Barton Springs Pool charges no admission right now. The City says fees come back on March 13, 2027. That leaves close to four months when the only cost of a swim is getting to the water.
Getting there is easier from the south bank. Over the next few weeks, the north side of the pool has a historic bathhouse that is still partly closed, a Great Lawn under maintenance, and the Trail of Lights setting up next door. The south entrance at 1000 Azie Morton Road avoids nearly all of it, and that's the Barton Hills side.
The free months, hour by hour
The off-season schedule on the City's Barton Springs Pool page is the same every day except one.
| Day | Swim at your own risk | Guarded swim | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday through Wednesday | 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. | 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. | Overnight |
| Thursday | 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. | 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for cleaning |
The holiday calendar starts next week. The pool is closed all day on Thanksgiving, which is November 26. It closes at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, is closed on Christmas Day, closes at 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on New Year's Day.
Thursday matters most for planning. A midday swim on a Thursday isn't possible, so a 4 p.m. habit has to move to another day or wait for the 7 p.m. reopening. The water is the same all winter. KUT reports the spring-fed pool stays at about 70 degrees year-round, and the USGS keeps a live temperature record for anyone who wants to check before getting in.
When fees return in March, the posted resident adult rate is $5 and the non-resident adult rate is $9. Honorably discharged veterans swim free all year.
The south lot is the simpler side to reach
Free entry helps most when parking is also free. The City lists parking at both pool lots as free Monday through Friday. The $3-per-hour weekend and holiday charge applies only from March 1 through Labor Day. Under the City's posted schedule, the south lot on Azie Morton Road costs nothing on any day of the week from now through February. Weekend charges start again on March 1, about two weeks before admission fees return.
The south entrance also has the same services as the main gate. The City says ticket kiosks stand outside both entrances and cashier windows take cash at either one. The bathhouse project's own FAQ says the south pool entry is unchanged during construction and the pool keeps its regular schedule.
The north bank is still partly fenced
The bathhouse on the north side is the Joan Means Khabele Bathhouse. City Council renamed it in 2024 for the Austin High School senior who jumped into the then-segregated pool in 1960. Her swim helped start the campaign that integrated Barton Springs. The building dates to 1947 and is in the middle of a rehabilitation that began in February 2024.
Part of it is open. The renovated restrooms and showers reopened on October 28, 2025, and the City asks swimmers to enter them from the pool side. The front parking lot is open again except for one fenced construction area. The rotunda entry and the work on the west side are still closed.
KUT's October 8 report covers why the rotunda is still closed. Construction bids came in close to double the City's early 2023 estimate of about $9.3 million, and total appropriations reached $21.98 million. The contract's substantial-completion deadline was October 25, 2025. KUT reports that the City and the contractor, SpawGlass, have filed formal claims disputing the delays, including a dispute over a high-tech exhibit with a 10-panel interactive video wall.
The rotunda is what swimmers would see first if they came in from the north. The City project page says the main pool entrance will move back to the central rotunda, so visitors pass through the updated Sheffield Education Center and Splash! exhibit on the way to the water. In KUT's report, Alyssa Tharrett, the Austin Parks and Recreation division manager over architectural development, estimated substantial completion was about a month away. She also said that "the dates tend to move a bit each week." The City then needs about another month to set up the exhibits, prepare the aquarium and train staff, so KUT reported December as the earliest likely reopening. The grand opening isn't scheduled yet. The City has decided to hold it once the whole building, exhibit included, can stay open afterward.
KUT also reported on smaller problems in the changing rooms. Smoke tests found sewer and vent lines that had been connected incorrectly, and the contractor has repaired them. The City is also sealing an obsolete sewer manhole, and a shower that was knocked out of line is due for repair. KUT's walkthrough describes trade-offs in the redesign as well. The rotunda's original open window frames are now glassed in and the building has central air conditioning. Both changing areas are smaller, and the women's side lost the most space to a lifeguard office that the City says has to sit where it can see the pool.
December adds the Trail of Lights next door
Zilker Park is getting ready for its busiest weeks, and that work sits on the north side too. The City's closures page says the Great Lawn is in its annual maintenance. The western section was scheduled to reopen October 31, and the rest is being converted for Trail of Lights operations. Lou Neff Road stays closed through the holiday season. The same page lists both the pool and the Greenbelt as open.
The Trail of Lights runs December 10 through 23, from 7 to 10 p.m. General admission is free December 10, 11 and 13 through 17. December 12 and 18 through 23 are paid nights. Visitors need advance online parking passes, and neighborhood parking is not allowed. On those evenings, the stretch of Barton Springs Road near the park carries festival traffic during the same hours as the pool's guarded night swim.
So for most of December, the Azie Morton Road entrance gets swimmers into the same 70-degree water without passing the busiest part of the park.
The bridge between the two banks is due for replacement
The Barton Springs Road bridge over Barton Creek links the two sides of the pool's neighborhood. It is the City's next big project here. The Barton Springs Road Bridge Replacement is in design. The City held an open house at the Dougherty Arts Center on November 16. Its current plans include two lanes in each direction, a median, dedicated bike facilities, wider sidewalks, wider trails under the bridge, and creek-bank stabilization. The City says all of this depends on further design work and environmental review.
Work won't start soon. The City's posted schedule targets a NEPA decision in late 2027 and construction starting in late 2028. Detour and lane-closure details are still to come. Earlier reports gave different dates. Community Impact reported in June that construction was set for summer 2027, and the City page now says late 2028.
The bridge is the subject of a public debate. Austin Monitor reported that Council unanimously accepted a $32 million federal grant in April 2025. City staff said the bridge's condition, narrow facilities and load limit make replacement a public-safety matter. The Save Our Springs Alliance is pressing the City to rehabilitate the bridge instead. The City says the bridge is not a designated historic structure but counts as a contributing resource to the National Register-listed Zilker Park.
Around the swim
The Barton Creek Greenbelt is open, but the creek was dry when this was written. Provisional USGS readings on November 9 showed 0.00 cubic feet per second at the gauge above Barton Springs and at the Loop 360 gauge. Austin Parks doesn't monitor flow and sends visitors to USGS and LCRA data. The Barton Hills trailheads are Spyglass at 1601 Spyglass Drive, Homedale at 2009 Homedale Drive, and Gus Fruh at 2632 Barton Hills Drive. The City's Greenbelt page notes that Homedale and Gus Fruh have little or no parking and no restrooms. Until rain comes, the springs are the dependable water in the area.
For a meal after a weekend morning swim, Oria is at 1530 Barton Springs Road. Community Impact reported that it opened February 27 with charcoal and wood-fired Eastern Mediterranean and Southern European food. The Austin American-Statesman noted in June that it had started serving weekend brunch.
New Year's Day falls in the middle of the free season. Last winter, Save Our Springs Alliance held its Polar Bear Splash at Barton Springs on January 1, 2026, with a morning group jump. This year the pool's posted New Year's Day hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission will still be free.
Weekend parking charges at both lots start again on March 1, and admission fees return on March 13.
If you own a home in Barton Hills, the bathhouse reopening and the bridge replacement will shape the area around the springs for years. To talk through how these changes bear on your property or your plans, Carl Shurr is glad to help. Book an appointment.
