splash! exhibit next door explains the aquifer if you want the science.

What it costs, and when it’s free

Adults 18–62 pay $5 as Austin residents and $9 otherwise. Children 1–11 are $2 or $4, juniors 12–17 are $3 or $5, seniors $2 or $5; infants under one and honorably discharged veterans swim free. The part most visitors miss: admission is only charged from Austin ISD Spring Break through the end of October. Turn up in, say, January and the gate is simply open. The kiosks at both entrances take cards only, the cashier windows take cash, and the City’s ATXSwims app sells entry online — no tour site does, whatever its domain name says. Full tables, season passes included, are on the prices page, and the payment quirks are on do you need cash.

The Thursday rule, and other timing

The pool runs 5 AM to 10 PM daily, lifeguards from 8 AM. Thursdays it closes from 9 AM to 7 PM for cleaning, with a swim-at-your-own-risk window from 5 to 9 AM and guarded swimming again at 7 PM. I swim at dawn and usually share the water with a few dozen regulars; by a summer afternoon the lawn is a different place. Heavy rain can close the pool outright — creek flooding shut it in June 2026 — so check the City’s park closures page before a special trip. The crowd patterns are on best time to visit.

Free side or paid side

Directly below the dam sits “Barking Springs”: free, unguarded, never closed, dogs welcome. The paid side gets you cleaner water, room to actually swim, and lifeguards; the free side brings the coolers and the music. Both crowds think they’re right, and I’ve had good afternoons on each. The full comparison is at free side vs the pool.

How the bookable tours fit around a pool day

The pool needs no reservation, but the water around it does book up on summer weekends. My standard plan for guests: rent a kayak or paddleboard from the Waller Creek Boathouse in the morning — the two-hour kayak rental runs around $28 — and paddle Lady Bird Lake toward the mouth of Barton Creek. Swim the afternoon at the springs. Then be back on the water for the sunset bat kayak tour (around $50), when about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats leave Congress Avenue Bridge at dusk, April through September. If you’d rather stay dry, the e-bike city tour (about $70) stops at the pool itself, and all six options sit side by side on the tours page.

What people get wrong

Two things, mostly. First, the temperature. People hear “spring-fed” and picture bathwater; 68°F is a cold plunge, every single time, and that is the product — the temperature page covers what it feels like at dawn versus mid-afternoon. Second, the cooler. Coolers, food, glass, pets, speakers, alcohol and tobacco are all banned on the paid side; a drink in a plastic reusable twist-top container is the one carve-out. I watch someone carry an ice chest to the gate most weekends. The full list is on pool rules.

Official information lives with the City of Austin at austintexas.gov — this site is an independent guide, nothing more. If you take one recommendation from me, book the bat kayak before your dates fill, and pay your $9 at the gate like everyone else.