Hamilton pool & Pedernales Falls State Park

There is one more must-to-see destination in Texas.

Be prepared to book the time in advance to visit Hamilton Pool.

 It takes 3 hours of driving from Katy to reach the target. So plan the trip so you can go somewhere else after spending time in the pool.

Woke up at 05.00 and went out at 05.45 to be at 09.00 am.

Last steps...

And my first impression ... What a heck! The pool is smallish, the place is undersized, everything is so gray and dark...

 I felt myself frustrated and disappointed, because I had HUGE expectations.   

The photos from the internet lied as usually - too much Photoshop.

But after a while the sun came out and lit up the already crowded place so the picture/impression has changed. 

I did swim for 5 minutes but sprang out from the pool when I saw in  water a turtle with a head above the water. Almost tame/pet catfish close to shore made my time in water more unpleasant. The kids tried to catch them, but I could not even look at them. God, I did not know I'm such a picky person.

Water became magnificent turquoise in color right before lunch time.

Some plants grow upside down.

The visit of Hamilton pool has been ended with a fruiting cactus. Now I've seen  everything.

Because our session was from 09.00 to 13.00 we had plenty of time before going home.

So our next stop was Pedernales Falls State Park to continue swimming.

Oh, my God! It's beautiful! And it is so hot so you cannot walk barefoot on a sand.

The cypress trees are so gorgeous and their roots are so knockout.

The bottom of the river is covered by silt / clay as it was at Canyon Lake so the water looks  turquoise in some places with no people in it.

 Stunning place. We are going to visit it definitely again cause we missed the waterfalls and did not walk any river trails. If the kids agree to go here one more time because for them the best place so far is 5 stars - Jacob's Well  .