Hamilton Pool Preserve, Dripping Springs TX

After a long time being in Austin, I finally visited this place. It was beautiful. The water is very pretty and there were some fishes swimming close to the shore that was a good sight to look at. The grotto area hike and swimming is closed as of now. But there was hike to the river which was a good workout. The beach near the river is nice and the water is shallow and clear. Overall a good visit.

Well worth the driving and craziness!

Don’t make the same mistake I did, and go confirm your reservation time. Yes, due to population growth, they’re on a 4 hour reservation basis now since the past few years. Arrive earlier and you might be able to get a spot along the rocky coast. Even with max capacity around 480 there’s still plenty of room for all!

There’s a hiking trail but it’s not worth it if you don’t have the right hiking gear to change into right after a swim.trust me.

They’re not kidding when they say natural reserve. Spiders and snakes are not shy, just let them be! There’ll always be a park ranger nearby.

There are two hiking trails, one to the famous spot and the other one to the lake. We only went to the most famous spot and took 5-10 mins, easy walking trail. The lake will take longer but we haven’t visited yet, we’ll go next time. Water is not clear because of bacteria we can’t swim there, heard the best time is after raining, water will be clear and nice.

This place is absolutely beautiful! So sad bacteria levels are always high in Texas. Not many people on the day we came. No place to sit so bring a couple of lawn chairs.

Exactly what you would expect when a governmental agency runs it. Pure bureaucracy getting a "reservation", over charged, and no credit for bad weather.
Used to be a great place to take people. Way too hard to now. Thanks!

You pay $12 to reserve your spot then $8 per person to get in. The walk is quarter of a mile, which is the best part of the trip. The river water is stagnant. When you get to the preserve you can’t walk around it because of the falling rocks (ok cool, but why charge fully if we can’t get the full experience) the water isn’t great, trust me the filters on pictures make this look diff, there’s leaves all around the shore that Can at least be cleaned. The shore was tiny. It was def not worth the money. All three of us who were there first time were disappointed.

Really nice area. Would’ve given it 5 stars but at the time we went there was no access to the actual water at the pool due to falling rocks and other things. But overall really nice hike. Remember to bring water and shoes for hiking the rocky, uneven terrain. But really nice if you like the outdoors like I do.

I could understand that swimming was not allowed and it was mentioned on website too… but utterly disappointed to see even the walking trail for the cave behind the waterfall was also closed: (and we came to know only after reaching the actual pool.

Driving for so many hrs gave hardly any results.

They had no answers either as to when it will reopened or what precautions were taken for the possible falling rocks, no safety nets, nothing.

We visited Hamilton pool on 18-July-2021. After waiting for the slot and booked by paying $12 and paid $32 ($8 per person). We were very disappointed.
As pool is closed and mentioned ‘falling rocks’ and ‘high bacteria’. But still they collect money for all which is of no reason.
Overall it’s not worth visiting this place. There are many good hiking places around the area.

Awesome short hikes down to the main attraction waterfall pool, just a huge bummer that guests aren’t allowed to go past a small roped off area that leads up to the waterfall itself and nonetheless allowed to swim in this beautiful, god created swimming hole

Not worth it. While other places in States offer entrance for free, this park is highly commercialized. $80 for a person for day use is bonkers. Lived in Bay area of California for 5 years and have a similar looking pool and no charge which we visited atleast twice a year for greens.

A very short hike and a beautiful ending. It was great and I’m glad they only do reservation or this place would be way too busy for how small it is. It’s very clean and There’s no trash. There is no swimming right now due to fallen rocks but it’s worth taking some photos!

Beautiful park and experience. Staff was helpful and friendly. Only half of the pool was accessible and no swimming. But otherwise a great experience

Place is good but online booking, and cost doesn’t justify the hype. And given that trail under the arch and water is closed there is seldom any interesting to do here

I’ve been here many times in the past. I was planning to take my family and I was surprised that now it costs money and requires reservations. Reservations are fully booked months in advance. This preserve is nice but it’s not worth all of that BS.money hungry

These reviews suggest that some of y’all need to plan better and read the official webpage for the visit guidelines.

You do need a reservation. $12 a car, $8 per adult at the gate. There is also a senior discount rate. When we arrived, the rangers still had to turn away drivers ahead of us who clearly had no idea reservations were required. Don’t be one of these people who show up like that despite the reservation system being in place for a long while now.

Check the website for restrictions for swimming and access to the grotto. There is a longer river trail that takes you through some mild hikes and a sandy beach area.

Beautiful natural pool and waterfall but a lot of BUTs:)
Reservation is needed ($12, not refundable even if the weather is bad) and don't forget additional cash for the entrance ($8 per person)! Swimming is not allowed, trail under the cliff is closed, trail to the pool is too short, overpriced.
I wanted to visit this place for a long time and drive there for 2 hours and I think it was not worth it.
At least I was there at 9 am, when it was not so hot and not crowded. I saw a couple of catfish and turtle in the pool, ammonite footprint on the trail and also a lot of vultures on my way to the pool and near the river there.
More photos and my impressions about different things in the USA in my Instagram @norabread

What a complete ripoff. $12 for the car to enter, plus $8 per person in said car, to look at a muddy swimming hole that you can't swim in due to "high bacteria levels". It's a natural walking trail, to a naturally made hole. Why does it cost anything at all? Must be for the disgusting porta potties with all the spiders in them. At $5 it would be a touch steep, if you could actually swim. Or, if it was actually a pretty spot, which it isn't.

It was a good experience, but however, the pool wasn’t open to the public due to high bacteria, and most of the trials are closed.

This place is so beautiful! We use to go all the time. So much fun! There is a bit of a walk though to get to the water.