Austin Nature and Science Center

What a fantastic park!  Actually, the Austin Nature and Science Center is more than a park.  It is an educational experience, teaching children both to understand and to appreciate the natural world through exploration and exhibits.  This park has been in operation since the 1960s.

We found parking (underneath Mopac) in the designated and unpaved lot for the ANSC.  There’s a short walk that is handicap (and stroller) accessible to first an observation deck that looks down upon the dinosaur dig area that teaches children about paleontology.  We came on a Saturday morning, and I was surprised that there weren’t more children at play in the Dino Pit.  Had we had more time, we would have brought a shovel and pail for our kids to play here.  Unlike the dinosaur pit in Cedar Park at Champion Park, this one at the Nature and Science Center features actual fossils from the 301 Congress construction site and dino tracks

Walking down a set of steps, we came to the building which has the “Naturalist Workshop.”  Children are free to touch, examine, and explore fossils and bones and animal specimens with magnifying glasses, triple beam balances (the real kind by Ohaus like you’d find in labs), and for older children, they can use field guides to help identify specimens.

There is another room inside this building which represents the woodlands ecosystem, and our youngest (1 year old) spent a good half hour in this room, climbing up on the rocks and walking through the cave.  The woodlands room has a sun atrium that looks right out onto a pond, and the kids had fun searching for turtles, frogs, and other aquatic life.

Walking out of the building, there’s a wood-decked then gravel path which leads to a series of classrooms and building (“Small Wonders”), housing exhibits of some live animal specimens in display terrariums and aquariums.  The room does have a strong odor so some children may find that off-putting if they are sensitive to smells.  Next to the Small Wonders exhibit are some cages of animals, and our children especially liked the coyote.  On exhibit are over 90 native Texas species, and all the animals on “display” cannot be returned to the wild.

There is a walking path for the eco challenge, and we noticed that there were science material carts labeled with kits for this challenge.  Since all the kits were taken, we were unsure if this was something that was for arranged group or school tours so we did not walk the trail.  Additionally there is a SPLASH exhibit, featuring the Barton Springs and Edwards Aquifer, but we did not make it to that exhibit. Our children were far more preoccupied with the animals and wanting to get back to the “Naturalist Workshop” exhibit.

The Austin Nature and Science Center is the perfect gateway to introducing naturalist biology to children, and we just LOVE this place.  This park is free since it is part of the Austin Parks department.

Austin Nature and Science Center
301 Nature Center Dr
Austin, TX 78746
(512) 327-8180

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