Lake Travis Zipline Adventures
Lake Travis Zipline Adventures, Austin’s only zipline operator, also has the longest zipline in Texas. We are a locally owned and run business that prides itself on the Core Values of Safety First and Family First, while offering an unforgettable outdoor experience for everybody. Our ziplining crew is dedicated to providing world-class customer service to all of our guests. As we speed towards the future, LTZA promises to:
Create a safe and fascinating outdoor adventure experience by providing the highest quality of excellence in Customer Satisfaction and Service.
Teach about the area’s rich history, culture, and environment.
Throughout the excursion, you will be provided with all essential equipment, boat transportation, and unlimited bottled water. Enjoy all-day access to our lakefront property, where you may picnic, play beach activities, or rest in one of our hammocks.
ABOUT LAKE TRAVIS
Lake Travis is a reservoir on the Colorado River in central Texas, US.
Lake Travis’ historical minimum to maximum water height fluctuation is over 100 feet, serving primarily as a flood-control reservoir. It witnessed a 20-foot depth rise in a single 24-hour period of time in 2018.
Lake Travis has the biggest storage capacity of the Highland Lakes reservoirs, with 30 square miles of surface area. It spans 65 miles (105 km) upriver from western Travis County (near Lago Vista, Texas) through southern Burnet County to Max Starcke Dam, southwest of the town of Marble Falls. In addition to flood management and water delivery, the lake is utilized for electrical power generation and recreation.
From southeastern Travis County, the Pedernales River, a significant tributary of the Colorado River, pours into the lake.
Creation
The reservoir was constructed in 1942 by the Lower Colorado River Authority’s (LCRA) building of Mansfield Dam on the western fringe of Austin, Texas, and was intended primarily to retain floodwaters in a flash-flood prone region. Following a heavy storm in July 1938, the dam’s height was increased during construction to increase floodwater storage capacity.
Service for ferries
Point Venture Development Co. commenced regular scheduled ferry service between Point Venture and the south bank of Hurst Creek in April 1971. The journey took 20 minutes and was Texas’ only inland ferry service at the time.
Sinkings of boats in September 2020
On September 5, 2020, a boat parade in support of Donald Trump took place. According to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, they got many complaints about boats in peril, and several vessels sank. Although the weather was calm, the boats made tremendous wake when they began to move together, sinking at least five vessels. Following the event, the hashtag #dumbkirk trended on Twitter.
Recreational
Fishing, boating, swimming, scuba diving, picnicking, camping, and zip line are all popular recreational activities on Lake Travis.
Another approved leisure activity at Hippie Hollow Park is naked sunbathing and swimming. This lovely park on the eastern end of Lake Travis is Texas’ first authorized clothes optional park. Lake Travis is often regarded as one of Texas’ purest bodies of water. It is an important source of water for the adjacent city of Austin, Texas, and the surrounding metropolitan region.
Rankings of fatalities
Lake Travis was ranked top in Texas for unintentional fatalities in 2011 and tied for second for overall deaths between 2000 and 2015.
Six persons drowned at Lake Travis in 2018, accounting for six of the 29 total boating deaths documented in Texas that year.
Populations of fish
Lake Travis has been stocked with many fish species in order to increase the reservoir’s usability for recreational fishing. Largemouth bass, guadalupe bass, white bass, striped bass, catfish, and sunfish are among the fish found in Lake Travis.
There were multiple reports of leeches in Lake Travis in the spring of 2008. Leeches are mostly harmless to people, however they can be bothersome.
The level of the lake
When the lake’s water level is 681 feet (208 meters) above mean sea level, it is deemed “full” (at maximum intended capacity) (msl). The flood control gates at Mansfield Dam are opened when the water level rises over 681 feet (208 meters), as directed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The lake’s level may fluctuate drastically, with a 96-foot difference between its historical high and low depending on the quantity of rainfall in the Colorado River basin upstream.
On December 25, 1991, the lake’s record high level was 710.4 feet (216.5 m) above mean sea level, a little less than four feet below the dam’s top/spillway at 714 feet (218 m). On August 14, 1951, the record low was 614.2 feet (187.2 m) above mean sea level.
Droughts
The lake reached its fourth lowest level in November 2009, at 626.09 feet (190.83 m) above mean sea level, due to the harsh drought of 2008-2009. On November 8, 1963, the second lowest level was 615.02 feet (187.46 m) above mean sea level. During the Southern United States drought of 2010-13, levels dropped to 618 feet, the third lowest level recorded. The LCRA, a public utility whose responsibilities include Lake Travis maintenance, posts water level updates on the internet. The lake reached its full size of 681 feet in April 2016.
Floods
Lake Travis is the Highland Lake chain’s major flood control reservoir. The LCRA is in charge of floodgate operations at Mansfield Dam, with advice from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Ideally, this is done after a significant rainstorm to either lessen or completely avoid downstream flooding, which would otherwise be both immediate and severe without the dam’s existence. During high floods, floodgate operations are carried out to safeguard property around Lake Travis as well as the dam itself.
While the dam’s physical architecture aids in its own protection during floods, extended spillway operations, a worst-case scenario that has never occurred in the lake’s history, might undermine the dam’s foundation and compromise its overall integrity. Under such situations, operations are primarily aimed to safeguard the dam, and lake water may be released to the dam’s maximum 24-floodgate capacity—regardless of downstream effects—in order to prevent the dam from failing catastrophically. At 681 feet above mean sea level, the dam’s entire maximum discharge capacity, including its hydroelectric generators but without the spillway, is more than 130,000 cubic feet per second (cfs); slightly less than one million gallons per second. As water levels/pressures rise, so do discharge rates.
Next Point of Interest: Lakeway Marina