Texas State Capitol

The Texas State Capitol at 1100 Congress Avenue stands 302 feet, 8 inches tall as the 6th-tallest state capitol building in America and 14 feet taller than the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC. Completed 1888 after a 3-million-acre land swap to fund construction, the building's 360,000 square feet of pink Sunset Red granite from Granite Mountain in Marble Falls house the Texas Legislature's Senate and House chambers. Free self-guided tours access the rotunda with its 218-foot-diameter Texas state seal viewed from below, the terrazzo floor in the chamber with 5,000+ brass pieces, and the Capitol grounds' 22 acres.

Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Watching

Congress Avenue Bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake houses North America's largest urban bat colony — 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roosting beneath the bridge from March through November, emerging at sunset (times vary 7-8:30 PM) in spectacular swarms that consume 10,000-20,000 pounds of mosquitoes and agricultural pests each night. The Statesman Bat Observation Center, the Austin American-Statesman parking lot, and Lady Bird Lake boats offer prime viewing. During peak summer months (July-August), emergence begins 7:45-8:15 PM; free to view from multiple vantage points.