Still, you don’t have to dive deep to appreciate the refreshing waters, which stay between 72 and 76 degrees year-round. The San Solomon Springs, in far West Texas, have been a pilgrimage site for generations of otherwise unlikely desert travelers-namely, scuba divers, who come to mine the clear waters of Balmorhea, the thirties-era Civilian Conservation Corps–built swimming hole into which the springs feed a seemingly impossible fifteen million gallons of water a day.
HIDDEN WATER HOLES IN TEXAS PRO
Pro Tip: Good news! Later this year, Texas Parks and Wildlife will renovate the park’s rundown heritage motel, San Solomon Springs Courts. It’s time to unstick your legs from your seat and get thee to water!īest for: Swimming (though you can snorkel and scuba too!)
Green means you can pretty much grab a towel and go. The somewhat subjective color scale takes into account distance from amenities (i.e., food and restrooms and campsites), amount of courage necessary, and likelihood of minor mishaps. In addition, I’ve assigned each trip a difficulty rating so that urbanites and parents don’t have to guess at logistical challenges. I came away with nineteen watery prescriptions to cure what ails you-whether you’re in need of some inner tube R&R, a raucous romp, or a rugged, adrenaline-infused adventure. I paddled rivers east and west, splashed in desert springs, and swam in hidden lakes. Such an embarrassment of riches is prone to overwhelm would-be water-goers, so I spent the spring scouting new waterways and vetting old classics. More than 80,000 miles of rivers and streams crisscross the state, from the Rio Grande to the Sabine, while the Gulf Coast shoreline stretches some 360 miles. Huge underground pools feed springs that bubble up across the Edwards Plateau (think Barton Springs) and the Trans-Pecos (Balmorhea). In fact, thanks to the mid-century dam-building frenzy, Texas has nearly two hundred reservoirs, a number large enough to challenge Michigan’s claim as the Great Lakes State (Michigan’s are bigger, but we have more). Fortunately, there’s no shortage of curative spots to baptize oneself in come June, whether you want to be fully immersed or just skim the surface. Auden of life’s essential element-and the only known antidote to Texas’s searing summer days. Thousands have lived without love, not one without water,” wrote W. H.
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