Upper Barton Creek Management Unit
Managed by Austin Water
836 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Bee Cave
27% of Bee Cave’s land is conserved: 1,514 acres
11 miles of mapped trail cross Bee Cave, 1.3 per square mile of land. 236 acres are parks and preserves, 27 per 1,000 residents. 81% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #24 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
27%
1,514 acres · of 8.7 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
236 ac
27 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
81%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.4 mi
0.2 mi lanes · 0.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Bee Cave?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bee Cave have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bee Cave is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #24 of 642 in Texas. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bee Cave’s overall grade.
Conserved land27% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land27 acres of park per 1,000 residents (236 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home81% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 96%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Bee Cave’s 27% is ahead of 97% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 93% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bee Cave Central Park
Park
46 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Field of Dreams
Park
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bee Cave Sculpture Park
Park
3 acres0.2 mi of trail
Bee Cave Sculpture Park Footpath
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Bee Cave Sculpture Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Bee Cave Central Park46 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Upper Barton Creek Management Unit836 acres · Austin Water
Field of Dreams17 acres
Bee Cave City Hall Greenspace1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,514 conserved acres
27% of Bee Cave’s land. Who manages Bee Cave’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city2,255 ac
Joint355 ac
Regional agency296 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits88 ac
Private owners47 ac
Watershed Protection Area · 838 acOther Easement · 838 acConservation Easement · 673 acLocal Conservation Area · 374 acLocal Park · 274 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 25 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Austin Water Quality Protection Land Watershed Protection Area | Town or city | 838 | Closed |
| Balcones Canyonlands Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 374 | Restricted |
| Bee Cave/Falconhead West Primitive Park Local Park | Regional agency | 148 | Open |
| Bee Cave Central Park Local Park | Town or city | 58 | Open |
| Barton Creek Habitat Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 43 | Closed |
| Bohls Local Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Ltya Field Of Dreams Recreation Fields Local Park | Private owners | 19 | Open |
| Falconhead Neighborhood Park Local Park | Private owners | 4 | Open |
| Bee Cave Sculpture Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Falconhead Pocket Park Local Park | Private owners | 1 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Bee Cave
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bee Cave
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Bee Cave
Bee Cave Dog ParkIn Bee Cave Central Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.9 miUnpaved · 2.3 mi
Bee Cave Sculpture Park Footpath0.2 mi
Biking & sports
1.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
15Golf
1Beach volleyball
1Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Bee Cave
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 65 | 72 | 79 | 85 | 92 | 95 | 96 | 90 | 81 | 70 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
February is the driest month (2.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 4.5 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bee Cave →
Next door
Bee Cave and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Bee Cave
Where can I hike in Bee Cave?
The longest trail networks: Bee Cave Central Park, 0.1 miles; Bee Cave Sculpture Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bee Cave is conserved land?
27% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Texas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bee Cave’s trails?
Upper Barton Creek Management Unit and Bee Cave Central Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bee Cave?
1.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of painted or protected lanes, 0.8 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Bee Cave?
20,950 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bee Cave or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 268 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Bee Cave have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #24 of 642 in Texas. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Bee Cave neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →