FREE in Austin: 9th Street BMX Trail
Tucked into the heart of downtown Austin is an unassuming park of dirt mounds and hills. You might drive by it a few times without noticing it (especially if it's empty), but if you head to 9th Street and North Lamar on a weekend, dozens of BMX bikers of all ages and skill levels will be practicing their jumps and tricks. Say help to the 9th Street BMX Trail. Best part? It's totally free!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelsey Kennedy is a native Texan and a local Austin author, photographer, and blogger with a serious obsession for all things Austin. As the creator of four Texas-focused travel websites, her work has reached over 12 million readers in 38 countries, all searching for the coolest things to do in the hottest cities in Texas. For more insider tips on the capital city, check out her bestselling travel book, Austin Food Crawls: Touring the Neighborhoods One Bite and Libation at a Time.
I stopped by on a weekday afternoon with my preschool-aged son. We needed something fun to do in Austin, and the weather was perfect.
Much to my surprise (after seeing it packed on weekends), we were the only bike on the trail! There were a few other boys running around and playing hide-and-seek, but my son and had the entire trail to himself.
9th Street BMX Is "Old Austin"
This is not a glitzy, flashy park. 9th Street is literally just a bunch of hand-made dirt mounds, and it's awesome.
The 9th Street BMX Trail started wayyyy back in 1992 in downtown Austin. A guy started shoveling the dirt and eventually made a ramp. People started showing up and contributing, digging and forming hills and moving dirt.
My first thought? How very "old Austin" this place is! I love it. It's a community place that was created and is sustained through the love of the local city members. People bike here, and then they help maintain the trails. So cool.
A guy biked through the trail at a leisurely pace, and he stopped and chatted with me for a minute. He said he'd biked here all the time when he was younger, over 20 years ago! He told me that he's too old (and too smart, haha) to do BMX tricks anymore, but he has always loved this park.
Maintenance Needed at 9th Street BMX
This park is non-profit that gets a little bit of funding through various parks organizations, but most of it is volunteer-based.
so I wasn't surprised to see that there were a few ramps that had started crumbling and weren't safe for bikers. (They had a bright orange cone on the tops of them to tell bikers to keep off.)
Again, this is a DIY spot, so it's not fancy! But I think that's what's so cool about it. It's the type of place where folks of all ages can play, take risks, maybe fall and get scraped, and learn to get back up. (Skills that are so essential in our ultra-cushy modern lifestyle.)
Kids can be kids and enjoy biking and learning tricks and being in the beautiful outdoors. And it's all in downtown Austin!
Is 9th Street BMX Kid-Friendly?
There's literally a little loop designed for beginners, so yes, 9th Street is definitely kid-friendly.
Make sure your kids have proper safety gear (a good-fitting helmet to start) and keep in mind that the park is unsupervised and you're riding at your own risk.
But also...holy moly this place is fun!
9TH STREET BMX WEBSITE| 900 W 9th St, Austin, TX 78703
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