Garey Park Is Building Against a Deadline in Jack Garey's Will. Here's Where It Stands This Fall
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Garey Park is spending money against a clock. Jack Garey's will left $20 million for capital improvements at the Georgetown park and required the city to spend it within five years, which the City of Georgetown puts at March 2027. That deadline explains why the park looks the way it does in October 2026. A new skate park opened on Sept. 3. An amphitheater and a floating fishing dock are scheduled for Nov. 15. The disc golf course is still closed while construction continues around it.
If Garey Park is already part of your week, this fall the open areas sit next to active work zones, and the schedule changes from one month to the next. Here is how the pieces fit together.
The city says Garey's will named specific projects for the money: group camping cabins, an amphitheater, cedar removal in the pastures and a memorial pavilion. According to Community Impact's 2024 preview of the project, the fund also earns interest, and a separate $1 million gift went specifically to the Garey Memorial Pavilion.
Here is how those four items stand today. The Memorial Pavilion is open. The amphitheater and the camping cabins, now called bunkhouses, are on the Nov. 15 schedule. The city materials reviewed for this post don't give a status for the cedar removal. Phase II also added features the will didn't list, and some of those opened first.
The city held the Phase II ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. Community Impact's report on the opening listed what visitors could use:
| Amenity | Status as of mid-October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Skate Ranch: 50,000-square-foot skate park and pump track | Open, after a construction closure Oct. 7 through Oct. 9 |
| Play Ranch: expanded playground, new picnic shelters, artificial turf lawn | Open |
| Garey House: upgrades and a 2,700-square-foot addition | Complete |
| Equestrian Center: new hardscape and footing mix | Open |
| Memorial Pavilion, new restrooms, expanded parking, accessible paths | Open |
| Dog Ranch | Partly open; the right section is closed for construction |
| 18-hole disc golf course | Not open; construction still active in that area |
At the Dog Ranch, the left section is open, and so is the middle section, which is reserved for dogs under 30 pounds. The park rules allow two dogs per adult, and dogs have to be leashed walking in and out of the enclosure. Dogs can be off leash only inside the fenced Dog Ranch.
When it opened in September, the city said the remaining features would be finished within about a month. That date has since moved. Georgetown's capital project timeline now lists a Nov. 15, 2026 grand opening that "will include opening of the Amphitheatre, Fishing Dock, Bunkhouses and Retreat Hall." That covers:
The event is the Garey Park Phase 2 Celebration, on Sunday, Nov. 15. The city's volunteer sign-up describes lawn games, shows and activities at the amphitheater, an information table and a bus stop station. Volunteer shifts run from 12:45 to 3 p.m. and from 2:45 to 5 p.m. The city hasn't posted public event hours yet, so the volunteer schedule only hints at an afternoon event.
Before you fish from the new dock, check the city's visit page: anglers 17 and older need a fishing license. The bunkhouses and retreat hall will probably draw interest from scout troops, church groups and family reunions, but there's no way to book them yet. The city's rentals page covers only the pavilions, Garey House and the equestrian facilities, so for now the park office at 512-930-6800 is the place to ask.
The disc golf course is the only part of the project with no opening date. The city's Garey Park page still says the course is not open, that construction is active in that area, and that the city expected to open it at the "end of Summer or early Fall 2026." Fall began weeks ago. The course also isn't on the Nov. 15 opening list, even though everything else that was unfinished in September is. Until the city announces a new date, the 18-hole course stays off limits, and you shouldn't plan a round there for the Nov. 15 celebration.
Fall hours began Oct. 1. Through March 31, the park is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., compared with 8 p.m. in spring and summer. Community Impact's Oct. 8 note on the change adds that entry stops 30 minutes before closing, so the last car gets in at 5:30 p.m. The park closes on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The visit page lists admission. Children 3 and under get in free.
| Entry type | Georgetown resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| Daily admission | $2 | $5 |
| Tuesday admission | $1 | $2 |
| Equestrian daily | $6 | $8 |
| Equestrian Tuesday | $3 | $4 |
| Annual pass | $75 | $125 |
| Second annual pass, same household | $20 | $25 |
| Equestrian annual pass | $100 | $150 |
| Second equestrian pass, same household | $30 | $35 |
A resident's $75 annual pass costs the same as 38 regular-day visits at $2. A nonresident's $125 pass equals 25 visits at $5. If you take the dog to the park two or three times a week, either pass pays for itself before spring. A pass also makes repeat visits easy while new pieces keep opening.
The trails are the same as before Phase II. The park has 4.68 miles of shared-use trail and 2.6 miles of pedestrian-only trail, and bikes aren't allowed on any of it. Riders can use only the designated shared-use and equestrian trails, and every horse needs a negative Coggins test from the previous 12 months. The new footing in the Equestrian Center is the biggest change riders will notice this fall. The park also borders the South San Gabriel River. Use the river at your own risk, and keep off the far bank, which is private property.
The deadline in the will is part of a much longer project. Jack and Cammy Garey bought the property in 1966 and built their 6,500-square-foot home on it in 1995. In the summer of 2004, they announced they would give the ranch to the city along with $5 million for park development. The land was handed over in stages. Community Impact reported in January 2014 that the City Council had accepted the final 207-acre tract at a Dec. 10 meeting. The city held the park's official opening celebration on June 9, 2018.
Sources disagree slightly on the size. The city and Garey House both list 525 acres. Southwestern University's memorial for Jack Garey and the 2014 Community Impact article both say 528. The ranch house is now Garey House, the city's venue for weddings, fundraisers and corporate events, and Phase II added 2,700 square feet to it.
The will set March 2027 as the deadline for spending the money. On the city's published project schedule, the Nov. 15 celebration is the next opening, and the mountain bike trails are listed after it with an anticipated opening of March 15, 2027.
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