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Emma Long Metropolitan Park Header
Emma Long entry
Emma Long Metropolitan Park entrance
Emma Long picnic area
Emma Long Metropolitan Park picnic area
Emma Long water front
Emma Long Metropolitan Park water front
Emma Long Metropolitan Park swimming area
Emma Long Metropolitan Park swimming area

Open Daily: 7am - 10pm
(512) 346-1831
$5.00 per vehicle - Monday through Thursday
$8.00 per vehicle - Friday through Sunday and Holidays
$6.00 camping without utilities
$15.00 camping with utilities
$3.00 firewood
$2.00 ice, 8lb. bag

Emma Long Metropolitan Park is located 6.2 miles off FM 2222 on City Park Road. The park is on the shores of Lake Austin, and consists of a total of 1150 acres, 70 of which are developed.

Features include: 2 boat ramps, 2 sand volleyball courts, and 3 sets of volleyball standards. Emma Long Park has a designated swimming area in Lake Austin and has a large sandy beach. Men's and women's rest rooms, hot showers and dressing areas are also available. 20 camping sites are available with water and electricity hookups as well as 46 tent camping sites in which water is available at every 3rd site.

General Information
To ensure that everyone visiting our park has a safe and enjoyable stay, and to protect the sensitive park environment the following rules and regulations have been established.
  • Park boundaries begin by Pearce Road and include an archery range, motorcycle, mountain bike area (1 mile down Oak Shores Drive off City Park Road), a Nature Trail and all roadside areas along City Park Road to the lake. Due to safety concerns no hiking is permitted in the motorcycle area or the archery range.
  • Entry permits and/or overnight permits are required. Park entry fees are charged per vehicle. Permits are not transferable and must be displayed on the right side of windshield for verification by park staff. Daily collection is from 7a.m. until 10p.m. during the peak season (Memorial day through Labor day and holidays). During Fall and Spring, booth hours will vary due to the weather. An honor box is located in the park to deposit fees when entry booth is closed.
  • The two large picnic areas (max. capacity 200) and the Turkey Creek Shelter (capacity 100) are available for reservation (974-6797). All other areas are available on a first come , first served basis.

Park Policies
  • By City of Austin Health Ordinance, no sink water, bath water, or toilet water is to be disposed of in any place other than the sanitation dumping station south of the main bathhouse.
  • Pets must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in the designated swimming area.
  • Use only charcoal in the park grills. Ground fires are not permitted. Gathering of firewood is prohibited. To help keep our park clean trash bags are available from park staff.
  • Two vehicle limit and 8 people, per camping permit are permitted. No weapons are allowed on the park grounds. Poachers will be prosecuted.
  • Driving or parking on grass is not permitted except in designated areas. Grass permits for non-designated parking areas are available through Reservations. (974-6797)
  • Speed limits and City of Austin Ordinances are strictly enforced.
  • Park in designated areas only. Parking and driving are not allowed on shoreline.
  • Sound Permits are available and must be obtained for all amplified sound.
  • Hike deer trails at ones own risk.
  • Day users are not permitted to use the facilities in the camping areas.
  • Visitors having boats and not staying overnight are restricted to the day use area of the park. Campers with boats may moor boats off shore at the corresponding camping area. Visitors arriving by boat may use day area facilities. Boat ramps and a boat dumping station are available.
  • A sanitation dump station is available for trailers and motor homes.
  • Use of jet skis, wet bikes, or similar devices on Lake Austin is prohibited during the holiday weekends of Memorial Day, Labor Day, and July 4. The holiday weekend ban runs from 5 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Tuesday. The law prohibits these activities for safety reasons due to the heavy traffic of large watercraft combined with the difficulty of seeing downed skiers.
  • Swimming and water play are encouraged at the designated swimming area. Boats are not allowed in the swimming area nor immediately alongside the swimming docks. By City Ordinance, no swimming past 50' from shoreline.
Overnight Users
An overnight permit must be purchased before 9 p.m. for camping or overnight guests. Overnight open or utility camping permits expire at 12 noon.

Boats may be moored off the shoreline for your convenience, but the trailer must be stored either on the asphalt pad or at the boat ramp parking area.

Overnight camping is available for a maximum of 14 days in any 30 day period.

Open Camping
Choice sites have a picnic table, shade tree, grill, and trash receptacles. Water spigots are available at every third site. Pitch tent in designated space.

History
In 1933, the National Park Service prepared the initial plan for this prk for the City of Austin. the park was established in 1939 with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). On August 11, 1939, 50 CCC enlistees moved to Lake Austin area and began clearing a site to house 200 enlistees. The necessary wooden barracks were constructed and a well dug. Following the settlement of the permanent camp, the 200 CCC enlistees developed permanent improvements to the site such as a bathhouse and concession stand. These wooden structures later burned and were replaced b the stone buildings which stand today.

Emma Long Metropolitan Park is a 1,142 acre oak, ash and juniper woodland in the hill country. Nestled on Lake Austin, the park has approximately a mile of lake front. The lake itself serves as a flood control and hydropower reservoir of the lower Colorado River. Visitors to the park my enjoy water activities such as boating and skiing or swimming and relaxing on the large, sandy beach, 350 feet in length. Camping and a motocross track set Emma Long apart from the other City of Austin parks as the sole provider of these activities.

Emma Long Metropolitan Park is named after Emma Long, Austin's first woman to serve on the council of a large city in Texas. She was elected to council in 1948 where she reactivated the then empty Parks and Recreation Board. She also served as the first woman Mayor Pro Tem from 1967-1969. "I came storming in" said Emma Long on her birth during a Texas Panhandle snowstorm in 1912. "The doctor had to come out in a sled to deliver me." Storming she stayed as she set firsts for women in politics, introduced civil rights ordinances in Austin, and served as an advisor for the United Nations.

An ordinance passed by Council naming what was known as "City Park" as Emma Long Metropolitan Park. "Lots of my friends got together and wanted to name something after me. Ben White was a member of the City Council with me and had a street named after him down south. Ed Bluestein was a colleague and had a street named after him." At first, her friends considered having Research Boulevard renamed for her. "There was understandable opposition. People had settled in there; Research Boulevard was the address on their letterheads and business correspondence," said Long. Then, on June 18, 1984, Carol Keeton Rylander, Mayor of Austin from 1977-1983, proposed to the Austin City Council that the park be named for Emma Long. The Council passed the ordinance naming the park after this influential, extraordinary leader of Austin.


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