Red Bud Isle Park

Love, love, love Red Bud! It’s perfect for dogs that need to be fenced in. Surrounded by water, gives them an opportunity to cool down and beautiful scenery. Different teeny trails that weave throughout the trees so the dogs love to explore! Squirrels galore!
Some people may dislike the small parking but I’ve never waited in line for a spot more than 5 minutes. It also keeps it from getting crowded!
I’m all for spreading the love but please keep it clean!

My dogs loved it here! We arrived around 9:15am on a Saturday morning and there was already a line backed up for parking. Get there early! :)

Absolutely love this off leash dog park. Really awesome concept and people have so much fun here (we definitely did). Only negative is that theirs a wait to park in the 20ish spots and I assume they do this on purpose so it doesn’t get overcrowded. It’s really beautiful here.

Rose loved it here. We were there for ~3hours, met 20+ dogs on a Thursday morning. She swam and socialized. I was scared at first of the off leash situation but she did well and every person I met was excellent. There was no trash on this trip and everyone seemed to pick up their «stuff» Parking could be better but maybe it is during other times. I parked but there was not another spot. Get there early or be lucky if you want to not chance the fire lane areas.

Our absolutely most favorite dog park in Austin!!! We love that our dogs could roam free. Being surrounded by water just adds to the scenery and makes for a nice walk. We loved that because it’s surrounded by water our dog only had one way off/​out of the park. We always felt comfortable with our dogs playing with others and the other visitors were always welcoming. The only complaint is the parking. Not ideal but totally worth making a trip and waiting for a spot!!!

Great place for dogs to swim. Many spots off the trail to jump in. The only downside is the parking situation. Small lot and you may need to wait in line for a spot to park. Otherwise, great experience.

I’m actually surprised I didn’t review this before. Guess that was before I was a big-​time Unilocaler haha
I love this little park on the lake! And by little, that it is… Don’t expect a long hike but it’s a great spot if your dog loves the swim. It’s easy to find and park and there are 2 paths that loop around to the same spot. Plenty of spots (hidden, too) where you can throw a stick out in the water for your dog :) Your dogs can run off-​leash and I’ve never experienced a problem with that… The owners and dogs always seem to be friendly & good-​natured.
The best aspect is the view — it’s breathtaking on Lake Austin. The trees and the water are a vibrant green, the sun always peaks through the trees, and looking up you will see the most magnificent of houses.
It’s worth taking your dog there at least once if you’ve never been!

Very pretty scenery and great that the dogs have such a cool place to swim. But it’s the owners that ruin it and it has happened every time I have been (no more) Either they allow their dog to behave just as it pleases, and/​or they’re all dog experts and assume everyone else is a novice. Insult to injury, it often is accompanied by a condescending speech about dogs’ rights and how they behave. I even had a guy come over fuss at me for having my partially-​trained puppy on a leash (we were next to the parking lot) — just because being leash-​free is allowed doesn’t make it a rule. .. I cannot stand that sort of misguided righteous indignation, and you have to be careful and dodge around that attitude just like the piles. Not worth the total parking debacle

This park is one of the best offleash dog parks and one of the only with lake Austin access
Most of the dogs are really well trained and I’ve never had a problem with aggressive dogs at this park
Why four stars instead of five is the few issues that exist in this park
Parking is a huge problem mainly due to paddle boarders and kayakers using this area as a launch point
If you get on parks and recreation site for city of Austin you can find other places where you can launch a kayak from please leave the parking here for people with dogs
The other problem is people fishing here are leaving caught fishing lines and hooks behind in the water making it a drowning hazard for dogs or a risk of serious injury from the hooks so if you are fishing here please clean up after yourself

I love this park. It forces me to go a little out of my way in the direction I usually take my dog to. It is a nice trail surrounded by water on both sides with plenty of spots for your pooch or pooches to go down and have a drink or even a swim if they happen to be the adventurous type. The parking for this little park is limited however, so on weekends, you might have to park out by the road or wait until someone leaves. It does appear that since it is anywhere from 30 – 60 minutes to walk the entire trail, there are plenty of people coming and going even when busy. They have trash cans and a doggy poop station at the front by the parking and then a few trash cans throughout the park.

I’m so bitter! ! A few years ago I could go to Red Bud on the most beautiful of weekends and get in with no problem. The past 3 times I’ve tried to come here the line of cars waiting for a parking spot has been so long that I couldn’t even GET in line because I would be blocking the roadway. I tried to go today, a freaking Wednesday at 4:00, thinking surely I could get in, but nope! Ridiculous!
Yes, it’s a nice park, but it’s not some kind of Austin landmark that you need to include on your travel itinerary. Just get your 6 pack and go down to Franklin’s and leave Red Bud alone. We city folk had this little oasis to bring our dogs to for a getaway from the traffic and Californians and it’s now impossible to go there.
I’m not usually this hostile, but damn! Can’t even take my dog to the park?! There’s too many people in this town!

What else can I say about this wonderful off-​leash dog park? This is my favorite spot to bring my two dogs. I have lots of fond memories of this place.
There’s something here for every dog. My older dog is not very social, but loves running through the brush and splashing in the lake. My younger dog, however, loves people and greets everyone in sight! There is a shallow beach when you first get on the trail which is ideal for teaching your dog how to swim and it’s fun just walking around the loop and watching all the dogs enjoying themselves. Everyone is generally very friendly and it’s obvious that everyone is a dog lover. I usually do 3 – 4 loops around the small island and by the time I’m done, my pups are pooped out. They get all their energy out and basically sleep for the rest of the day.
The only minor complaints I would say about this place is that parking is limited and you’ll probably have to wait, and sometimes in the summer the dog poop can get a bit overwhelming. But these are minor and I try to come to Red Bud every chance I get. It would also be nice if the city installed an outdoor dog wash station for muddy paws, but again, not a big deal if you bring your own towel to wipe off your dogs.
Love love love this park. I wish every city had something like this.

I love Red Bud Isle for our 6 month puppy, it’s great socialization and helps us teach her manners. If your dog swims, its paradise! It’s great socialization for your dog as most dogs are friendly and ready to play. The majority of people there are cool as are their dogs. It;s a great place for dogs to meet & play chase. Today there were 8 – 10 labs jumping, running & swimming together which was great — my puppy joined in and had a great time.
There is a big notice that it is a leash-​free park at the entrance but we have run into a few people fishing who get irritated if a dog is interested in the smell of their bait. One fisher-​woman called my husband an a-​hole because our 6 month old puppy ran up to a common dog swimming spot & licked her cup. IMO there are plenty of places to fish besides a leash-​free dog park.
People are great about cleaning up after their dogs and the park has plenty of waste bags so the trails are always clean.
If you don’t like dogs, don’t want to get wet/​dirty, have a dog that doesn’t like other dogs/​people than this isn’t the place for you!

This is great place for dogs like mine who love to run, chase squirrels and play/​socialize/​take a dip in the lake
Beware: there is a lady there who has called out my dog specifically for getting in the middle of her dog’s game of catch and asked me to get my dog. You really shouldn’t bring your dog to the dog park lady if you want your dog to have her space. I being my dog so she can play and socialize. It’s not a private place. Unfortunately it has happened twice with this lady and this time I was not nice about it.

I wanted to love Red Bud. Everyone has been telling us we need to take our two dogs (both shepherd mutts, 100+ lbs) there, so on Sunday we headed down to check it out. We got in line at 8am and it took about 20 minutes before it was our turn to park. Not too bad, although we heard from a regular that it was longer than usual for that time of morning.
It was incredibly shady, which was great. Our dogs don’t do very much exploring so the deep brush on either sides of the trail wasn’t fully utilized. Our younger one would go in along the edge but pop back out after 10 seconds or so. Our older dog appreciated all of the entrances to the water since he’s a big swimmer. The island was much smaller than I expected it to be and after only two loops, the dogs seemed pretty bored. Luckily we ended up finding a few chase packs to tire them out, but when we asked if they wanted to go home (yes, they know what ‘home’ means — smart dogs) they surprisingly started to head back to the car. This never happens at any of our other regular spots.
Red Bud might be a once-​in-​awhile type place, but think we’ll stick to the Turkey Creek Trail from now on. They seem to get a better workout there.

My new favorite spot to hang out with my pups! This place is truly a dog’s paradise! Red Bud is filled with ample places for Fido to swim, run, explore, and play without having to worry about him running into the street! I would give this place five stars but the lack of parking is such a pain in the ass!

Pros:
Lots of space to run around
Nice, natural feel (lots of trees)
Easy water access
Well-​stocked poop bags/​trash cans
Clean
Cons:
Seriously limited parking
Lacks a good «common» area
Muddy
Would I go back? Eh, maybe, if a friend was going and invited me sure, but probably not on my own. I usually go to Auditorium Shores as it’s convenient to my house and has a much livelier crowd of people, but branched out this past weekend as SXSW shut them down.
Red Bud seems more for folks that want to stroll around with their dogs off leash more than socialize their pups, which doesn’t really work for me. There was NO parking at the park, I had to park up on Lake Austin and walk down, which wouldn’t have been so bad except my puppy was mortally terrified of the bridge. Scared puppy + super close traffic = scary and dangerous.

15 parking spots. Yes, I counted. Ok fine, I don’t remember if it was exactly 15, but it was definitely less than 20 spots. I once drove by and saw cars illegally parked and thought rather than risk a ticket, I’d just go to Auditorium Shores.
This time I think I got it right. Open spot just for me and Roxy Rue! Cute and secluded, quiet except for the occasional dog who likes to hear his/​her own bark echoing across the way. Roxy’s first experience falling into water– fantastic! Although I threw her in a couple more times, I don’t think she trusts me around water anymore. I’m sorry if Roxy snapped at your dog, she’s having issues right now (we’re working through them slowly).
Not a lot of poop sightings, so that’s good. If your dog isn’t into the rocky water stuff, there is some green stuff for them too. I love the first drop off on the right. It has quite the view. I could sit and read under those trees for hours.
Interestingly enough, I did see a couple of ppl reading with no dogs in sight. Maybe they have adventurous dogs that can wander around without them. Lucky bastards.

My dog, Zico, is no longer a puppy but he’s known Red Bud since then. The vet told me the best thing to do after rescuing a puppy is to socialize him with other dogs. So Red Bud Isle it was, 3x a week.
I can’t imagine why it has taken me so long to write a review about this place. Perhaps it is (1) because it is one place I enjoy taking my dog AND finding solace, or (2) parking is already so hard to find since the City marked every curb a red zone and made it illegal to park on the grass, or (3) I haven’t had the time to do so, or (4) 60 other awesome Unilocalers already said what needed to be said or (5) I was waiting for an occasion like today (1.24.11)!
Forward three years later and today was awesome because of ONE regular character (name withheld, denoted by *). I drive up — park right next to * and his first response; «Greetings, it is Elsa’s 12^th birthday. I have Texadelphia sandwiches, chips and M&Ms — what works with your coffee?»
Mind you, I’ve met * multiple times before, and * is always quick to recount a joke, a quip or some historical fact that eluded me in school. Cigar in hand and coffee in the other. Amazing person overall!
And my dog, Zico loves *‘s Elsa and Lobo — but the sheer hospitality in a public place with limited parking makes my heart tickle.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is why I keep going back to Red Bud. In fact, Zico is so excited to get there and jump out, I forget to check-​in! :)
P. S. Happy Birthday Elsa!!!

Did you know that… this is technically Red Bud surrounded on all sides?
…there are bass in the water surrounding this island?
… there is compressed quartz in some of the limestone boulders?
…there is a giant sculpture of a garden spade that reads ‘Scoop the Poop’?
Well la-​dee-​dah.