Barton Hills This Fall: A Dry Creek, a Cold Spring and a Locked Rotunda

On October 19, the U.S. Geological Survey gauge on Barton Creek at Loop 360 read zero cubic feet per second. So did the gauge just above Barton Springs. Downstream of that dry creek bed, the City of Austin says the spring-fed pool holds an average of 68 to 70 degrees and can be swum year-round. That leaves Barton Hills with two kinds of water this fall. The creek depends on rain, and it has none. The springs keep flowing, but the building at their entrance is about a year behind schedule. For now the Greenbelt is a place to hike, Barton Springs is the only place nearby to swim, and the historic front door to the pool is still closed.

Three Gauges, One Reading

Barton Creek is tracked by three USGS gauges as it runs through the Greenbelt. Here is how they compare across the first three weeks of October. The October 19 values are provisional live readings.

The only gauge still showing flow is the farthest upstream, and its reading halved in two weeks. The creek has been in this state for a while. ATX Things reported the Greenbelt running dry during a July heat wave and said on October 3 that "the creek hasn't changed since then." The same piece pointed out that the creek bed flows actively for only a month or two each year, and that October falls squarely in its quiet season.

So a dry Greenbelt in October is normal. What has changed is how you use it. ATX Things described Twin Falls, Sculpture Falls and Gus Fruh as "standing pools at best," not the flowing swimming holes of a wet spring.

The Greenbelt From Your Own Trailheads

A dry creek takes swimming off the table but makes the creek bed easy walking. ATX Things described the limestone bottom, which "turns to a slog in wet months," as firm and dusty right now, with tree cover shading most of the trail. Barton Hills sits closer to several of the city's official access points than any other neighborhood. The City of Austin's Greenbelt directory lists them:

1. Spyglass/Barton Skyway, 1601 Spyglass Dr.
2. Gus Fruh, 2632 Barton Hills Dr., which opens onto one of the swimming holes that is now a standing pool.
3. 360 Trailhead, 3753 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. northbound, at the stretch where the Loop 360 gauge is reading zero.
4. Gaines Park/Mopac, 3918 S. Mopac Expy. southbound, the listed access point for Twin Falls.

The City kept the Greenbelt open through September and October while ACL Festival closed parts of Zilker. The trail is also getting attention this month. Austin Parks Foundation scheduled two volunteer shifts on the Barton Creek Greenbelt in October, for trail work and invasive-species removal. The first was October 17 at the Homedale entrance, and the second is October 24 at the Violet Crown Trailhead. Sign-ups are on the Austin Parks Foundation event page.

For more on how the Greenbelt fits into daily life here in other seasons, see our Barton Hills guide for outdoor lovers.

The Water That Doesn't Wait for Rain

With the creek dry, Barton Springs Pool is the nearest place to swim, and it stays open on its normal schedule. The City says the pool stays open to swimmers throughout the bathhouse construction. Its visitor page lists:

• Daily hours: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Thursdays: swim at your own risk 5 to 9 a.m., closed for cleaning 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., guarded swim 7 to 10 p.m.
• Adult day pass: $5 for residents, $9 for nonresidents
• Ages 12 to 17: $3 for residents, $5 for nonresidents
• Ages 1 to 11: $2 for residents, $4 for nonresidents
• Seniors: $2 for residents, $5 for nonresidents
• Honorably discharged veterans: free

The springs don't follow the creek because they draw from somewhere else. KUT notes that the Barton Springs salamander and the Austin blind salamander, both federally endangered, live in the Edwards Aquifer. KUT puts the water at "around 70 degrees year-round," citing a USGS temperature gauge. When the creek bed above the pool reads zero, the springs are the water source that is still running.

"You have to jump in. If you try to tiptoe in, you'll never make it."

A regular swimmer, who rides an e-bike to the pool about four times a week, gave KUT that advice for getting into the cold water.

The Front Door Is Running a Year Behind

The pool is open, but the way you get in is temporary. During construction, swimmers use a temporary north-side entrance near the bathhouse, and the south entry hasn't changed. The renovated restrooms and showers inside reopened in October 2025, entered from the pool side. The front parking lot reopened that month too, except for one small area still fenced off for construction. The central rotunda, which opened in 1947 as the original entrance to the springs, is still closed.

On October 8, KUT's ATXplained project laid out how the Joan Means Khabele Bathhouse rehabilitation got here:

1. Early 2023: City staff estimated construction at about $9.3 million.
2. Bid opening: The lower of two bids came in at $16.9 million, nearly double the estimate. The City later moved $9.2 million from its hotel-tax-funded Historic Preservation Fund to close the gap.
3. February 2024: Groundbreaking, with about 14 months of work planned.
4. October 25, 2025: The substantial-completion deadline after approved extensions.
5. October 2025 onward: The City considers the project in "non-excusable delay." The City and contractor SpawGlass have exchanged formal claims over what caused it.
6. This month: Officials discussed an October grand opening but dropped the idea.

According to KUT, total appropriations, including design and exhibits, now come to $21.98 million. Part of the dispute concerns the exhibit planned for the rotunda: a 10-panel interactive video wall with motion-sensing cameras, laser projectors and touch screens. One configuration in the bid documents is titled "Swim with the Salamanders." To protect that equipment, the rotunda's open 1947 window frames, which let breezes from the springs pass through the building, have been sealed with glass, and the building now has central air conditioning.

For pool regulars, the key point is timing. Alyssa Tharrett, the Parks and Recreation division manager over architectural development, told KUT that "the grand opening is not scheduled." The City plans to wait until the entire facility, exhibit included, can open and stay open. KUT reported a City estimate of about a month to substantial completion, then roughly another month for exhibits, aquarium preparation and staff training. That puts a public reopening in December at the earliest. The City's project page still lists fall 2026 for the rotunda, and its most recent newsletter is from May 2026.

The parts that have reopened have had problems. KUT reported a sewage odor in the changing area that the City and contractor have been investigating and working to fix, plus one shower installed at a tilt and another that doesn't work.

A December Reopening Lands in Holiday Season

If the December estimate holds, the rotunda will reopen while the Zilker holiday events are going on next door. The City lists the Zilker Holiday Tree season as November 29 through January 1, with the lighting ceremony on Sunday, November 29, at Zilker Park, 2100 Barton Springs Road. For Trail of Lights, the City says parking is prepaid and entered from the Mopac side, not from Barton Springs Road. Rideshare drop-off and pickup is on Stephen F. Austin Drive near Austin High. That sends Trail of Lights drivers in from Mopac, not from Barton Springs Road.

Until then, the creek bed is open for hiking from Spyglass, Gus Fruh and the 360 Trailhead, the pool stays at 68 to 70 degrees through the temporary entrance, and the rotunda stays closed until the City gives a date. The Zilker side of this story, including the garden handoff and ACL's obligations to restore the lawn, is in our October Zilker update.

If you're weighing which Barton Hills streets put Spyglass or Gus Fruh within walking distance, Soud Twal knows this part of 78704 trailhead by trailhead. Look through our Barton Hills neighborhood page, then book a consultation to talk through the blocks that fit your routine.