Goat Cave Karst Preserve

This 9-acre City of Austin preserve sits atop the many caves, sinkholes, and underground streams that form the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer. Throughout the ages, water continues to slowly dissolve the weathered Edwards limestone creating thousands of passages and a dynamic subsurface ecosystem. Many of these caves and sinkholes were historically plugged by ranchers to prevent livestock from falling, and to create surface ponds. They were also used as garbage dumps. Through scientific research, we have learned about the importance of these natural features and now volunteers restore these caves for habitat preservation and watershed protection.