Heritage Oaks Neighborhood Park and Woodland Pocket Park Improvements

Heritage Oaks Concept Plan

• View Heritage Oaks Concept Plan (PDF)

Heritage Oaks Final Concept Plan Description

During the second round of community engagement for Heritage Oaks Neighborhood Park, the project team heard clear priorities across both draft concepts: Brush clearing, bamboo removal, maintaining and enhancing the existing seeded meadow, and lighting. Survey results also showed a preference for the Western Connectivity concept, particularly its nature-based approach and emphasis on trail connectivity to the western pond area. Within this concept, the proposal to shorten the existing loop path and provide a larger flexible field was ranked as low priority. In the Eastern Play concept, adding a traditional play feature ranked among the top four community priorities.

Using this feedback, the project team developed a final concept that reflects community preferences while staying aligned with the project objectives to build upon Heritage Oak’s recent 2025 nature play improvements and explore opportunities for improved accessibility. To address top-ranked priorities, the design includes formalized trails within the western pond area and the eastern meadow, supported by brush clearing and bamboo removal within the west, plus new seating along the meadow trail.

A traditional play feature (such as swings or spinner) will be added in the eastern portion of the park and near the main Parker Lane entrance. This addresses the shared desire for more traditional play options near the main entrance of the park. Because the proposed idea of shortening the loop was ranked low, the existing loop will remain. Instead, the path from the Windoak entrance will be extended to improve accessibility and offer an alternative pond trail entrance. We kept to the nature-based theme by making this path decomposed granite with additional trees along the pathway.

Although there was no clear preference for the location of the primary entrance, some comments supported placing it on Windoak Drive. While we took these comments into consideration, the primary entrance off Parker Lane was chosen because the nearby slope was more accessible and its direct access to proposed amenities (traditional play feature, meadow trails, picnic table, and existing nature play).

Comments also suggested adding a dog park, or Dog Off-Leash Area (DOLA). However, the Department’s “Our Parks, Our Future” Long Range Plan and DOLA Guidelines recommend DOLAs in Metropolitan and District parks and advise against placement in existing Neighborhood (up to 30 acres) or smaller parks. With this guidance and given site constraints such as the slope, a DOLA was not included in the final concept.

Thank you to the community members who took the time to share their input. The project team will now submit the final concept to Austin Parks and Recreation director for approval.  

Draft Concept Plans

Based on the community input from Round 1, Austin Parks and Recreation created two concepts to consider before the final single concept was designed. The final concept contains elements of both concepts. Below you can view a PDF of the draft concept plans.

Heritage Oaks Concepts (PDF)

Heritage Oaks Draft Concept 1: Western Connectivity

Concept 1: Western Connectivity included the following proposed features:

• Boulder crossing
• Metal fence
• Relocated picnic tables by field
• Windoak primary entrance by field

Heritage Oaks Draft Concept 2: Eastern Play

Concept 2: Eastern Play included the following proposed features:

• Small traditional play
• Split rail fence
• Additional picnic table by meadow
• Parker Lane primary entrance by meadow