Central Park Walking Track

Well lit at night and always very clean. It’s so pleasant to be in this quite oasis in the middle of a busy part of town. I love that it backs up to central market. My husband and I love to walk our dogs through here!

My dog (Bishop) and I enjoyed walking through central park. My goal is to take him to every Austin park (that will allow us). It will take us his whole life span, but it’s a nice goal. Anyways, there was a nice mix of shade and sun. I was a bit worried that I might not be allowed to bring my dog. I tend to hesitate if I don’t see obvious signs that dogs are allowed. So it would be cool if they posted some kind of sign that welcomes dogs, and lists the rules. Bishop managed to get one person to pet him. So thank you to the nice lady who stopped to rub his belly, it meant a lot to him!
Overall this is a great park to get a quick walk in. The path is even and flat, and the scenery is beautiful. Bishop got a lot of sniffing and exploring in, he was a happy pup. I want to send a thank you out to the people who built and maintain this beautiful oasis.

It’s a great place to take pictures of waterfowl.

If you need a well-​lit, decently populated area to run at night you can’t really do better than this spot. I’ve never been there late, but if you go during business hours you’ll have people sitting on the porch at Central Market, letting their kids play on the playground (even some live music if you’re lucky), employees in scrubs walking home from the Heart Hospital and residents of the Gables Apts. walking their dogs. There are mile markers on the trail. And ducks. I like ducks.
I used to see small paddle boats in the water but I haven’t seen that in a while.

This little park is so nice! It’s accessible and made for people like me. I needed a walking track that would be a smooth ride for the munchkin. I’m not familiar with Austin but it seemed like the other two parks I went to were meant for hikers or hardcore runners.

I really like this little park. I am not a serious runner so this is the perfect path. One lap is ⁵⁄₈ of a mile. No bikes, roller blades or skateboards allowed. At the Central Market end of the path there is a kids playscape that it really cute and there are many times ducks and turtles in the pond to feed. It is not a busy jogging path, which is why I like it. Most «serious» runners don’t go here so you’re not too intimidated. There is plenty of parking if you enter Guadalupe just north of 38^th ½. You can also park in the Central Market parking lot, run, go get breakfast or a snack at CM and then leave. I really love the convenience and cleanliness of this path. It’s also good to hear that the path/​park was created to protect the natural habitat in the pond that the path surrounds. Good for Austin.

Technically I think this park is part of Central Market and/​or the Central Park Shopping center… I dunno.
But I looove this little walking track. It runs right along the play scape and patio of central market. On a nice day we like to take the dogs around the track a few times then one person will go into CM and get some gelato. mmm
One time we were there and these cute little kids were using the food trays from CM as sleds and sliding down the hills in the middle of the track. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kinda jealous. next time…