About 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.
As you can see in the photo above, the Hamilton Pool featured a deep cave-like grotto.
This allowed us to stay cool and sheltered from the hot sun, but the grotto was so deep that it also let us view the waterfall from a variety of positions (including behind it).
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 (probably underscoring 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.
Nevertheless, we could totally see why it was immensely popular despite there being controlled access into the preserve.
Controlled Access to the Hamilton Pool
Speaking of controlled access, visiting the Hamilton Pool was actually a little tricky.
First off, the Hamilton Pool Preserve didn’t open until 9am.
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 temporary pullout parking near the entrance.
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).
It 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.
One more thing I should mention is that I have a feeling that the somewhat chaotic experience of rushing to the entrance right when they opened (and turning away those who missed out) may not be sustainable.
So by the time you read this, Travis County Parks may impose a different system to better accommodate more people and alleviate the chaos.
Hiking to the Hamilton Pool
Even though the signs said the Hamilton Pool trail was moderately strenuous, it really wasn’t that bad.
The trail started off by descending on a combination of dirt and rock slabs.
I guess it was the rocky sections that made the footing a bit on the slippery side.
This was especially the case 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 trail was closed).
Of course, 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 Hamilton Pool Waterfall, there was one stretch of trail that was right up against the creek.
I’d imagine it was probably this part of the trail that was flooded earlier in the morning and caused the delayed opening on the day of our visit.
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.
This was especially in one section where it was hard to squeeze between the grotto wall and some huge rock slabs, and we found it easier to climb the rocks to get around that kind of a tight squeeze.
Then, the trail went behind the main part of the Hamilton Pool Waterfall, where it got a little bit on the misty side causing the trail to get wet and slippery here.
Beyond the misty part, there were some ladder-like steps climbing back up to more established trail again before descending back down to the junction to complete the loop.
In any case, we spent nearly 90 minutes away from the car.
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 sweat given that the return hike was mostly uphill when we left Hamilton Creek.
Photographing the Hamilton Pool Waterfall
Apparently, the early afternoon was a difficult time to take photos because the sun was almost right on top of the north-facing waterfall.
Meanwhile, the bright sunlight also created 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.
Furthermore, it appeared that the views of the Hamilton Pool Falls was less obstructed by foliage the further to its left we went.
It was more difficult to get a clean look at the falls towards its right side.
Authorities
Hamilton Pool resides in the Hamilton Pool Preserve near Austin in Travis County, Texas. It is administered by the Travis County Parks. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
Since we based ourselves in Austin, we’ll describe the driving directions from there.
We’ll first describe the route sticking to the main highways even though the GPS had us take a more direct route on a slower road, which we’ll describe later.
From downtown Austin, we found our way to the Hwy 290 (either south along the I-35 or south along the 1-Loop).
We then headed west on the Hwy 290 until reaching the Route 71 at the next light shortly after the freeway ended (roughly 3.3 miles west of the 1-Loop junction with the Hwy 290).
Next, we turned right onto Route 71 and followed this surface road for nearly 9 miles to the Hamilton Pool Road, where there was a signposted traffic light.
We then turned left onto the Hamilton Pool Road and followed this two-lane paved rural road for a little over 12 miles to the signposted Hamilton Pool Preserve entrance on the right.
Overall, this drive took us around 45 minutes though probably a large chunk of that time was spent waiting for traffic lights.
Other Bits of Info about Driving to Hamilton Pool Preserve
Alternatively, at the junction of the 1-Loop and the Hwy 290, instead of staying on the 290 to the 71, the GPS had us take the Southwest Parkway for almost 7 miles to the Route 71.
Then, we turned right to go north onto the Route 71 for the next 4.5 miles to the Hamilton Pool Road, where we turned left and followed that road like the directions above to get to the entrance of the preserve.
Finally, as mentioned before in the introduction above, we were turned away from the entrance by the employees there for showing up too early.
So we (and many others) were busy driving back-and-forth along Hamilton Pool Road killing time (and gas) before they’d finally let us in the entrance.
The nearest pullouts that we could find was actually near the Stage Coach Ranch Road, which was a short distance west of the entrance to the Hamilton Pool Preserve.
They eventually let us in less than five minutes before the official opening.
Just to give you a sense of geographical context, Austin was about 195 miles (3 hours drive) south of Dallas and 169 miles (2.5 hours drive) west of Houston.
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Brief sweep from just the beach area opposite the waterfall across Hamilton Pool
Long movie doing the entire loop trail around the Hamilton Pool while showing off the various angles of the waterfall and some detail of the collapsed grotto
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