From All Roads.

Downton Austin is known for it’s walkable and vibrant entertainment districts, rocking live music venues and bats. Lots and lots of bats. An estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats find lodging in the beamed architecture of the Congress Avenue Bridge to raise their young.

From spring through early fall, locals and eager tourists surround the bridge each evening to glimpse the enormous colony take flight. Families can set up camp on the kid-friendly hillside beneath the bridge where the Austin Bat Refuge team is onsite nightly offering educational resources, demonstrations and a countdown to takeoff. More adventurous observers can rent kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddle boards for a front row seat from Lady Bird Lake.

Regardless of the vantage point, this unusual attraction is a natural wonder of spectacular scale. As sunset approaches, excitement builds to a fever pitch and the first eager bats begin to emerge. Soon the sky is filled with these winged wonders as they take flight in a remarkably synchronized and enormous column. Soon the sky is filled with these winged wonders as they take flight in a remarkably synchronized and enormous column.

With bats bursting forth from all corners of the bridge, the one of a kind show can last nearly 15 minutes. It’s clear from the crowd that eco-conscious Austinites are thrilled to share the heart of their city with these gentle creatures.

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