Barton Springs

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Barton Springs is a natural swimming pool in Zilker Park which is in the west end along Town Lake. It's built into a natural river channel (Barton Creek) that is dammed off at each end. Most of the time Barton Creek is dry as it was during our stay. When the creek is flowing the water is diverted around the pool in a concrete channel on the west side of the pool. The people you see walking towards the camera are walking on top of that water diverson channel. You can see the skyline of the city on the north side of Town Lake in the distance.

When the creek floods, and flash floods are not uncommon in this part of Texas, the upstream dam and diversion are not sufficient to contain the creek. The pool was recently flooded and closed for repairs (see article of May 2019 from Austin American Statesman).

The pool is fed by several springs. There's a small Eliza Spring on the west side, home to the protected Barton Springs Salamander which is unique to this spot. The main spring is on the east side near the diving board. Judging by the water which flows out of the pool on the down stream side the main Barton Spring must have quite the flow.

Because it's spring fed from the underground aquifer the water temperature is nearly constant year round at around 68F. During hot days in the summer it's a great place to cool off. We had a couple of very warm days in early February during our stay and were able to get in swimming. Kate likes to do lengths, I'll jump in to cool off, maybe swim across the pool but nothing like what Kate does. The water is cool enough that a light wet suit helps.

We met a fellow in an elaborate wet suit who told us about jumping in off into the diving area (where the pool is the deepest) and sitting on the bottom wondering why his heart had stopped. If true, it's a testament to how cool it can be. Kate likes to enter the water bit by bit, I prefer to jump in. She's always warning me that my heart might stop. I suppose that might be true but I'd rather get in quickly.

There's a yearly Polar Bear dip on January 1 but it really can't compare to the Polar Bear dips we have in Canada. The water will still be about 68F which, in cold weather, is a pleasant alternative to standing around in the wind and weather. Here in Canada people jump into water that's right at the freezing mark -- 32F or 0C. That is really cold water.

During busy times there are lots of people in the pool. As it's natural spring water, not cholorinated water like in most man made pools, cleaning is an issue. The pool is cleaned every Thursday and shutdown for cleaning for the entire month of March. I'd recommend they shutdown from mid-January to mid-February when the weather is at it's coolest. Often times there's good swimming weather in March.

Below the downstream dam people canoe and kajak out to Town Lake. They also like to take their dogs for a swim there, or jump in the water themselves if they're not willing to pay the entrance fee. Lucky for us there's free entry in the winter. But then there are only a few days you'd want to go swimming. There are, of course, the hardy souls who swim every day rain or shine. We're not like them. And nobody should be swimming in Town Lake. They discourage people from swimming in the outflow of the pool but it's likely as safe as the pool itself.

We enjoy having a swim and the sun when the weather is nice.

In Gary P Nunn's song "What I like about Texas" one of the lines refers to "Swimming in the sacred waters of Barton Springs.

P.s. One other thing I find intriguing -- topless swimmers/sunbathers are common!