by Bella Cooper

Created on: August 14, 2009

Austin, Texas is a vibrant and active town. The air is warm and the city itself is beautiful, so it is not surprising that there are so many great locations for athletes to get exercise. Here is a guide describing several of these great locations to get exercise.

With the nice weather and beautiful city parks, one of the best ways to get exercise in Austin is to simply go for a jog or a bike ride. The first good location to do this in is Zilker Metropolitan Park, located at 2100 Barton Springs Road. This is a great city park, that offers plenty of space for jogging and biking. In addition to jogging and biking, you can join in on one of the pickup games that are regularly going on for several different sports, ranging from soccer to football. There is also a public swimming pool at Zilker Park, the Barton Springs Pool, where you go for a swim year round, as the temperature is kept at a comfortable 68 degrees. As you can see, there are many great ways to get exercise at Zilker Park.

Next you can get exercise at and around Town Lake, located just south of downtown Austin at 111 Cesar Chavez at Congress. Here, there are several great trails for jogging or biking that offer beautiful views of the lake. In addition, Town Lake is home to the lovely Fiesta Gardens, so as you are getting exercise you can enjoy the beautiful flowers and plants. Town Lake is so beautiful, it is perfect for exercise.

Next, you can check out McKinney Falls State Park, located at 5808 McKinney Falls Parkway. This is a wonderful natural area that is perfect for jogging or mountain biking. As you are exercising along the path, you can keep your eyes out for wildlife such as deer, raccoons and more. In total, there are four miles of paved trails, but there are also several miles of less maintained trails.

Finally, Emma Long Metropolitan Park, at 1600 City Park Road, is another great city park boasting rugged trails that can be used for jogging or mountain biking. In addition, this park contains volleyball courts and a swimming area in Lake Austin that can also be used for exercising.

You can also join one of the many gyms in Austin to stay in shape. There are multiple locations for the nationwide gym chains Bally Total Fitness, Golds Gym, etc., as well as many other fitness club venues.

Many residents of Austin are athletes, and the city makes it easy to stay in shape. Check out one of these great locations for getting exercise and you can be an Austin athlete as well!

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