Address: 100 S Congress Ave, Austin, Texas 78701
Best time to watch bats in Austin: Every night between 7:00pm – 8:00pm during March – August of the year
Watch 2 Million Bats Fly over South Congress Bridge, Austin, Texas
I kid you not. Watch 2 million bats come out of their colony over the South Congress Bridge (also known as Ann W. Richards Congress Bridge) in SoCo, Austin. It’s like Gotham on steroids. It felt like I was in a Batman movie.
Every year, between the months of March and August, 2 million bats fly over the South Congress Bridge. Who knows where they go? But they do this every night between 7:00pm – 8:00pm. To me, it was the best free experience I ever had in Austin. It made my stay there truly memorable. Thousands of locals come here a couple of hours before it begins and bring their picnic baskets, DSLR cameras and tripods, ready to take videos of the bats.
They say that 1980 renovations in Lady Bird Lake made Austin the bat colony’s permanent habitat. I called it a serendipitous moment, giving Austin its fortune and luck to become a mega city. That’s what they always say when bats pick a place to be their home.
The best view to be in is on the bridge, but if you are scared, sitting at the grass area works too.
In the fall, between the months of October and November, these Mexican free-tail bats hibernate. So make sure to come to Austin during the summer!