Barton Springs Pool, Natural spring swimming pool in Austin, Texas

Barton Springs Pool is a natural swimming area fed by springs in an Austin park setting. The water stays cool year-round regardless of the season, making it comfortable even during hot weather.

Coahuiltecan descendants include Barton Springs in a creation story with three other Texas springs. Spanish explorers found the springs in the 17th century and around 1730 built temporary missions there. In 1837 William "Uncle Billy" Barton settled the area and named three springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. Andrew Jackson Zilker deeded the land to Austin in 1918; the city dammed the springs in the 1920s, and Dan Driscoll and Delmar Groos designed the 1947 Streamline Moderne bathhouse.

The water flows from natural springs and draws people seeking to cool off or exercise in the open. It has become a gathering spot where locals spend their leisure time throughout the year.

The pool lies within the channel of Barton Creek in Zilker Park, with a free unfenced section outside the complex, nicknamed "Barking Springs." Swimming is not allowed in the middle section with flotation devices, and alcohol, food, coolers, glass, pets and portable speakers are barred. The pool closes during flash flood warnings and for several days afterward while mud and debris are cleared.

The waters are home to a rare salamander species found nowhere else on Earth and living only in this particular spring. This creature is one reason the area receives special protection.