FIELD NOTES / AUSTIN OUTDOORS
Tarrytown, Austin: use the parks to plan a better home-search visit
Tarrytown, Austin, sits between MoPac and Lake Austin in a neighborhood the City of Austin does not map as a planning area, so the most reliable way to organize a visit is around the public places the City does list: Reed Neighborhood Park at 2614 Pecos Street, 6.369 acres, and Tarrytown Neighborhood Park at 2106 Tower Drive, 2.2502 acres, per the City park directory. Add Mayfield Park, Deep Eddy Pool, Walsh Boat Landing and the 155.62-acre Lions Municipal Golf Course, and you have a set of fixed points from which to test a route, a slope, a tree and a claim of lake access against a specific house. Here is how to use them, with the numbers each one carries.
By David Eimer · Austin Journal · 10 minute read · Published
The numbers
- Reed Neighborhood Park
- 2614 Pecos Street, 6.369 acresAs of City park directory, retrieved September 26, 2026
Tarrytown Neighborhood Park at 2106 Tower Drive is 2.2502 acres; both are in ZIP 78703.
Source: City of Austin ↗
- Lions Municipal Golf Course
- 2901 Enfield Road, 155.62 acresAs of City park directory, retrieved September 26, 2026
Opened in 1924 on leased University of Texas land; the lease passed to the City in 1936, per the City's GolfATX page.
Source: City of Austin ↗
- Mayfield Park
- 23.331 acresAs of City park directory, retrieved September 26, 2026
Willed to the City of Austin as a public park in 1971; open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.; no pets, per the City's park page.
Source: City of Austin ↗
- Deep Eddy Pool
- Built 1915, the oldest swimming pool in TexasAs of City of Austin pool page, retrieved September 26, 2026
2026 season March 14 to October 31; the pool sits in the 8.2789-acre Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park at 401 Deep Eddy Avenue.
- Tree size at which City rules begin on a residential lot
- 19 inches in diameterAs of Retrieved September 26, 2026
Removal, pruning 25% or more of the canopy, or disturbing the critical root zone of a regulated tree needs a Tree Ordinance Review Application.
Source: City of Austin ↗
- Old West Austin Historic District, National Register
- Listed September 12, 2003As of Texas Historic Sites Atlas, retrieved September 26, 2026
Roughly bounded by West 13th, Lamar Boulevard, West 35th and MoPac; Tarrytown lies west of MoPac, outside it.
Source: Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas ↗
- Median sale price, City of Austin
- $560,000As of August 2026
Down 4.3% year over year. Unlock MLS publishes no Tarrytown figure; a city median is not a West Austin price.
Source: Unlock MLS ↗
Where is Tarrytown, Austin, and why start the visit at a park?
Tarrytown, Austin, is a neighborhood name with no official City boundary: the City of Austin's neighborhoods dataset lists named planning areas such as Hancock and Old West Austin, and Tarrytown is not one of them, so the name covers whatever a listing agent says it covers. That is the first reason to anchor a visit to places with an address and an acreage. The City park directory gives two inside the neighborhood: Reed Neighborhood Park at 2614 Pecos Street, 6.369 acres, and Tarrytown Neighborhood Park at 2106 Tower Drive, 2.2502 acres.
The second reason is that Tarrytown's streets run over West Austin's limestone slopes toward Lake Austin, and a park is where you can see the terrain without standing in someone's yard. The route from a candidate house to Reed Park tells you about grade, crossings and shade; the route to Walsh Boat Landing at 1600 Scenic Drive tells you what the lake is actually like to reach on foot. The Tarrytown neighborhood guide sets out the character; this post is the field method. For the Tarrytown Austin homes for sale this week, see current listings and bring the addresses along.
The table lists the City parkland within and beside Tarrytown with the directory's addresses and sizes, so a shortlist can be checked against fixed points rather than against a listing's straight-line distance.
City of Austin parkland in and beside Tarrytown, from the park directory
| Park | Address | Acres | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reed Neighborhood Park | 2614 Pecos St., 78703 | 6.369 | One of two named neighborhood parks inside Tarrytown |
| Tarrytown Neighborhood Park | 2106 Tower Dr., 78703 | 2.2502 | The other named neighborhood park |
| Mayfield Park | West 35th St., 78703 | 23.331 | Cottage gardens and preserve; willed to the City in 1971; open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Lions Municipal Golf Course | 2901 Enfield Rd., 78703 | 155.62 | City-operated course on University of Texas land since 1936; on the National Register |
| Johnson Creek Greenbelt | 2001 Enfield Rd., 78703 | 59.47 | Creek corridor beside the golf course |
| Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park | 401 Deep Eddy Ave., 78703 | 8.2789 | Home of Deep Eddy Pool, built 1915 |
| Walsh Boat Landing | 1600 Scenic Dr., 78703 | 6.1466 | Public access point to Lake Austin |
Sources: City of Austin Open Data ↗ · City of Austin ↗
Which West Austin parks and public places anchor a Tarrytown visit?
Mayfield Park on West 35th Street is the neighborhood's landmark public space. The City's park page says the cottage was built between 1860 and 1880, was bought in 1909 by Allison Mayfield as a family retreat, passed in 1922 to his daughter Mary Frances, and was willed to the City of Austin as a public park by Mrs. Gutsch in 1971. The peafowl descend from birds gifted in 1937. The park directory lists it at 23.331 acres, of which the City page says just under two acres are the walled cottage gardens; it is open every day from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and pets, fishing and climbing on the rock walls are not allowed.
Deep Eddy Pool, in the 8.2789-acre Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park at 401 Deep Eddy Avenue, is the oldest swimming pool in Texas according to the City's pool page: A.J. Eilers Sr. bought the land around the swimming hole in 1915 and built the concrete pool, which now draws its water from on-site wells in the same aquifer as the cold springs that once rose on the riverbank. The 2026 season runs March 14 through October 31, with lap swim from 8 a.m. and recreational swim from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Tuesdays.
Lions Municipal Golf Course, at 2901 Enfield Road, is 155.62 acres in the park directory. The City's GolfATX page says the Lions Club opened it in 1924 as the first public golf course in the city on leased University of Texas Brackenridge Tract land, the lease transferred to the City in 1936, and it was one of the first courses in the South to desegregate, before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954; it is on the National Register and the Texas Registry of Historic Golf Courses. Community Impact reported on October 30, 2025 that the City continues to lease the course from the university for less than $500,000 a year and that the state's Save Historic Muny District was extended to May 2027, so the course's long-term status is a live question for anyone buying nearby.
Sources: City of Austin Parks and Recreation ↗ · City of Austin ↗ · City of Austin GolfATX ↗ · Community Impact ↗
How do you test the route from a Tarrytown address?
Pick the outing you would actually make from the house, then walk or ride it at the time of day you would do it. Tarrytown's grades are gentle on the plateau and steep toward the lake, and a listing's distance to Reed Park says nothing about which of those you would climb. Note where sidewalks end, where Exposition Boulevard and Enfield Road have to be crossed, and where live oak shade runs out on a July afternoon. Our general route test for a new Austin address covers the same method for commutes.
For transit, two CapMetro local routes touch the neighborhood on the schedules effective August 16, 2026 through January 9, 2027. Route 18, MLK, runs along Enfield Road and Lake Austin Boulevard on its map, with the University of Texas, downtown Austin, O. Henry Middle School and the LCRA among its listed destinations. Route 335, 35th/38th Street, crosses Exposition Boulevard on its way between Camp Mabry, Casis Elementary, Seton Medical Center and Central Market. Neither is on CapMetro's every-15-minutes network, so check the timetable for the hour you would ride rather than assuming a bus is coming.
A car route deserves the same test. Enfield Road and Windsor Road are the connections to MoPac and downtown, and the time they take at 8 a.m. is not the time they take at 2 p.m. Drive it once at each before treating the address as a short commute.
Sources: CapMetro ↗
What should you look at on a Tarrytown lot: slope, drainage and trees?
A shaded Tarrytown street makes a strong first impression; the lot is where the money goes. Separate the general appeal from three parcel questions: how the ground slopes, where water goes when it rains, and which trees are regulated. Walk the yard and sketch the parts you would use, because a lot's square footage on a slope is not the same as its usable area, and stone retaining walls, steps and swales are maintenance items a listing photo flattens out.
The City's residential tree page sets the threshold: trees less than 19 inches in diameter are not regulated on residential property, and protected and heritage trees above that size are. Removing a regulated tree, pruning 25% or more of its canopy, or starting work that may disturb its critical root zone requires a Tree Ordinance Review Application; within that zone, 50% of the ground must be preserved without impact, cuts or fills over 4 inches are barred in the outer half, and no impacts are allowed in the innermost quarter. If a future addition, pool or driveway matters to you, map the trees against it before assuming the yard is buildable, and read what the tree rules mean for a project.
For drainage, the City's FloodPro tool shows floodplain and storm drain information by address, and its floodplain services page is the starting point for FEMA map-change research as well. This post makes no neighborhood-wide flood claim in either direction; the lot's own creek, swale or storm inlet is the question, and our note on reading the Austin flood map before buying explains what the layers mean.
Sources: City of Austin ↗
Does a Tarrytown home come with Lake Austin access?
Only if the property's own documents say so. Proximity to Lake Austin, a view of it, or a street name ending in Scenic does not create a right to reach the water, and the public way to the lake is the City's Walsh Boat Landing at 1600 Scenic Drive, 6.1466 acres in the park directory. For a private parcel, ask what access, if any, is conveyed: a shoreline lot, a deeded easement, a boat slip in a shared facility, or nothing. Identify the exact facility being discussed and find it in the deed records rather than in the listing remarks; the property research desk lists where those records live.
If the lot does touch the lake, the City of Austin's boat dock page adds a permit layer. Construction on, under or next to the water in Lake Austin, Lady Bird Lake or Lake Walter E. Long may require specific reviews and permits: an approved site plan or site plan exemption is required before applying for a residential building permit, simple re-decking and repair of an existing structure can proceed under a site plan exemption with a building permit, and any new construction or expansion of a dock's footprint requires a full site plan. The page points to Land Development Code Section 25-2-1171 and Article 13 for the rules themselves.
What Lake Austin shoreline work requires, per the City of Austin boat dock page
| Work | City approval needed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Simple dock re-decking | Site plan exemption | Existing structure, no change to footprint |
| Repair of an existing dock or bulkhead | Site plan exemption plus a building permit | Repair, not expansion |
| New dock, bulkhead or shoreline construction | Site plan plus a building permit | Any new construction with a building permit |
| Adding to or expanding a dock's footprint | Site plan plus a building permit | Rules in Land Development Code 25-2-1171 and Article 13 |
An existing dock, then, is a question of whether it was permitted and whether it can be repaired or must be replaced under current rules. Ask for the permit record along with the survey, and treat a bulkhead or dock in poor condition as a priced item in the offer.
Sources: City of Austin ↗ · City of Austin Development Services ↗
Is Tarrytown Austin in a historic district?
Tarrytown as a whole is not. The Old West Austin Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, listed September 12, 2003 under reference 03000937, is roughly bounded by West 13th Street, Lamar Boulevard, West 35th Street and MoPac according to the Texas Historical Commission's atlas; Tarrytown lies west of MoPac, outside that boundary, even though Tarrytown addresses are often described as being in it. Individual houses can still be designated Austin historic landmarks, and the City's historic review page applies review to landmarks and to contributing properties in local and National Register districts, so the check is address by address.
The City's Historic Properties Viewer, linked from its historic properties page, shows local and national designations for a parcel, and the same page notes that inclusion in a historic resource survey does not automatically result in designation. If a house is a landmark, exterior changes go through the process described in our Hyde Park post on historic status before changes; if it is not, the ordinary residential rules and the tree ordinance are the constraints.
Either way, the answer belongs in the property file before you price a renovation, not after.
Sources: Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas ↗ · City of Austin ↗
What do the Austin market numbers say, and what don't they say about a Tarrytown house?
Unlock MLS's August 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, released September 15, 2026, puts the City of Austin median sale price at $560,000, down 4.3% from August 2025, on 844 closed sales, with 4,554 active listings, 4.6 months of inventory and an average close-to-list price of 93.3%; Travis County's median was $489,000. The release contains no Tarrytown figure, and West Austin's range of lot sizes, ages and lake frontage is wide enough that a city median describes none of it. The Austin market page carries each release as it lands.
What the city numbers do say is the pace: a 93.3% close-to-list average and 4.6 months of inventory mean a buyer has time to walk the routes above, pull the tree and flood layers, and read the deed for access rights before writing an offer. Sort the visit's notes into three piles before you do: things you observed, such as the grade to Reed Park; things someone reported, such as a seller's account of drainage; and things still to verify, such as a dock permit. Only the first pile is evidence.
None of this forecasts prices. If you have a Tarrytown address in hand, bring it to David and he can pull the closed sales of comparable West Austin homes, the parcel's tree and floodplain layers, and any recorded access rights, so the shortlist gets shorter for the right reasons.
Sources: Unlock MLS ↗
Common questions
What parks are in Tarrytown, Austin?
The City of Austin park directory lists Reed Neighborhood Park at 2614 Pecos Street, 6.369 acres, and Tarrytown Neighborhood Park at 2106 Tower Drive, 2.2502 acres, inside the neighborhood. Beside it are Mayfield Park at 23.331 acres, the 155.62-acre Lions Municipal Golf Course, the 59.47-acre Johnson Creek Greenbelt, Eilers (Deep Eddy) Neighborhood Park at 8.2789 acres and Walsh Boat Landing at 6.1466 acres, all in ZIP 78703.
Do Tarrytown homes have Lake Austin access?
Not by default. Access to Lake Austin is a property-specific right that must appear in the deed or a recorded easement, and a view or a nearby street does not create it. The public access point is the City's Walsh Boat Landing at 1600 Scenic Drive. For a lot that touches the lake, the City's boat dock page says re-decking needs a site plan exemption, repairs need an exemption plus a building permit, and any new or expanded dock needs a full site plan and permit.
Which bus routes serve Tarrytown, Austin?
On CapMetro's schedules effective August 16, 2026 through January 9, 2027, Route 18 MLK runs along Enfield Road and Lake Austin Boulevard toward the University of Texas and downtown, and Route 335 35th/38th Street crosses Exposition Boulevard between Camp Mabry, Casis Elementary, Seton Medical Center and Central Market. Neither is a 15-minute high-frequency route, so check the timetable for your hour.
Is Tarrytown a historic district?
Tarrytown as a neighborhood is not. The Old West Austin Historic District on the National Register, listed September 12, 2003, is roughly bounded by West 13th Street, Lamar Boulevard, West 35th Street and MoPac per the Texas Historical Commission, and Tarrytown lies west of MoPac. Individual houses can be City of Austin landmarks, so check the specific address in the City's Historic Properties Viewer before planning exterior changes.
Is Lions Municipal Golf Course closing?
The City of Austin's GolfATX page says the course opened in 1924 on leased University of Texas land and that the lease passed to the City in 1936; Community Impact reported on October 30, 2025 that the City still leases it for less than $500,000 a year and that the state's Save Historic Muny District was extended to May 2027. No closure has been announced in those sources, and its future is a matter for the University, the City and the Legislature rather than a settled fact.
How much do homes in Tarrytown Austin cost?
Unlock MLS publishes no Tarrytown median for the Tarrytown Austin homes for sale in any month. Its August 2026 report puts the City of Austin median sale price at $560,000, down 4.3% year over year, and Travis County's at $489,000, on 4.6 and 5.1 months of inventory respectively; neither describes a West Austin lot with mature trees or lake frontage. The price of a specific Tarrytown house comes from closed sales of comparable homes on nearby streets, adjusted for lot, condition and any recorded lake access.
Take this to your next conversation
- Walk the route from each shortlisted address to Reed Park or Mayfield Park at the hour you would actually go, and drive Enfield or Windsor to MoPac at 8 a.m. and again mid-afternoon before calling the commute short.
- Map every tree near a planned addition, pool or driveway against the City's 19-inch rule, and look the address up on FloodPro before treating the yard as buildable.
- Treat any lake-access claim as unproven until the deed, a recorded easement or a slip agreement names the facility, and pull the dock's permit record with the survey.
Sources and review date
Sources checked . Planning suggestions are editorial guidance; current property facts and requirements need an address-specific check.
- City of Austin: park directory ↗
- City of Austin Open Data: Boundaries, City of Austin neighborhoods ↗
- City of Austin Parks and Recreation: Mayfield Park ↗
- City of Austin Parks and Recreation: Deep Eddy Pool ↗
- City of Austin GolfATX: Lions Municipal Course ↗
- Community Impact: Muny golf course preservation efforts in Austin extended another 2 years, October 30, 2025 ↗
- CapMetro: Route 18 MLK schedule, effective August 16, 2026 to January 9, 2027 ↗
- CapMetro: Route 335 35th/38th Street schedule, effective August 16, 2026 to January 9, 2027 ↗
- City of Austin: trees on residential property ↗
- City of Austin: FloodPro maps and storm drain infrastructure ↗
- City of Austin Development Services: boat docks ↗
- Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas: Old West Austin Historic District ↗
- City of Austin: historic review ↗
- City of Austin: historic properties and the Historic Properties Viewer ↗
- Unlock MLS: August 2026 Central Texas Housing Report, released September 15, 2026 ↗