Hamilton Pool

Dripping Springs, Texas

When we were new to volunteering, a fellow camphost told us to be sure to get away from the park on our days off to avoid becoming stir-crazy. We found that to be very good advise. This time we found ourselves returning to Guadalupe River State Park and Pedernales Falls (P Falls) on our days off. We loved the River Road bike ride in New Braunfels and found ourselves meeting up with the local cycle group.

The ranches and wineries in the Hill Country are big wedding venues for weddings. During my doctor's visit, the LPN mentioned that her daughter was getting married and having a country wedding. The venue she reserved was $5000 dollars for the day. My chin hit the floor. It sounded like her parents were overwhelmed by the cost of the up coming nuptials.

 Before the weddings, the bachelorette parties are out in full force visiting the wineries up and down Highway 290 wine trail. 

Even though we have enjoyed our time here at LBJ, we have found 3 months a little long for us.

While camping in Guadalupe River SP, I heard wings beating on our pickup. A crazy cardinal was jumping on our truck mirrors, pecking and flapping her wings. It didn't looked like she was going to stop so we placed towels over the mirrors. Next thing we knew, she was beating her wings and tapping her beak on her reflections in the trailer's windows. We put a tarp over the windows to help allay her anxiety since we didn't have any bird Xanax. She must have been staking out her territory and was trying to chase the bird (her reflection) away. She would have kept it up for hours if we hadn't covered the reflections.

Hamilton Pool Preserve just outside of Dripping Springs was another great getaway for us. The hiking trail to the pool is steep with uneven steps that were slick when wet.

It was very quiet since we were the first to arrive. I have a feeling that the sound carries and gets loud in the summer. 

Hamilton Creek spills out over limestone outcroppings to create a 50-foot waterfall as it plunges into the head of a steep box canyon. The waterfall never completely dries up, but in dry times it does slow to a trickle.

Hamilton Pool Preserve is a part of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Reservations often required. Temp of the water is 55 degrees and I didn't last long while wading in the pool.

We were getting sweaty with the temps getting up to 80 degrees as we took the hiking trail from the pool to the Pedernales River.

A mile from Hamilton Pool is Westcave Preserve, an environmentally rich canyon with a 40-foot waterfall tumbling over fern-covered travertine columns into an emerald pool. Like many other parks in Texas, a reservation is required to see the Grotto by tour. The upper area with bird blinds is open to the public once you pay your $7.

These falls are similar to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and are fortunately being protected.

We made this stop to see how "wintering" in Texas would compare to our past 5 winters in Arizona. I think we like the warm dry desert better.