The Experience: This park qualifies as beautiful and unique enough to be a tourist destination. We didn't realize this until we brought a visiting relative, who was amazed at the sights of the lovely house and lily ponds, flowers everywhere, and especially, the huge peacocks showing us their awesome feathers. This is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit, almost like an enchanted garden. When you enter, there is a sign telling the history of Mayfield Park. The house was originally a summer and weekend home for Allison Mayfield, a prominent Austin politician. His daughter Mary and her husband Milton Gutsch, chairman of the history department at U.T., moved into the home in 1922, added the porches, and began working on the gardens. They built stone walls around the garden area, a dovecote, and several ponds. Friends gave them a gift of peacocks in 1935, and it is their original descendants that are still here today. Dr. Gutsch died in 1967, and when Mary Mayfield Gutsch died in 1971, she left her home and acreage to the city of Austin to be used as a park. The best part of going to Mayfield Park is strolling around the garden area, perhaps sitting on a bench and just relaxing and taking in this tranquil setting. Kids, of course, will be more interested in trying to find peafowl; we saw four on our last visit. If you don't see any at first, look up in the trees (I never knew peacocks loved to sit in trees before I visited here). A lucky child may even find a long peacock feather to take home as a souvenir. Remind your children not to harass the peacocks. The house is locked, but it can be reserved for use at small weddings and other functions. Other activities at Mayfield Park include picnicking (there is a table right outside the garden area) and hiking through the wooded preserve on short hikes. Two trails starts by the parking lot, one at either end, and one starts by the carriage house, called the Bell Trail because the entrance has a small bell hung over it. This is a short trail that children can manage. Information from www.austinexplorer.com indicates that the lake trail that starts at the far end of the parking lot is also easy to hike and includes a dock with a view of Lake Austin.