Take The Plunge
Perfect, Old-Fashioned Swimming Holes.
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Courtesy of TxDot | |
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BERGHEIM CAMPGROUND AND RV PARK, Bergheim (in the Hill Country; 103 White Water Road; from Boerne, take Texas Highway 46 east for 15 miles to Bergheim, then turn north for 5 miles on Farm Road 3351; 830-336-2235). Perched on a bluff above the Guadalupe 8 miles upstream from Guadalupe River State Park, this private camp has seven hundred feet of frontage along a tight, fast-moving part of the river; several holes carved by currents swirling around the cypresses are deep enough to dunk in and the floating is excellent. Day use 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; $3, children under 4 free.
BLANCO RIVER STATE PARK, Blanco (in the Hill Country; 1?2 mile southwest of the town square on U.S. 281; 830-833-4333). It's hardly the only dammed-up part of the Blanco worth a breaststroke (Five Mile Dam near San Marcos comes to mind), but this state park gets extra points for ladders on both ends of the dam and a cement-sided wading pool below its northern half. Day use 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; $3, children under 14 free.
BLUE HOLE RECREATION, Wimberley (in the Hill Country; 1?4 mile east of the town square on FM 3237; 512-847-9127). This could be the last summer that this privately owned campground on Cypress Creek is open to the public, so grab a rope and swing into a narrow trench where the water temperature is between 68 and 72 degrees no matter how hot the weather. Day use Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sundays 10 to 6; $5 (minors must be accompanied by a parent or present a signed release form; form available at bluehole.net).
DINOSAUR VALLEY STATE PARK, Glen Rose (in North Texas; from the center of town, head west on U.S. 67 to the junction with FM 205, then continue west on 205; 254-897-4588). Beneath a high bluff on a bend in the Paluxy River is Glen Rose's Blue Hole, which is surrounded by boulders and ranges in depth from 12 to 21 feet (the wading is best a little downstream from the hole). Dinosaur tracks are clearly visible on the river's rock bottom. Day use 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; $5.
EDGAR'S RIVER TERRACE, Leakey (in the Hill Country; 8 miles south of town on U.S. 83 near Farm Road 1120). Garner State Park and Neal's Lodge in Concan aren't the only premier swim-and-float spots on the translucent Rio Frio. A mile upstream from Garner is an aqua jewel of a swimming hole. Twenty feet deep next to the giant cypress, it has limestone shelves for sunning and wading, a fifteen-foot boulder to jump off of, and best of all, a consistent flow from a nearby spring. The catch: You have to rent one of the four funky cabins at Edgar's River Terrace ($75 for up to four people, 830-232-6626) or the modern doublewide ($135 for up to four) or the vacation home ($400 for up to eight) at Johnnie's Happy Hollow convenience store across the creek (830-232-5266). It's worth it.
GUADALUPE RIVER STATE PARK (in the Hill Country; 3350 Park Road 31; from Bulverde, head north on U.S. 281 to the junction with Texas Highway 46, turn west on 46, then north on Park Road 31, about 7 miles in all; 830-438-2656). A twenty-foot-high limestone shelf puts a prominent bend in the river that creates a half-mile-long, first-class swimming hole. The gravel bottom near the banks is shallow enough for you to safely wade some distance into the river, while the current in the middle, through a string of deep pools, provides a giddy downstream float. Day use Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays till midnight, Saturdays till 10, Sundays till 8; $4, children under 13 free.
HINMAN ISLAND PARK, New Braunfels (Hinman Island Drive, next door to Landa Park; 830-608-2160). Less than a mile downstream from Comal Springs, the biggest spring complex in the state, and just upstream from "the chute," the city-owned tube run, is one fine stretch of swimming river. The drop-off into the blue, Caribbean-clear water is fairly steep, limiting wading opportunities, but the straight two-hundred-yard stretch is made for doing laps. The north bank is cemented and has steps leading into the water. Open 6 a.m. to midnight daily; free.
KRAUSE SPRINGS, Spicewood (in the Hill Country; from the junction of U.S. 290 and Texas Highway 71, in southwest Austin, go north on 71 for 28 miles to Spicewood, turn right on Spur 191 for 1 mile, then turn right on County Road 404 for 1?3 mile; 830-693-4181). On a blazing-hot summer day, the 66-degree waters of Krause Springs are all the affirmation anyone needs that there is no sweeter, more delicious form of water recreation than lazing away at a swimming hole. This family-owned campground on a low bluff above Cypress Creek, near the shores of Lake Travis, has all the essentials: clean, clear moving water, a walkable rock bottom, holes deep enough to immerse yourself in, rocks for sunning, and plenty of shade trees (cypresses on the creek). The two fern-choked waterfalls gushing from the hillside make it all dreamy. Day use 9 a.m. to sunset daily; $3, children 4 to 11 $2.50, under 4 free.
MEDINA KAYAKS AND RIVER RANCH, Medina (in the Hill Country; 761 Haley Lane; from the town post office, take Texas Highway 16 north for 3.4 miles and turn right at the green kayak; 830-589-7215). Some of the finest swimming holes in Texas can be found at low-water crossings over the blue-green Medina River around Bandera, Medina, and Kerrville. This primitive private campground is even better, because it is off the highway and its half-mile stretch of the Medina has not one but several holes. Day use sunup to sundown daily; $6 per car with up to four persons, $2 each additional person.
TONKAWA FALLS RV PARK, Crawford (west of Waco; 1 mile east of Crawford on FM 185; 254-486-0105). If Crawford's highest-profile semi-resident wants to burnish his green image, he should take a dip in Tonkawa Falls, the town's natural jewel, now that Dann Abbe has cleaned up and reopened this swimming hole in Tonkawa Creek. The twelve-foot falls form a large pool flanked by rock ledges to jump from. Day use 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; $2.
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