Swimming Holes Day Trip: Hamilton Pool & Pedernales Falls

Highlights

• Reserved Hamilton Pool entry — the hard part, handled
• Pedernales Falls and its limestone stair-steps
• Small van, ten people, air conditioning that works
• An honest call on swimming conditions the morning of

About this experience

Hamilton Pool is a grotto whose ceiling fell in thousands of years ago, leaving a jade-green pool under a fifty-foot overhang and a waterfall that runs when the creek is up. Entry is by reservation only and slots go weeks ahead — we hold them.

Afterwards we head to Pedernales Falls, where the river runs down limestone in stair-steps you can walk across, and stop somewhere in Dripping Springs on the way home.

Swimming at Hamilton Pool depends on bacteria counts published the morning of; when it's closed to swimming the hike and the grotto are still extraordinary, and we say so before you book.

What's included

Meeting point

Downtown pickup — Republic Square
Republic Square, Austin, TX 78701

Know before you go

• Swimming at Hamilton Pool depends on daily water testing
• The trail down to the grotto is steep and rocky
• Roughly 45 minutes each way

Reviews

About the operator

Small-van days out to the swimming holes, the granite and the wine road.