Top 10 Photo Opportunities in Austin

Austin is an amazing place. The topography in the western Austin area is not at all what people expect. The hills rise and fall dramatically and the Colorado River basin makes for some amazing lakes and phenomenal views. What will follow is my picks for the top 10 photo opportunities in Austin. One thing first – all of these are in the Austin area, not necessarily in the city limits.  I am a little biased toward outdoor things to do.  There are loads of other photo opps in town and inside, like in the capitol building, but most of my favorites will be outside.

My first pick is the Oasis Restaurant. The Oasis sits almost 400 feet above the main body of Lake Travis and calls itself the Sunset Capital of Texas. The Oasis is a huge restaurant with amazing decks hanging off the cliff. The view is truly amazing as you can see by the following photos.

You can even call ahead and ask the time the sun sets for the day you will be there.  They keep a book at the front with that information.  Click to visit The Oasis Restaurant.

Mt. Bonnell is another place offering amazing views. The steps from the parking area provide visitors a pretty quick walk to the top of Mt. Bonnell. The top of Mt. Bonnell, at 775 feet above mean sea level, is one of the highest spots in Austin. Visitors have fantastic views to the north of Lake Austin, which is almost 300 feet below Mt. Bonnell. At the south end of the park, visitors look out over Lake Austin and downtown Austin. Below and across the lake are some spectacular homes on the water and in the hills. Click to learn more about Mt. Bonnell.

Hamilton Pool is a place anyone loving the outdoors just has to visit.  Hamilton Pool is a place for hiking, wading or swimming and for exploring.  It is also a great place to get amazing photos.  Hamilton Pool Preserve is around 45 minutes west of downtown Ausitn inthe Hill Country.  Click to learn more about Hamilton Pool.

Krause Springs is a privately owned swimming hole in Spicewood. There are 32 springs that flow year-round, creating a wonderful place to cool off in the summer heat. Krause Springs isn’t as large as Hamilton Pool, but there is plenty of room and the water isn’t too deep. Parents can take their kids and the kids can wade in the cool water. Krause Springs is another place to get some really great photos. Click for more Krause Springs photos.

Pedernales Falls State Park is about an hour’s drive from Austin, but it is well worth a visit. The park is at a place on the Pedernales River where there is just enough of an elevation change to cause a series of small waterfalls and chutes through the limestone hills. There are places to hike and there is an area for wading and swimming below the falls. Camping is also available. Click to learn more about Pedernales Falls State Park.

Inner Space Cavern is a cool place to visit for people who enjoy the wonders that can occur below the ground.  The cavern is in Georgetown, which is a northern suburb of Austin. Inner Space Cavern has some really amazing formations, including a room with hundreds of soda straws hanging from the cave’s ceiling.  At 72 degrees all year long, being in the cavern can be a really great way to beat the Texas heat.  A camera with a good flash can capture some excellent photos in this underground wonder world.  Visit Inner Space Cavern.

Lake Travis is the most beautiful lake in Texas. With limestone walls, the water is as clear as any lake in Texas and the water can take on a blue to blue-green hue. Being 63 miles long and winding through the Central Texas Hill Country, Lake Travis provides many excellent photo opportunities from land or from a boat. Lake Travis also provides excellent recreational opportunities from boating to fishing and even scuba diving. See more Lake Travis photos.

Also, if you want to learn more about Lake Travis real estate, visit my Lake Travis real estate hub.

Westcave Preserve is a place that remains relatively unknown by many.  Getting to Westcave Preserve takes people out Hamilton Pool Rd. just across the Pedernales River.  The preserve is run by the Lower Colorado River Authority and they provide guided tours.  The tour takes people down into a box canyon and the ecosystem changes as visitors drop into the canyon.  There is a creek that flows over a limestone grotto and the formations in the grotto are like ones you would see in a cavern.  The canyon floor is filled with lush ferns and huge trees.  The tour takes a little more than an hour and is well worth taking.  Learn more about Westcave Preserve.

The Bull Creek Greenbelt is a very nice place to cool off and take photos.  Just off Loop 360, the greenbelt is physically in northwest Austin.  Hiking down the trail along the creek and waterfalls, visitors may never think they were in the middle of a large city.  There are places to get feet wet and pools to swim in.  One part of the Bull Creek Greenbelt is more developed and provides parking and picnic tables.  Learn more about the Bull Creek Greenbelt in Austin.

The Austin Bat Bridge is really the Congress Street bridge over Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. It may seem like a strange thing to brag about, but Austin is home to the largest urban mammal colony in the country and the largest urban bat colony in the world. Up to around 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats make their home in crevasses under the bridge. When the bats come out at sunset, people standing on the bridge and below it can get some really fun photos. Learn more about the Austin bats and bat bridge.  Thanks to Peter Potrowl for the photo that follows.

If you like what you saw here and want to learn more about the area, click to learn more about Austin.