Austin Hidden Gems

Real, locals-only spots across Austin, TX — beyond the tourist trail.

Quests on this wheel

• Call Ahead to Visit the Cathedral of Junk — A South Austin backyard sculpture built from decades of scavenged junk, climbable by appointment only — one of Austin's strangest, most personal landmarks.
• Free-Paint a Wall at HOPE Outdoor Gallery — Austin's legal graffiti park relocated to Carson Creek near the airport — a working, ever-changing outdoor gallery where the public can paint the exterior walls.
• Swim Texas's Oldest Pool at Deep Eddy — A spring-fed, art deco pool built in 1936 that predates Barton Springs — the oldest swimming pool in Texas, and a quieter alternative to the city's more famous one.
• Two-Step at The Broken Spoke Dance Hall — A real Texas honky-tonk open since 1964, with live country music and a wood dance floor that's now a designated state historic landmark.
• Chase the Waterfalls at McKinney Falls State Park — A limestone-terraced waterfall and swimming hole inside Austin's city limits, with hiking trails and a historic 1850s gristmill ruin most visitors never find.
• Walk the Sculpture Trail at Laguna Gloria — A 14-acre lakefront art park with a rotating outdoor sculpture trail and a 1916 Mediterranean-style villa — Austin's contemporary art museum hiding in plain sight.

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