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There is no excuse for sitting home bored in Austin. Opportunities for recreation abound. From cool, spring-fed swimming holes to Ben Crenshaw-designed golf courses, from area team sports to a walk in the beauty of Austin's natural settings — there is something to get you onto your feet to take off across your field of dreams. The home of five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is a great cycling town and a great running town. The Capital 10,000 and the Motorola Marathon attract thousands of runners each year.

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Golf

Austin's naturally temperate climate and rolling hills makes the area perfect for golfing. Home to Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw, Austin boasts some of the most scenic and challenging golf courses in the nation. There are 26 golf courses in Austin (five municipal, 13 public and seven private club courses). Course designers include Crenshaw, Kite, Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazzio and Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Green fees range from $11.50 to $16 on public courses, and membership initiation fees at country clubs start around $1,500.

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Participation Sports

Austin has kids' and grownups' leagues for all major sports including soccer, softball, bowling, frisbee (ultimate) and basketball. Also available to the younger set: Little League Baseball and Pee Wee Football.

The YMCA of Austin has five sites, with workout equipment, pools, indoor basketball courts and more.

Austin boasts several golf courses for frisbee golfers, including one in Central Austin that winds along the banks of beautiful Shoal Creek, linking up some of the city's most pleasant greenbelt parkland.

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Parks, Hills, Trails and Pools

Beginning in downtown Austin and stretching 150 miles west and north into the Hill Country of Central Texas lie the Highland Lakes, a chain of lakes created by seven dams along the Colorado River. Within a short drive of the city — or a full day-trip excursion — Austinites have access to boating, waterskiing, sailing, windsurfing, rowing, canoeing, fishing and swimming in some of Texas’ most beautiful surroundings.

The City of Austin alone boasts 14,300 acres of parks. The hills west of the city include more than 7,566 public acres. Here, you can also enjoy hiking, mountain biking and other land-based activities.

Hunting and fishing also are available on private lands near the city.

Closer to home:
The Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, a 227-acre enclave, is just minutes from downtown.

Barton Springs, the famous 1,000 foot-long spring-fed pool — with a year-round water temperature of 68 degrees — is located within the 360-acre Zilker Park on the shores of Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) in downtown Austin.

Also within the city limits in southeast Austin is the 640-acre McKinney Falls State Park, operated by Texas Parks & Wildlife.

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