Zilker Park is the city's largest and most beloved green space — 350 acres of parkland along the south bank of Lady Bird Lake, containing Barton Springs Pool, the Austin Nature and Science Center, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden, and the main festival grounds that host Austin City Limits Music Festival each October.
The park has a relaxed, democratic character: families picnicking, disc golfers on the meadow, dogs in the swimming areas, and the constant stream of joggers and cyclists on the trail along the lakeshore. The kite festival held here each spring is one of Austin's most photogenic events. In October, when ACL takes over the main meadow, the rest of the park absorbs the overflow crowds with equanimity. Zilker's Dragon is an unusually long miniature train that loops through the park and is beloved by Austin children and their parents.