Hamilton Pool

Hamilton Pool was easily our favorite Texas waterfall. Even though the falls was modestly sized with a plunge of roughly 50ft into its namesake pool, we thought it was the stuff surrounding the pool and waterfall that made this place so scenic and memorable. For starters, the falls featured a deep cave-like grotto that allowed us to stay cool (i.e. sheltered from the hot sun) while also letting us view the waterfall from a variety of positions (including behind it). And under more benign conditions than during our visit, it was also possible to go for a swim, which seemed to be a popular activity in Texas as that probably underscored how hot it could get here. Indeed, this was the kind of attraction that we certainly didn’t expect to see in a state with more of a reputation for being flat and hot, yet we could totally see why it was immensely popular despite there being controlled access into the preserve.

Speaking of controlled access, visiting this waterfall was actually a little tricky. First off, the Hamilton Pool Preserve didn’t open until 9am, and on the day of our visit, it didn’t open until 1pm due to flooding and some trail damage earlier that morning. There were employees at the entrance (see directions below) who would turn vehicles away if it was too early or if it was closed. So that created some chaos in that people were marauding back and forth (if they couldn’t find pullout parking near the entrance), and when they finally let us drive up to the gate, we had to wait in another queue that quickly piled up (say within 10-15 minutes of opening) and got to the point that the employee managing the back of the queue had to turn cars away again in order to prevent vehicles from spilling out onto the Hamilton Pool Road.

Once we finally rolled up to the entrance kiosk, we paid the $15 in cash or check (a pretty steep price to pay in cash), then managed to find parking in their lot. Note that their vehicle entry fee as of our visit in March 2016 actually created a perverse incentive to carpool to the preserve instead of walking or biking here as they’d charge $8 per person! So if you came as a couple or a group, you’d already be paying more than if you had carpooled! Talk about economic incentive to do the opposite of being environmentally friendly! Anyways, after parking the car, we then started the roughly 1/2-mile hike (each way) to the Hamilton Pool and waterfall. There were some picnic tables and toilet facilities around the trailhead, but we wasted no time to get started.

Even though the signs said the trail was moderately strenuous, it really wasn’t that bad. The trail started off by descending on a combination of dirt and rock slabs, and I guess it was the rocky sections that made the footing a bit on the slippery side since it was wet from all the rains that had taken place during the week we were in Austin. After a few minutes of this descent, we reached a junction where the trail on the left went to the Pedernales River though that one was closed. So we veered right and walked along the Hamilton Creek in the upstream direction as the trail now passed by some interesting rock formations as well as a small escarpment. Along the way, we noticed that there was the end of some road near the trail junction, but this was a maintenance road for park employees (though it seemed to confuse our GPS when we routed to this place). As we got closer to the waterfall, there was one stretch of trail that was right up against the creek, and I’d imagine it was probably this part that was flooded earlier in the morning.

Soon afterwards, we reached the wide Hamilton Pool, where the trail split off in two directions as it looped around the pool. There was a beach-like area past the small footbridge on the left side of this fork, and this was where most of the sun bathers chilled out at. Meanwhile, the established trail continued beyond the beach and into the deep cave-like grotto. Within the grotto, the trail more or less alternated between being an obvious trail and a rock scramble (especially in one section where it was hard to squeeze between the grotto wall and some huge rock slabs; it was best to climb the rocks to get around that section). Then, the trail went behind the main part of the falls, where it got a little bit on the misty side (causing the trail to get wet and slippery here). Beyond the misty part, there was some ladder-like steps climbing back up to more established trail again before descending back down to the junction to complete the loop.

Apparently, the early afternoon was a difficult time to take photos because the sun was almost right on top of the north-facing waterfall while also creating some pretty harsh contrast between the shadowy grotto area and the bright pool itself. I’d imagine that early morning or late afternoons would be the best time to take photos. (see directions below). Furthermore, it appeared that the views of the Hamilton Pool Falls was less obstructed by foliage the further to its left we went as it was more difficult to get a clean look at the falls towards its right side. In any case, we spent nearly 90 minutes at the falls, and most of that time was spent taking photos and just soaking in the festive atmosphere from all the people who descended upon this beautiful place. That said, we definitely worked up a little bit of a sweat given that the return hike was mostly uphill when it left Hamilton Creek.