Crowd gathers for bat procession.
World's Largest Urban Bat Colony
Austin, Texas
Crowds gather nightly to watch 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats shoot out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Standing atop the bridge, or down below, visitors offer the condemned mosquitoes a last meal while waiting for the bats to make their entrance.
Props to the Austin American-Statesman for allowing the use of their parking lot, and their grass to hang out on. Wear a hat.
Across Congress Street from the Statesman a sculpture, Nightwing, celebrates the bat.
Another convenient-for-tourists (but smaller) bat colony is reported 15 miles north of Austin, underneath the I-35 underpass at McNeil Road, Round Rock. Wear a hat.
World's Largest Urban Bat Colony
- Address:
- Congress Avenue, Austin, TX [Show Map]
- Directions:
- Congress Avenue Bridge on Town Lake, Austin American-Statesman parking lot on the southeast side, free parking to the public after 6 pm.
- Admission:
- Free.
- Hours:
- Bats take wing just before dark, usually -- March through November.
Nearby Offbeat Places
- Swimming pool shaped like Texas, Austin, TX - < 1 mi.
- Peter Pan Mini Golf, Austin, TX - < 1 mi.
- Museum of the Weird, Austin, TX - < 1 mi.
- Museum of Natural & Artificial Ephemerata, Austin, TX - 2 mi.
