Hamilton Pool: Swimming Texas Style

I first heard about Hamilton Pool last year. With moving into our house and 5 longs months of unpacking, we never got out to any Texas swimming holes. But today was the perfect day. We had nothing planned and it was HOT! Perfect! Hamilton Pool is only 45-60 minutes from the house. After an $8.00 entry fee and a 1/4 mile hike down to the actual pool, you’re at one of the coolest places I’ve seen in Texas.

Supposedly the pool and grotto was formed over a thousand years ago when the dome of an underground river collapsed. The result is a beautifully secluded pool with a 45 foot waterfall feeding the pool. On our visit today, the waterfall was more of a trickle. The preserve only has parking for 75 cars (we had to wait 15 minutes for a parking spot today). It’s a good thing the lot doesn’t park more as the pool was busy with people. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was plenty full.

This was Titus’ real first time swimming this summer. He did really well. We were in the water for about an hour. The water was cold, so he clung tight to me for the first ten minutes or so. Later he got in his inter tube (reluctantly at first) and we floated out to the middle of the pool. Last of all we tried on his new life jacket. He wasn’t as wild about the life jacket or being in the water without something to hang on.

We had a lot of fun splashing each other, spinning around, throwing him up in the air and dunking him (just kidding, there was no dunking today). Overall, it was a beautiful day in a perfect location and everyone had a blast. Sara and I kept remarking how it really felt like we were in some far-off and tropical get-away while only being 45 minutes from home. Yeah, we love where we live.