"Barton Springs Pool, Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, Barton Creek Greenbelt, Zilker Park Disk Golf Course, and Zilker Playscape WILL REMAIN OPEN throughout September and October 2026."
That line is in capital letters on the City of Austin's parks closure page. It sits one sentence after the notice that the Great Lawn is closed from Monday, September 21, through Sunday, October 18. The festival itself runs October 2–4 and October 9–11. That's six show days inside a closure that lasts four weeks. If you live in Zilker, Barton Hills or Bouldin Creek, the festival takes over the lawn and the lots for a month. The pool, the trail and the Greenbelt stay open the whole time. During that month, the main questions are which entrance is open and at what hour.
It's Saturday, October 3, the middle of weekend one. Here is the rest of the calendar, organized around getting to the places that stay open.
Most of the Park Stays Open
The parks department lists these as open throughout September and October 2026:
- Barton Springs Pool
- Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail
- Barton Creek Greenbelt
- Zilker Park Disc Golf Course
- Zilker Playscape
The neighborhood letter from festival producer C3 Presents, posted by the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association, adds one more: Auditorium Shores stays open at all times for general use and off-leash dogs.
Two things are not on that list. The Great Lawn is closed through October 18. Zilker Botanical Garden closed on Thursday, October 1, for abatement, renovation and maintenance, and it's scheduled to reopen on Friday, October 16. The city says the garden's main building may stay closed after that date. The garden closure has nothing to do with ACL, but it falls in the same weeks. Anyone hoping to take a visiting guest to the garden during festival season will find it closed until the middle of the month.
Barton Springs Pool Has One Entrance on Festival Weekends
The pool stays open at its normal hours. On festival weekends, though, it can be reached only through the Azie Morton Road entrance. The 2026 neighborhood letter says parking at the south gate lot off Azie Morton is reserved for swimmers on festival days.
That reserved lot comes with a time limit. City closure information lists Azie Morton Road as closed daily from 11 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on festival days, both weekends. The same road is the neighborhood's way out in the morning. The 2026 letter says residential traffic can exit via Azie Morton Road and then head east on Barton Springs Road from midnight to 11 a.m. On a festival Saturday or Sunday, 11 a.m. is the cutoff for driving through the south side of the park. After that, it's easier to get to the pool on foot or by bike.
Barton Springs Road itself is closed to all vehicles starting at Sterzing Street on show days. Drivers can make a U-turn there and are directed back to South Lamar Boulevard. The letter says the closure keeps fewer cars in the neighborhoods and creates a safe pedestrian crossing at Azie Morton and Barton Springs Road. Community Impact's 2026 guide gives the full window: from 7 p.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Monday on both weekends.
Weekend Two, Day by Day
The second weekend follows the same pattern as the first. Here is what changes on each day, based on the 2026 city, festival and neighborhood sources.
Thursday, October 8. Stratford Drive closes at 9 a.m. Barton Springs Road closes to vehicles at 7 p.m. The same evening, Jess Williamson plays the Continental Club as part of the ACL Fest Nights series, with doors at 9:30 p.m. It's the one late-night show on the series schedule at a South Austin venue this week, and it's on South Congress, well outside the closure area.
Friday, October 9. Gates open at noon, and amplified sound is permitted until 10 p.m. Azie Morton Road closes to vehicles at 11 a.m. The signed no-parking zones in Zilker, Bouldin, Barton Hills and Deep Eddy are enforced Friday through Sunday.
Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11. Same hours, same closures. The city's mobility guide also lists these closures for festival days:
- Northbound MoPac frontage road access between Bee Caves Road and Andrew Zilker Road
- Northbound Jessie Street
- Limited access at set times on Sterzing and Toomey
- Evening vehicle restrictions on Barton Springs Road, Stephen F. Austin Drive, Veterans Drive and Atlanta Street
On Sunday, CapMetro runs special Red Line service, with the last trains leaving downtown at 12:30 a.m.
Monday, October 12. Barton Springs Road reopens at 6 a.m. The Stratford Drive reopening time depends on which source you read. The parks closure page and the Barton Hills letter say 6 a.m. The city's interactive mobility map lists the second Stratford closure ending Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. If your Monday commute uses Stratford, check the live map that morning.
The Week After ACL Ends
After the last set on October 11, the park doesn't reopen right away. Post-event lane closures and Stratford Drive restrictions continue from October 12 through October 16. Several Zilker parking lots that closed on staggered dates in September stay closed through October 18. The Great Lawn closure also runs through Sunday, October 18.
| Date | What reopens or changes |
|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 12 | Barton Springs Road reopens at 6 a.m.; Stratford Drive per live map |
| Oct 12–16 | Post-event lane and Stratford Drive restrictions continue |
| Fri, Oct 16 | Zilker Botanical Garden scheduled to reopen; main building may stay closed |
| Sun, Oct 18 | Last scheduled day of the Great Lawn and Zilker lot closures |
The city lists the closures as running through October 18 but hasn't published a separate reopening announcement or a completion date for any lawn recovery work. Anyone planning a picnic, a birthday party in the park, or a weekend with houseguests that depends on the Great Lawn has a cleaner date to plan around starting the weekend of October 24.
The festival week and the restricted week after it last about as long, which matters more for a weekday routine than for a weekend one. The 7 a.m. drive to work, the lot you use for the Greenbelt trailhead and your school drop-off route may all still be restricted during the week after the festival, even though the festival is over.
Getting Out of the Neighborhood and Back In
City and local guidance agree that there's no festival parking at Zilker or in the surrounding neighborhoods. For residents, that affects their own guests as much as festivalgoers. The 2026 Barton Hills guidance offers a simple tip: park your own car in a legal on-street space and leave the driveway open for visitors. It also notes that the temporary no-parking signs stay up between the two weekends, so a sign on your street on a Tuesday doesn't necessarily mean enforcement that day.
For guests coming without a car, CapMetro recommends Routes 3, 30 and 803. Routes 3 and 803 serve South Lamar and Barton Springs. Route 30 serves Spyglass and is detoured away from Barton Springs Road during ACL. A bus ride costs $1.25. Community Impact puts the Route 3 and 803 stops near South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road about three-quarters of a mile from the festival entrance. The festival's free shuttle boards at Sand Beach Park, at Walter Seaholm Drive and Electric Drive downtown. It starts running at 11:30 a.m. daily and drops riders at the Barton Springs West entrance.
The Butler Trail stays open throughout the closure period and works as a walking and biking route to the festival. If you walk or bike the trail for exercise, expect more people on it during the afternoons and evenings of show days.
Families with small children heading into the festival have a new option this year. A dedicated far-right lane at the Barton Springs East entrance is set aside for them in 2026.
Close to Home on Show Days
The original Chuy's, at 1728 Barton Springs Road, is still open, with current hours on its Visit Austin listing. Call ahead about access on festival days, since Barton Springs Road is closed to vehicles beginning at Sterzing Street. On the festival grounds, the ACL Eats vendor list includes Thai Fresh.
Sound ends at 10 p.m. each show night under the city's permit. Today is the one exception to the noon start: the festival lists Saturday, October 3, as a 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. day. The city's 311 line and the Austin 311 app handle neighborhood issues throughout the event. The full map of closures by date is on the city's ACL Mobility Guide at austintexas.gov/parkevents.
Planning showings, an estate sale, or a move-out near Zilker means planning around these same closures, especially the Azie Morton cutoff and the lots that stay closed through October 18. If you're timing a sale or a move in Barton Hills or Zilker around festival season, Roxanne Escobedo can help you choose dates that work around the closures. Schedule a confidential consultation.
