Turtle Pond - The Shadiest Spot on Campus

Turtle Pond - The Shadiest Spot on Campus

Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on UT Austin Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

Tucked just north of the Tower, this little pond feels a world away from the busy malls. It was built in the 1930s as the botanical ponds, a research site for the biology faculty, and it is still used for teaching and research today.

Most visitors come for the turtles. Red-eared sliders and other species haul themselves onto logs and rocks to sun, stacking up when space runs short, and slide back into the water if you move too fast. Watch for other wildlife drawn to the water, too, and listen for the Tower bells drifting down through the trees.

Students treat the pond as a place to slow down: to read on a bench, think between exams, or just watch turtles for a while. Please do not feed or touch the animals. Take a few minutes here before the last stop, which asks you for quiet of a different kind.

Getting here: Walk west toward the Tower along the campus walkways. The Turtle Pond lies in the shady garden just north of the Main Building.

Did you know?: In late 2024 the pond was drained for repairs, and the turtles spent several months at the university's Pickle Research Campus before coming home in 2025.

Photo op: Kneel at the pond's edge with a zoom lens and catch a row of turtles basking on a log with the Tower reflected in the water behind them.

More on Wikipedia: Red-eared slider · University of Texas at Austin

Stops on this tour

  1. Main Building and UT Tower - The Campus Landmark
  2. Battle Hall - The Building That Set the Style
  3. Texas Union - The Living Room of Campus
  4. Harry Ransom Center - Treasures in the Lobby
  5. Littlefield Fountain - The Gateway to the Tower
  6. Ellsworth Kelly's Austin - A Chapel of Light
  7. Blanton Museum of Art - Petals on the Plaza
  8. Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium - A War Memorial That Roars
  9. LBJ Presidential Library - Travertine Monument
  10. The Seven Mustangs - Proctor's Last Great Herd
  11. Turtle Pond - The Shadiest Spot on Campus
  12. Tower Garden - A Place to Remember