Best Bike Trails in Austin
Austin, Texas — updated August 22, 2026
Five Austin trails ranked by how well they hold up as rides, from the Lady Bird Lake loop downtown to the hill routes northwest of the river.
Listings verified
Austin's best-reviewed trails sit in two clusters: the loop around Lady Bird Lake, which you can reach on foot from most of downtown and the east side, and the hill routes northwest of the river along City Park Road and River Place Boulevard. The downtown listings carry the highest ratings; the northwest ones carry the deepest review counts. Ranked below by how well each answers the question of where to ride, with the evidence behind each rating stated plainly.
1. Lady Bird Lake Hike & Bike Trail
The central ride, and the one with biking in its name and in its design. This listing is anchored on the east side at Robert T Martinez Jr Street, off East Cesar Chavez, which is the quieter end to start from if you want to build into the busier downtown stretch rather than begin in it. It holds a 4.8 from 328 reviews, a rating with enough volume behind it to be considered settled rather than promising. Expect company: the trail is the default recreation route for a large share of central Austin, and weekend late mornings are the busiest window on any shared path this close to the core.
2. Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail
The same 4.8 rating as the Lady Bird Lake listing, but from 95 reviews, so treat it as strong rather than proven. Google lists it separately, with its own address on Veterans Drive near Zilker, which puts you on the west end of the lake loop rather than the east. That matters for parking and for direction of travel: starting here, the downtown skyline stretch comes at you later in the ride. Good option if you are already headed to the Zilker area and want to join the loop without crossing town first.
3. Turkey Creek Trailhead
Out on City Park Road northwest of downtown, and the strongest combination of rating and volume outside the lake loop: 4.7 from 541 reviews. The location puts it in the hill country terrain west of the city rather than on flat riverside pavement, so it suits riders who came for climbing and surface rather than for skyline views. It is a 20 to 30 minute drive from central Austin depending on traffic on 2222 and Loop 360, which makes it a plan-ahead outing instead of a lunch-hour spin.
4. Violet Crown Trail, Zilker Park Trail Head
A 4.7 rating, but from only 45 reviews, the thinnest evidence base on this list, so the number is promising rather than established. What earns it a place is the trailhead itself: William Barton Drive in Zilker Park, the same corner of the city as Barton Springs and the west end of the lake loop. That makes it easy to combine with a flat riverside ride if you want to sample something with more grade without driving anywhere. Park once, ride two very different surfaces.
5. River Place Nature Trail
The most reviewed entry here by a wide margin: 4.6 from 1,611 reviews, which makes its rating the most reliable figure on this page even though it is the lowest. The Big View Drive address places it in the hills northwest of the river, well beyond the central trail network. Note that it is listed as a nature trail rather than a bike route, and the review volume reflects heavy general traffic from walkers and runners, so check current use rules before loading a bike. Go early if you want the parking.
What we left off
Two listings in our source data duplicate places already on this list: a River Place Nature Trail Canyon Trailhead entry on River Place Boulevard, which is another access point to the same trail, and a combined Lady Bird Lake Trail and Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail listing with no rating or reviews at all. We also left out Barton Springs Bike Rental & Tours on Barton Springs Road. It rates 4.9 from 974 reviews, the best-reviewed cycling-related business in the set, but it rents bikes rather than being a trail, and this guide is about where to ride.