I'm going to summarize some of the parks in Austin that I'm reading about in my book, The Texas Dog Lover's Companion - The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog. Later on, I'll come back and post on some that are in the surrounding areas around Austin. The rating system uses paws .. 4 is the best.

Auditorium Shores 3 and a half paws

- 10 acres .. dogs can run free as long as they are under sight and voice control
- wide open spaces, shade trees, restrooms and water fountain, gazebo with stream running near it, right by Town Lake, shower (installed for joggers, but dogs like to play in the water)
- flock of ducks live under a nearby bridge (so for duck chasers, this might not be the best place .. but if we do go here, i'm sure we can keep safe distance from the bridge)
- open 6am - 10pm

Bull Creek District Park 3 and a half paws
http://www.briangreenstone.com/austin/bullcreek/ AWWWW, they have doggy pics!!

- lots of trees
- creek for dogs to swim in (mostly shallow with a few deep areas)
- 48 acres (only a small part designated as leash free)
- restrooms, picnic tables
- open 10am - 5pm

Emma Long Metropolitan Park 3 and a half paws
http://www.austinlakeproperty.com/Em...ong%20Park.htm

- 1147 acres (only 70 acres are developed)
- dogs must remain leashed in most of the park, but there is a leash free area
- along the shores of Lake Austin
- dogs may go in water on leash and as long as they are outside of the designated swimming area
- snack bar and restrooms
- there is an entrance fee ($5 per vehicle on weekends)
- can hike up a bluff to see beautiful views of the city
- open 7am - 10pm

McKinney Falls State Park 3 and a half paws
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/mckinney/mckinney.htm

(I've been to this one once. I really liked it, but there are no offleash areas)

- 3 mile paved walking trail
- 3/4 mile natural walking path
- dogs not allowed in water
- 3 mile mountain bike trail
- restrooms
- $2 per person entry fee
- open 8am - 10pm

There are a lot of other parks listed in the book, but I weeded out the ones that probably wouldn't work for us.

Here is a list of restaurants that allow dogs to visit!

Amy's Ice Cream
Backyard Burgers
Boar's Head Bar and Grill
Dirty Martin's Place "No killer dogs, please"
The Green Mesquite
Little City Espresso Bar and Cafe
Magnolia Cafe
Mesa Hills Cafe
Mojo's Daily Grind
Nick's Great Pizza
Pizza Nizza
Romeo's
Ruta Maya Coffee House
Schlotsky'sSfuzzi
Smoky J's
Spaghetti Warehouse
Sweetish Hill
Texas Picnic Company and Bakery
Thundercloud Subs
Upper Crust Bakery
Waterloo Brewing Company
Waterloo Ice House
Wheatsville Co-op
Wylie's Bar and Grill

*All these places have outdoor seating where the dogs are allowed.

We also have a Groovy Dog bakery where dogs can go and get gourmet doggie treats! http://www.groovydogbakery.com/

This lists Austin's leash free areas and has maps to them. Some of the places I mentioned are on the list in case you wanted to see their locations: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/dogparks.htm

Another place dogs are allowed is under the Congress bridge where people go to watch the bats fly out every evening. I think by the time we meet though, the bats will not be there anymore. They stop flying out sometime around October.
http://www.batcon.org/discover/congress.html