Best Park in Austin: Alliance Children’s Garden

Addie Gross Outdoors, Parks

Alliance Children’s Garden at Butler Park in Austin is quickly becoming our new favorite park. Here’s what we love about it and what you should know before you go.

Best Park in Austin: Alliance Children’s Garden

Butler Park is home to some famous Austin landmarks, like Doug Sahm Hill and the Liz Carpenter Fountain. The park recently underwent a giant playground renovation, revealing Austin’s coolest new place to play. The Alliance Children’s Garden is fun for kids of all ages and keeps the spirit of Austin alive with its unique and unexpected elements and structures. This is one of those places with surprises around every turn, and your kids are going to want to explore every nook and cranny. You will probably end up spending way more time here that you expect. There are bathrooms nearby, so bring plenty of water and snacks and carve out a few hours to play here. Don’t forget swimsuits for the splash pad. It will be hard to drag your kids away!

Address

1000 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704

If you get there early enough, you can find parking at the Dougherty Arts Center.

Hours

5 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Tips

Come early to find a parking spot. Bring sand toys (there’s a sand pit here as well). Don’t forget swimsuits, sunscreen, and towels for the Liz Carpenter Fountain splash pad.

Features: Hills and Tunnels

The hills and tunnels were the most exciting part of playing at this park. There’s no better place for a game of hide & seek!

Features: Things to Climb

There’s no shortage of things to climb here! From the corridor of rock walls to the giant animal structures, you won’t run out of things to climb.

Features: Slides

There are twisty slides and a wide slide that can fit many friends across so everyone can go down together. We even saw some kids reenacting the Lion King on one of the slides!

Features: Sand Pit

The sand pit has a shade awning over it, so bring your buckets and shovels and dig in.

The sand pit

Features: Musical Instruments

Making music

This giant structure allows kids to make music as they hit the poles. There were also other instruments throughout the park, like xylophones, for everyone to play.

Features: Games

There are ping pong tables (bring your own paddles and balls) available to play right next to the bathrooms. There’s also a giant chess board!

Ping pong

Giant chess

Features: Splash pad

The Liz Carpenter Fountain is just beyond the playground at Butler Park. If you come during the summer or on a hot day, there’s a good chance this little splash pad will be packed. Head up Doug Sahm Hill right next to the splash pad and check out the giant map of Texas. Then run back down the hill and get soaked!