adventure

What’s better than a day hike? Relaxing in natural mineral springs AFTER a great day hike! Just 30 minutes outside of Austin is the tiny unincorporated community of Ottine, TX where you can enjoy Palmetto State Park and then GO SOAK for hours at Ottine Mineral Springs Spa. Big thanks to my adventure buddy, Shana for suggesting this great day!

This is a lovely little Texas state park that is super shady and has a tropical feel due to the Palmettos! The San Marcos runs right through it, so visitors can enjoy hiking and swimming. Experienced paddlers can even put in at the Luling City Park and paddle the 6-7 miles to Palmetto State Park.

There are 17 tent sites and 19 RV sites and they are all in the shade. They even have a cabin that sleeps six! As of 2025, the bathrooms are under renovation in part of the park, so there is a mobile bathroom/shower by Oxbow Lake and older bathrooms at the RV camping site (Campsites with electricity).

I love the CCC buildings in this park. The Civilian Conservation Corps built many state park features around Texas during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s New Deal seems like one of the biggest takeaways of great government in action that I had as a teen during my history class. I love seeing all these historical environmental projects around the state (and the nation) that employed young men during that difficult time. The Group Pavilion resembles the one at Garner State Park, and the water tower features one of the few remaining operational ram-jet pumps. I was really impressed to see that this pump uses no electrical power, but is instead driven by the force of the rising water coming from the artesian well below it. It smells quite sulfurous now, but the pump used to supply the water to the picnic area.

With five miles of trails, you can easily hike the whole park with plenty of time to relax at your campsite, or walk next door to the newly reopened Ottine Mineral Springs Spa.

Ottine Mineral Springs

These springs have been used as therapy in the area since the 1930s, but the newly developed Ottine Mineral Springs Spa just opened to the public in the summer of 2025. It’s still very much under development and looks to be a promising resort in the future.

Members can book massages and soak in some private pools. Alternatively, the public (that’s me and Shana!) can buy a half-day or full-day pass to enjoy soaking in 5 pools of different temperatures. The Palmetto pool is pretty much a normal pool treated with chemicals, so we only spent a few minutes in it. The rest of the pools are spring-fed and have different benefits. My favorite thing was to alternate between immersing myself in the cold plunge (53 F), and then warming back up in the hot pool (104 F) and I repeated doing that over and over!

My other favorite pool was the Cypress pool that seemed to be at the perfect temperature for a Texas fall day (aka it was hot, but not summertime hot.) This pool bottom was covered in stones that were supposed to be therapeutic for your feet (we found them sort of painful, and okay at the same time… but not therapeutic.) The temperature and minerals were just right in this pool! Plus, it mostly remained in the shade thanks to a giant oak tree. The Sage pool was pretty, but it was quite busy, loud, and not that relaxing. We spent the majority of our time in the Ivy pools (hot/cold plunge.) and Cypress pool. There was a barrel sauna by the cold plunge, but I didn’t try it out. I loved the lounging areas, and hammocks, but it took quite some time for those to open up! Lots of people left their things on the hammocks as to save them.

The drinks were spa priced and food was fairly pricey as well, but my Burrata salad WAS delicious!

Accessibility note: The website states it is ADA-accessible, and they do have a chair lift for use at each of the pools. But if you are mobility-limited, you might find walking around and up and down the steps a bit strenuous. Luckily, there are handrails at each pool as well.

Also note, if you forget proper footwear, you will have to buy $25 flip flops or walk around barefoot, and the pavement is hot in the Texas sun.

Overall, it was a unique and enjoyable experience, but at $65 dollars, it felt underwhelming compared to somewhere like World Springs that offers over 40 Mineral Pools, a Finnish spa, and soaking comes free with a paid massage! I was disappointed there was no yoga, massage therapy, or any of the things that I’d read about in the Texas Monthly article that inspired Shana and I to go. There weren’t even private showers to use when you finished your soak. I think once more amenities are open, it will be a stellar experience for all who want to go. For the fall/winter, I believe they are raising the temperatures, but they are also raising the cost to $85. For me, I’ll go back for an evening soak when the passes are on sale.

I started kayaking when I moved to Austin, but in 2021, I bought an ISLE Paddleboard, and it changed my paddling behavior FOREVER! Having an inflatable board made it so easy to travel and try out new places! I even started taking the kayak out on trips, too! Check out my list, and let me know where I need to go that I haven’t been yet in the comments!

Austin

Ladybird Lake downtown: I like to put in at the Austin High Boat ramp and paddle at sunset! I also love taking the yak to the Festival Beach ramp and then booking it over to South Congress to watch the bats emerge from under the bridge in the summer. It’s quite a windy paddle back in the dusk, so I prefer kayaking to paddleboard for this!

Red Bud Isle: This is one of the first places I took my paddleboard, and it made me feel like I’d become a real Austinite. However, it has a very limited amount of parking…. Like only 10 spots! So you may have to circle the lot to get a spot. This is a very popular spot for dog walkers.

Quinlan Park on Lake Austin: One morning we couldn’t get into Emma Long Park. So I took a friend to rent a board close by and we put in at Quinlan Park. It was nice and cold, but there was a lot of boat wake here, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Jessica Hollis: This is at a low water-crossing by Mansfield Dam. This is a great place for beginners as it is generally calm and the water is SOOO cold and lovely. Unfortunately, in 2024, they instituted a new policy where you have to reserve a $45 table to paddle here on the weekends. On Sundays, they release water from the dam, which makes it quite hard to get back sometimes!

Cypress Creek Park on Lake Travis: This is a great little cove with minimal boats! 2024 update: The drought has dried up a lot of this cove! Wasn’t able to paddle here for a few summers- has it filled back up yet?

North of Austin

Brushy Creek Lake: Not super impressed with paddling here as the algae is really gnarly because of the fertilizer run-off from the golf course. However, I love the hike/bike trails, and I will share a post about these and other ATX biking trails soon!
San Gabriel River: This is a great little spot to put in at Chandler Park. It’s short and the water isn’t the cleanest, but it is super chill. 2025 update: Haven’t been able to check yet, but I’m sure the July floods have made this impassable.

Lakewood Park in Leander: You can rent paddleboards and kayaks here. It’s very quiet but it was really windy the day I went out! Note: They have a REALLY cool skatepark here!
Georgetown Lake: We put in at Russell Park, and it’s a very windy lake! I never even made it across to the Crockett Garden Falls yet. I think I’m just not much of a lake paddler!
Georgetown Blue Hole: This is also on the San Gabriel River. It has a very long portage from the parking to the blue hole, but I do love to paddle (and hike) this little stretch of the San Gabriel River! 2025 update: This is not paddleable until the July Flood damage is cleared out! (And my poor Katy trail bike ride is also out! (I’ll include the awesome Georgetown Trail Foundation trails in my epic trail list!)

South of Austin

San Marcos: Rio Vista to Spring Lake is my absolute favorite paddle; I call it the Dream Paddle. It’s pretty fun to keep going down past the chutes! I’ve gone as far south as Don’s Fish Camp, but have yet to make it to Martindale. Read more about this paddle here.

New Braunfels Guadalupe to Comal: I like to park at Cypress Bend Park but you have to get here really early. You can toodle about and swim in this shaded place all day, or head to the confluence and head up the Comal just mind those tubers! During drought summers, this is one of the only places to paddle in Central Texas!

Spring Branch: We kayaked the Guadalupe here from Edge Falls to the Guadalupe River SP- it had a lot of rapids- so I wouldn’t recommend SUP, but it was a great kayaking trip! It would probably be better to kayak from the State Park down to Nichol’s Landing as it’s more traveled and a safer trip! 2025 update: I’m not sure this is paddleable since the July 2025 flood. According to the state park, most of the debris has cleared up.

East of Austin

Lake Bastop South Shore Park: This is another super chill spot, but the lake is by a power plant, so if you paddle too far out, it is a bit noisy. It’s probably best for just chilling and swimming!

Bastrop Colorado River: This is a really nice float if you put in at FisherMan’s Park and paddle about 6 miles downriver to the Colorado River Refuge. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday! You can rent a boat or even just a shuttle with the Bastrop River Co. You can also start higher up the river and end at Fisherman’s Park.

Navasota River in Fort Parker State Park: I love camping and exploring rivers, and I can’t wait to go back to see more of this river! On this trip, I’d forgotten my paddle, and the state park was nice enough to loan me one for the weekend!

Central Texas

Frio River in Garner State Park: This is one clear, gorgeous, and short paddle but it is a wonderful beginner paddle, and a glorious place to swim in the summer. I love to camp, hike, bike, and paddle here! Well worth the drive and the hype!

Inks Lake State Park: So close to Austin, yet it feels like you are on another planet. This is one of my favorite places to camp, hike, and paddle! I like to put in at the lake and head over to the Devil’s swimming hole. This is also one of the best places in Texas to hike among wildflowers and Bluebonnets in the spring!

Colorado River by Colorado Bend State Park: I stayed at Barefoot Camp and paddled here, but I have yet to meet my goal of paddling to Gorman Falls! See my full post about hiking and backpacking at Colorado Bend through the seasons.

North

Lake Ray Roberts State Park: If you live in North Texas, this is a pretty chill place to hang out in the coves or by the beach. Great camping too!

West Texas

South Llano River: This is another great spring-fed river in Texas! Back when REI was still doing guided trips, I went on this 18 mile paddle on the South Llano River! We paddled 11 miles the first day, camped at South Llano River State Park, then paddled the rest of the way to City Park in Junction the next morning. The REI guides were so awesome, and it was such a nice group of people. I met my adventure buddy, Shana on this trip, and we’ve been on many trips since. The water was low and the rapids were fast! A lot of this paddle felt like playing a video game. At one point, my boat turned around at the start of some rapids and I had to paddle backwards down them- looking behind me to avoid rocks and rudder backwards. At just the right point, I shoved my paddle into the water and flipped the boat around the right direction. I felt like a total badass.

Santa Elena Canyon: This epic paddle deserves its own post, read more here. My teen daughter, adventure buddy Shana, and I booked a trip with Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company to canoe into Santa Elena Canyon, camp in the backcountry, and enjoy life! We covered 18 miles of the Rio Grande on this boomerang trip during our 3 glorious days in Big Bend National Park, canoeing, swimming, and camping. I would absolutely recommend Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company as outfitters. We had great guides, great food, and an amazing experience! They outfitted the canoes, dry bags, tents, sleeping pads, food, and water!