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A brief history of the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail:
Meandering through downtown Austin, the Trail is a 10.15 mile loop bordered by Tom Miller Dam to the west and Longhorn Dam to the east.
It surprises people to find out that around 40 years ago, the banks of the Colorado River here were practically barren. Regular floods, common in the Hill Country at that time, regularly swept trees and brush away. The tree-lined shores you see today are result of the stablity introduced by damming the river. Tom Miller Dam, or The Great Granite Dam as it was originally called, was first constructed from 1890 to 1893. That structure was destroyed by a massive flood. It was rebuilt as Austin Dam from 1909 to 1912. That structure was also destroyed by flood. Each of these floods wiped out the great majority of trees that lined the river. The current structure was built from 1938 to 1940 atop the remains of the previous structures (somewhere between two and seven depending on who you ask).
In 1960, the Colorado River was impounded by Longhorn Dam to the east and Town Lake was created.
Another decade would pass before the Town Lake Beautification Committee was formed in 1971. The committee included many notable Austin citizens including honorary chair Lady Bird Johnson, Les Gage, Mrs. Roy Butler, Carolyn Curtis, Emma Long, and Jim Pflueger among others. In cooperation with Mayor Roy Butler, they set out to create a scenic corridor of hiking trails and landscaping that would allow residents and visitors the opportunity for a rural escape in an urban setting. The gazebos at Auditorium Shores (S. 1st St. at Riverside) and Lou Neff Point (where Barton Springs flows into Town Lake) were dedicated around this time also.
35 years later, the Trail stands as a testament to the vision and hard work of these individuals and the support of the citizens of Austin. It is Town Lake Trail Foundation's mission, duty, and responsibility to see that their work is carried forward.
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