Pedernales Falls State Park - Review. Updated 2013

Pedernales Falls State Park

2585 Park Road 6026
Johnson City, Texas 78636

First things first.. How the heck do you pronounce that? Ped-er-nal-es.

Pedernales Falls State Park is located approximately 75 miles North of San Antonio and 45 miles West of Austin, TX outside the small hill country town of Johnson City. Pedernales Falls State Park offers all the usual activities including (but not limited to) hiking, biking, swimming, horse back riding, fishing, birding, etc.

Main Attraction:
The main draw at Pedernales SP is the Pedernales River, the falls and the swimming areas down stream. There is no swimming at the falls but it is still a very cool place to hike and climb on the rocks.

Due to water hazards no swimming is allowed at the falls.

The swimming area is a decent walk down a steep bank but the reward is worth it as the water is cool and refreshing. Hiking/biking/equestrian trails wind through the hill country and trammel crossing is a great place to stop and get your feet wet.

Looking down stream from Trammel Crossing.

Quick view of Trammel Crossing.

Camping Facilities:
The park offers 69 standard water/electric campsites as well as a primitive camping area accessible after a 3 mile hike. The campsites are pretty typical and occupy a large loop with a center road dividing the East and West. It is in the center that the camping areas two modest restroom and shower facilities can be found and while they are not large they are very clean and well maintained with private showers and stalls. Most of the campsites have ample shade, a picnic table, hook-ups and a fire pit. The park only offers back in sites, no pull through. Sites 1-16, 36-47, and 54-58, are the farthest from the facilities while sites 31-36 are closest to the trail that offers river access.

Standard W/E campsite.

Facilities:
Restroom facilities are well maintained and clean featuring solid shower doors. The only real negative was that the facilities where small and the dry side of the shower was not very dry with no bench and only a small hook to hang items.

Personal Experience:
This was our second camping trip of the year and the first time that we had any rain (thunderstorm in fact). Everything went really well and we stayed perfectly dry with the only downside being the noise (rain on a PUP can be LOUD!). I am not sure how it happened but instead of going swimming we ended up falling asleep for a few hours on the second day (I blame the foam mattress topper that made the bed much more comfortable). Lucy (the Wiener Dog) also did really well and we dubbed her Lucy the Adventure Wienie.

From 2012 (During bad drought):
The next stop was the swimming area along the river that is accessed by a ¼ mile walk down a well maintained trail that included rock steps and a short board walk down to a sandy beach. The river is lined by many large Cypress and other trees that offer plenty of shady spots to relax. Despite the low condition of the river a few families still found deep pools and areas to swim while the cool water sparkled thorough the shallows.

  
The beginning of the trail down to the river and the stone steps at the bottom.
 
Despite everything the rivers cool water sill carves its way through the Texas Hill Country.

Pedernales has always been one of my favorite parks ever since I was a young boy in the Scouts and despite my many visits I have never actually gone swimming. Most of my time is usually spent at the falls and while we didn’t visit this time around I figure I should include a couple pictures from a previous trip when it was flowing well.

 
Water pouring through one of the many chutes at the falls & one of the pools (photos 2010)