Balcones Park & Pool

Swim Lessons

The Aquatics Division offers instructional programs for all ages.  A wide variety of swim lessons are available for students 6 months to adult.  Program registration for Summer 2024 opens April 01 2024 at 8:00AM for residents and 10AM for non-residents.

Summer 2024 Program Guide – English | Spanish

To register for all Austin Parks and Rec programs, please visit www.austintexas.gov/parksonline

Swim Team

The recreational Swim Team Program is organized to develop the potential and serve the recreational needs of boys and girls who are interested in learning about competitive swimming. Swim Team Information

To register for all Austin Parks and Rec programs, please visit www.austintexas.gov/parksonline

Scholarships Available!

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department offers scholarships to those who qualify.  This scholarship can be used for swim lessons or many other Austin Parks and Recreation classes.  For more info and to download the application, please visit austintexas.gov/pardfinaid.

The Aquatic Division also offers a scholarship that may cover up to the entire cost of one class or program.  To find out more, download the applications here: English(PDF) | Spanish(PDF)

Bring either form to the office or follow the direction on the form to send it in.  Please remember that these forms may take up to 3 weeks for processing.

Thank you so much! We are truly grateful that 44 of you chose to contribute $3,955 to our park’s campaign. Thanks to your donation we reached our maximum Match Opportunity of $3,500 through Austin Parks Foundation and are now one big jump closer to getting the improvements made regarding the drainage issue at Balcones Park’s Pavilion and Playground with a total of $7,455! We do have an estimated $11,000 to $12,000 to get to so if you missed the chance & want to you can go through this link.

Thank you again,
Friends of Balcones Park

Help Improve Balcones District Park Pavilion & Playground Drainage!

If you’ve visited the pavilion at the Balcones District Park, you might have noticed that water from the roof has caused erosion between the building and the playground (see the picture below). We’re focused on fixing this for this year’s Amplify Austin Day.

The annual Amplify Austin donation drive starts on Wednesday, March 6! For 24 hours, from 6 p.m. on March 6 to 6 p.m. on March 7, we want to raise as much money as we can for this project.

Best of all, Austin Parks Foundation will match our first $3,500 raised!

Follow this link to make a donation or to learn more about the project details. The project is already approved by the city’s feasibility team, putting us one step closer to making the much-needed improvement.

We are so excited to announce that PARD has agreed to improve our basketball court! We already have two a little bit lower basketball goals for the kids that split the court! Please NO dunking or they won’t last long. Next we will see the current, older basketball goals get new backboards and then in a few months we will get lights added. These will have a timer and will not be able to be turned on after 10pm. In addition, we will get the basketball court resurfaced so it will be a smoother, safer place to play. ENJOY!

Please save the date to help clean up and care for Balcones Park. There will be projects for all ages including:

1- Cleanup trash/litter in Balcones Park, along trails and in creek greenbelt.

2- Trail maintenance/erosion repairs – Creekside Trail & NWCT near bridge

3 – Tree weeding and mulching around parking lot

4 – Butterfly Meadow and Rain Garden planting, seeding and maintenance (if anyone has shade tolerant plants they can contribute (coneflower, salvia coccinea, wine cups, columbine, etc. please email us)

5 – Invasive Species Removal

Sign up link Balcones District Park and Greenbelt – Spring Cleanup

If you would like to help lead a work group, please let us know!

We are excited about our upcoming It’s My Park Day at Balcones District Park on Sat. Nov. 4, 2023.

Thanks to Boy Scout Troop 421 for helping manage this event. Please sign up here or just join us at the event itself. Please note in years past we have been able to offer shirts for volunteers, however this year we can’t guarantee that as the projects city-wide are so numerous!

We are looking for someone who can step in and help us lead this project. If you are interested please email us at milwoodna1 (a) gmail.com

Sign up and Mark Your Calendars!
Milwood Art Day
Saturday, Nov. 11
from 10am to 2pm

Milwood Art Day is a bi-annual event, celebrating local artists in the North Austin area. It is free and open to the public and draws hundreds of visitors from throughout the Milwood & Walnut Crossing neighborhoods and all around Austin. Over the years since its beginning, Milwood Art Day has brought together over 50 artists, which included adults and kids who are painters, photographers, jewelry makers, ceramic artists, print makers, mosaic artists, performance artists, musicians, bakers, fine food purveyors, marching bands, balloon twisters and so much more!

Click HERE to register your art.
Click HERE to sponsor this event.

Milwood Art Day is open to artists of all disciplines who live in North Austin. Artistis are invited to display/sell their works during the event, either in the central location at the Texan Market’s parking lot, their front yards, or another artist’s yard or group hub. The Central Location will take place, primarily at 12400 Amherst Drive and scattered throughout.

In addition to art, there will be food, music and other creative endeavors. The weather looks to be a perfect fall day, so get out and have some fun while enjoying the arts.

Become a sponsor of the event HERE for great neighborhood presence!

Let’s make a difference in our neighborhood! Join us today in improving our wonderful Balcones Park & Pool’s Bathrooms!

We hope to try to partner with Austin Parks Foundation and City of Austin to make improvements to the bathrooms on both the park side and the pool side. We are excited that this benefit will enable us to better serve pool guests during the summer as well as park users year-round. Pictures of Bathrooms here.

Ideally we would raise enough to replace the toilets, sinks, and lighting fixtures but if not we will do the most with what we receive – starting with the park bathrooms since they are used year round! If we surpass our goal, any additional funds would be used to make additional improvements to flooring, doors, lifeguard hut, and showers.

We currently have $7,650 of $25,000 goal!

Please help us by making a donation or sharing to a neighbor!

Our park is well loved and the new playground and relatively new pool shade has been great in bringing people to our park. These additional Bathroom Improvements would go a very long way in increasing the enjoyment of park users as well so we are hopeful that we can make it happen! Thank you!!

Ways to Donate:

Donating is simple, just choose from the options below. Every penny will go toward the Balcones Park Project and once we raise $25,000 we will work with that to try and get grants from APF to make even more improvements! (Please consider making larger donations via check to save the cost of fees.)

Note: Many employers (Dell, Apple, etc) offer a donor matching program, so you can double your donation by giving through your company to Austin Parks Foundation – Balcones Park. (Please try to note that it is for Balcones Park). PLEASE MAKE SURE TO ALSO EMAIL US at balconespark@gmail.com with the details so we can make sure the funds actually get to Balcones Park.

Tuesday, July 4th is our 19th Annual Fourth of July Parade & Picnic!

We can’t have this event without volunteers & shade tents please take a moment to sign up to help!

Click Here or call/txt  *512*636-9176

Come watch, walk or ride in the parade, eat burgers/hot dogs, listen to Austin Civic Wind Ensemble, meet neighbors, win prizes, support our neighborhood & park and celebrate our Independence as a nation!!

And as a Special Treat – Amy’s Ice Cream is going to have a booth at the Park to give a FREE scoop to attendees!

The Patriotic Parade Contest will be held for the best decorated walkers, riders and/or float so grab your friends and neighbors and get decorating!! Everyone in the parade is eligible and anyone can join in the parade – just gather at Milwood Baptist Church around 9:30am and fall in line. Parade kicks off at 10am.

Patriotic Music will begin soon after the parade arrives at the park. We are so very excited to have Austin Civic Wind Ensemble back this year!

Check in at the membership tables to get your Raffle Tickets and a Grand Prize Ticket either at the church or at the picnic at the park. So don’t forget your $15 for dues to support MNA and any extra for tipping the band. Additional Raffle Tickets can be purchased at $1 per ticket for the chance to win lots of other great prizes totaling over $1,000 in value! All the proceeds for MNA raffle tickets sold will go towards improvements at the park.

If you can’t make the picnic and want to pay your $15 dues click here. It is easy & secure.

Parade & Picnic Schedule – Tuesday, July 4th
9:30am: Gathering for Parade at Milwood Baptist Church (12217 Cassady Dr) All are welcome to walk in the parade & win the Spirit Contest – just show-up & fall in line.
10:00am: Parade Begins (Parade Map)
10:30am: Parade Ends at Balcones Park & Spirit Contest for Costumes, Bikes and Floats
10:30am: Austin Civic Wind Ensemble is BACK to play for us!
11:00am: Lunch Begins (Burgers/Hot Dogs/Vegetarian Option & Cold Drinks)
11:00am: Raffle Drawing Begins

Balcones Pool will open at 12noon!

Thank you to our Event Sponsors:
The UPS Store – Parmer/Mopac near HEB
H&H Design & Build
All City Real Estate Realtor, Melissa Wile
Realty Austin, Shannon Reeve
Law Office of Brandon Bledsoe
Waterloo Window Treatments, Celeste Bronson
Textruss, Inc
Milwood Baptist Church
Schwab

THANKS to our Entertainment and Food/Drink Donors!

– Patriotic Concert by Austin Civic Wind Ensemble
– Ice Cream donations by Amy’s Ice Cream
– Food donations by Costco
– Food donations by HEB on Parmer/McNeil
– Drink donations by Covenant United Methodist Church
– Parade sponsor by Milwood Baptist Church

THANKS to our Prize Donors! Coming soon!