Austin closes ALL city parks, trails for Easter weekend to stem spread of COVID-19

AUSTIN, Texas — Easter weekend is all about tradition, but for many local families their annual Easter tradition of a picnic in the park will have to wait. To stem the spread of COVID-19 the City of Austin has closed all public parks all weekend. This includes all trails, greenbelts and preserves.

We're supposed to be observing six feet of separation to avoid spreading the virus but you may have noticed in days where we've had good weather, folks are still flocking to the parks and trails and gathering in large numbers.

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So as to not lead us into temptation the city is making a preemptive strike and ordering all public parks closed for the Easter weekend and that includes Good Friday. Austin Mayor Steve Adler adds, “We're trying to do this physical separation right now and we're doing a good job of it. The place where we're not doing a good place of it is in the parks. We're bunching up when we're running. People shouldn't be doing pick-up basketball games right now."

The “keep out” signs went up Thursday night and they won't come down until sunrise on Monday. And the city says park rangers will be out "to educate and push for compliance."