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Austin"ish" / CenTex Swimming Holes

texasdago

By texasdago
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Spoosner

Spoosner 86

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3 hours ago, texasdago said:

Hit Blanco State Park last week and the water was nice - not too busy. The reservation system helps plus we got there relatively early.

Reimers is great - one of our favorite "easy to get to" places to just chill.

Next up - instead of Kerrville, we booked a cabin on the Nueces River by Lake Nueces.  That article in Texas Highways sealed it for us.  Can't wait...

https://texashighways.com/things-to-do/on-the-water/rivers/shhh-this-just-might-be-the-prettiest-body-of-water-in-texas/

Sounds a lot less busy than the Frio.

Where did you find a cabin/through which site? Been looking for a short trip in September, but don't see much available.

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texasdago

texasdago 7573

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27 minutes ago, Spoosner said:

Where did you find a cabin/through which site? Been looking for a short trip in September, but don't see much available.

There is a place called The Riv that has a handful of cabins.  Not cheap but three bedrooms and they have private access to the river.

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11519

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FYI, Blue Hole and Jacobs Well are completely booked for the rest of the remainder of the swimming season. There are no more reservations to swim.

Hamilton Pool is currently closed to the public.

You now need a reservation just to hike the greenbelt Thursday through Sunday. No reservation required Mon - Wed.

Last time we went to McKinney Falls on a day pass the water was about 90 degrees.

Think we're camping for one night in Pedernales on a Thursday in October. There is not a weekend availability through January, and they aren't booking out past mid-January. 

Fuck COVID and blastfurnaces

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45952

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We were at Emma Long on Sunday.  We placed a reservation about 10 days before.  It was "full" but honestly it was plenty easy to get a spot on the bank under a tree and still stay maybe 15 yards away from anyone else.  Water temp was nice, and the kids dug the waves off what seemed like a pretty reasonable amount of boat and jet ski traffic.  It was good for our collective soul.

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irishtexan

irishtexan 11519

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2 hours ago, Deej said:

It probably was before Texas Highways gave everyone the idea. 

Yeah. No weekend availability through the end of October. Tried a bunch of weekdays but they were all full. Got frustrated and quit searching. So might I also add, FUCK the City of Austin parks department reservation and search function. You have to select the park you want to go to and choose a specific day to see if there is availability. There is no way to do multi-day searches so you have to do a new search for the next day, and the next day, etc. It's more frustrating than trying to register for classes as a Freshman through TEX, the telephone enrollment exchange.... for the University of Texas at Austin.

"Your park reservation was not added. The park you have requested is full..."

At least TEX would have the goddamn decency to tell you that all other sections of the class was full so you're not trying to register for the next hour/day/etc.

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PantsTent

PantsTent 2002

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3 hours ago, irishtexan said:

Yeah. No weekend availability through the end of October. Tried a bunch of weekdays but they were all full. Got frustrated and quit searching. So might I also add, FUCK the City of Austin parks department reservation and search function. You have to select the park you want to go to and choose a specific day to see if there is availability. There is no way to do multi-day searches so you have to do a new search for the next day, and the next day, etc. It's more frustrating than trying to register for classes as a Freshman through TEX, the telephone enrollment exchange.... for the University of Texas at Austin.

"Your park reservation was not added. The park you have requested is full..."

At least TEX would have the goddamn decency to tell you that all other sections of the class was full so you're not trying to register for the next hour/day/etc.

For city, you can only book 14 days out. So it will either say 'full' or 'unavailable' if too far out.  At least that's what I see looking at Emma Long reservations.

 

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dogbreath

dogbreath 434

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On 8/7/2020 at 5:14 PM, Kennythetiger said:

Have you ever swam in the blue hole in Santa Rosa, NM?

I did last year on the way to Colorado last summer.  Absolutely beautiful water and cold (62 degrees).  I went at 6 am (7 am Texas time) to beat the scuba traffic.  I only lasted two minutes in water before having to get out.  Worked my way to staying in for 15 minutes before needing to get out and then would get back in.

Called them this year and they said no out of state visitors and they were booked up with scuba reservations through October.  Could have probably done the 6 am visit again, but decided to go another way thru NM.  Swam in Roaring Fork River in Colorado for the two weeks I was there, but waited til afternoon for the sun to warm up the water a little.  Also swam in some of the gap lakes.  Unfortunately, that area of Colorado just had devastating fires. 

Isn't Balmorhea still closed?  We used to stop every time when driving west. 

I try to swim in natural water daily and living close to the San Marcos and Comal Rivers with constant temps makes that possible in normal times.  When they opened state parks in the spring, we went to Lost Maples and did a creek walk along the Sabinal and found some nice spots to swim, but that's too far for a regular excursion.  Under normal circumstances, we'd do a day trip and go to Wes Cooksey park to swim in the Nueces and to Fort Clark Springs in Bracketville for some good swimming spots.   

I have done the slime bridge on Blanco and Kendall County parks for the Guadalupe.  But the water is so warm that it's just not an enjoyable swim.  Have been going to Landa Pool regularly, but that ends on Labor Day.  The March shutdown was much better as there were no fences limiting access and I would just go at 6 am to get in. 

 

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11049

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On 8/6/2020 at 6:45 PM, DoobieWah said:

Is Hamilton's Pool still a thing?

 

I remember back in early 80's you could just show up at Hamilton's Pool during the week, and be the only ones there. We'd skip school on Friday, show up when it opened with an ice chest full of beer, bunch of weed, and a couple of sandwiches, and there wouldn't be anyone there until 1 or 2. Get high and a beer buzz and watch the cliff swallows. Swim out to the falls and lay on that big rock and let the water fall beat the sin out of you.

Last time i went, you had to wait in line, parking lot full, crowds of people, fuck that. I guess at some point they started making people get reservations.

 

 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18012

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Went to Blanco State Park yesterday.  That place fucking sucked.  The water is way too deep and murky unless you want to just float on an inflatable or paddle.  The small shallow pool area had probably 50 kids stuffed into it.  About 100 people parked their chairs and coolers right at the water entrance so there was no way you get in the water and social distance at the same time.  Every water entrance had people setting up shop right the water's edge so there was no good entrance.  I think I only saw one guy with a mask in addition to the four of us. Two groups brought their pit bulls who wanted to kill each other and they spent the afternoon yelling at their dogs who just barked incessantly.  Some fat ass fell off the dam on the rocks below and an ambulance had to come and haul him away.

 

 

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41551

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must've stopped limiting then.  it was perfect when we were there in june.  that pool area was still too full but a little further down there's a nice waterfall where we could spread out and never had a problem finding our own space or getting one of the picnic areas.  even made some s'mores on the grill.

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41551

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We went to Jacob’s Well today. With the temperature like it is the water was only a few degrees cooler than the air. Not many people jumping in so there was never a wait. I was the only one there with the balls to go off the highest rock. If you can get a reservation this summer do it. 

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41551

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1 hour ago, Wally Pryor said:

Jacob's Well is great.   Doesn't take real big balls to take the leap off that high rock.

The big balls are required once you get in the water and decide to explore, deep.  Ask the 10 +/- that never came back.

Yeah, I was being sarcastic. Buncha pussies out there. 

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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I am too impaired to recall if I already replied to this thread, but these are my favorites:

The Narrows. The absolute crown jewel of Texas swimming holes.  There is no equal.  Unless you know a landowner along it, prepare yourself for a difficult 15 mile round trip hike that is absolutely worth it.  DM me for photos and details.  If you are an asshole, don't bother.

Blue Hole...a very popular and well known spot, but who gives a fuck.  I will do back flips of the rope wing all day long or until my wife tells me I have had enough (she is wrong, there is never enough back flips off a rope swing).

Jacob's Well...cold, but absolutely beautiful.  Jumping off the rocks into is a lot of fun.  Slipping on the algae and busting your ass is a rite of passage.  There are dead people down there.  Fun to scare young nephews and nieces with.

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