Austin
Austin is the second-hardest shade city on our P0 list, behind only Phoenix. At 30.27°N the summer sun climbs to 83° at noon — shadows fall pencil-thin and the cool sidewalk flips by the minute. Locals already know the routes; we’re making them computable, building by building, off Texas state-level LIDAR.
Stay Cool routes around shade in Austin, TX. The app picks the cooler side of every street using real building heights and live sun position — peak summer UV here is 11, average July high is 97°F, and tree canopy covers 31% of the city. Below: the most reliably-shaded walking routes we've found, plus deeper neighborhood field notes when available.
Highlights · 3
- 01Auditorium Shores to the Mopac Bridge
Cypress canopy carries you most of the way west; we cut inland the two blocks it doesn’t. The trail is honest about its sun.
Shade69%Walk28 minBest at10:30 am - 02Zilker entrance to Barton Springs
Zilker is a sun-trap — 350 acres of grass and almost no canopy. We route the pecan line on the south edge and dive for the bathhouse.
Shade34%Walk6 minBest at9 am - 03Capitol to South Congress
Congress Avenue is a wide southbound griddle; we hop east to the live-oak blocks of Brazos and Colorado, then take Riverside’s overpass shadow across the bridge.
Shade58%Walk32 minBest at4:30 pm