I love Fortlandia season at the Wildflower Center, which runs from October to February. But you can see some of the fun forts all year long! Retired forts sometimes pop up in new locations to extend the fun and get a new life.
If you want to visit a Fortlandia fort after the Wildflower Center display is over, here are some places around the Austin area that are now homes to forts!
(Learn more about Fortlandia here! It’s a must-do if you’re here in fall/winter.)
In This Post
Where are old Fortlandia forts?
Emerald Tavern Games and Cafe
9012 Research Blvd #1, Austin, TX 78758
My kids loved this fun treasure box/seas monster fort from the 2024-25 season of Fortlandia. It now lives at Emerald Tavern, a fun place to borrow and play board games. Unfortunately, you can’t play in or on it anymore, but it definitely adds a quirky element to this great spot for board game lovers.
This image is from the fort’s time at the Wildflower Center, not its current spot at Emerald Tavern.
The Hive
10542 Menchaca Rd, Austin, TX 78748
This family-friendly coffee shop in South Austin just keeps getting better. In addition to their two-story playhouse with a slide, they also have Honeycomb Hideout from the 2024-25 Fortlandia season. It’s a fun fort made of hexagonal columns that kids can climb on top of or under!
Walnut Creek Metro Park
12138 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78753
Fairy Pavilion was a fan favorite at Fortlandia in 2019, and it now lives at Walnut Creek Metro Park in North Austin! It’s right next to the (awesome) playground and the public pool, making it a perfect addition to a fun outing in any season.
This play house has a ladder in the middle up to some windows to look out of a little crow’s nest, a roof made of recycled cans, and spots to climb or hide.
The Leaning Pear
111 River Rd #110, Wimberley, TX 78676
If you live on the Wimberley side of town or are taking a little day trip, The Leaning Pear is a great restaurant to check out. It has tasty food and a lovely atmosphere. And before or after your meal, let your kids play on Critter Stack, a fort from 2021 Fortlandia. Your little critters can climb over it or inside it, fun for all types of games.
Kyoko Coffee
6401 Airport Blvd, Austin, TX 78752
Highland Collective (right by ACC Highland campus) has a few food trucks including the adorable Kyoko Coffee, Dduk Dduk Donuts and Deep End Subs. And while you enjoy your treat, kids can enjoy the shaded turf area with the snail fort from 2024 Fortlandia, Shell Yeah.
My kids love this colorful fort. They always climb the ladders around the spiral to the very top.
St. Elmo Brewing
440 E St Elmo Rd G-2, Austin, TX 78745
8110 Springdale Rd, Austin, TX 78724
I’ve always loved St. Elmo (we joined one of their early Hiking League hikes almost as soon as we moved to Austin!), and they leveled up when they added the Bloom Boxes fort to both locations!
These rainbow boxes are sturdy enough to climb on top of, crawl under, and play hide and seek (my kids have found one spot that is an IMPOSSIBLE hiding spot to find!).
Lakewood Park
2040 Artesian Spgs Xing, Leander, TX 78641
You may know Lakewood Park in Leander for its amazing, free splash pad, but there’s also a sculpture garden near the lake. And at this sculpture garden, you can find Phoenix Trail, one of the off-site Fortlandia forts in 2022. It’s a fun rainbow tunnel with colorful hanging ropes. It was inspired by prescribed burns at the Wildflower Center and beauty rising from ashes.
During Fortlandia, it was off the Lady Bird Lake trail (as seen in the photo), and now it has a permanent spot in Leander.
Slackers Brewing Co.
12233 Ranch Rd 620 N #204, Austin, TX 78750
Slackers Brewing in Northwest Austin has a little indoor play area, and now also has a Fortlandia fort in the back outdoor space. The fort Mars Base looks cool enough from the outside, but the inside is where it really shines. It has amazing, intricate artwork that even adults will want to crawl through to see.
Bee Cave Sculpture Park
13333 State Hwy 71, Bee Cave, TX 78738
Enjoy a walk, some art, and some fun! Bee Cave Sculpture Park has more than two dozen sculptures, and includes the Color Keep fort from Fortlandia 2019. Kids and adults can walk through a tunnel of cedar posts.
Do you know of any past forts on display that I missed? Let me know!
Want to discover more art and creative exhibits? Check out the best museums in town or funky Austin landmark, the Cathedral of Junk!