The Best Swimming Holes in the Texas Hill Country: A Local’s Honest Guide

If you’ve spent a summer near the Hill Country, you already know the swimming holes are the main event — and that the good ones are harder to get into than they used to be. Reservations, timed-entry permits, day passes that sell out by Tuesday — getting in the water out here takes more planning than it used to. I’ve spent enough summers chasing the cold water to have a ranking, so here’s the honest version: what’s actually open this year, what it costs, where to book it, the one I’d skip, and the one I’d send anyone to.

The one everyone asks about — and why you can’t swim it

Let’s start with Jacob’s Well, because someone always asks. It’s the deep blue spring you’ve seen on every Hill Country feed, and I’ll save you the drive: you can’t swim it right now. Hays County suspended swimming in June 2022 when the water dropped too low to be safe, and it still hasn’t come back — there was no flow at all this spring, which makes 2026 likely its fifth summer closed. The trail’s open and the spring’s still gorgeous to look at, but if you’re driving out to get in the water, this isn’t the one. If your heart’s set on that area, Blue Hole is minutes away, pulls from the same aquifer, and has stayed open through all of it.

The famous ones (and exactly how to book them)

Most of the postcard spots run on reservations now, so this is where the planning comes in. Blue Hole Regional Park in Wimberley is the easy crowd-pleaser — cypress, rope swings, water cold enough to make you gasp, genuinely good with kids. You book a swim slot online through Wimberley Parks & Rec; they run two a day, 9-to-1 and 2-to-6, May through Labor Day, and they sell out, so don’t show up hoping.

Hamilton Pool near Dripping Springs is the famous grotto with the waterfall, and it’s the most work to pull off: a reservation and a timed-entry permit through Travis County, fifteen dollars a vehicle, and they close it to swimming after heavy rain when bacteria spike — so check the status the morning you go, not the week before. Stunning, but I’d treat it as a once-for-the-photos thing more than a regular swim.

If you want the classic Hill Country hole without the permit homework, Krause Springs in Spicewood is the move — a private property that’s been open for decades, with natural and man-made pools, little waterfalls over the limestone, big cypress, rope swings, and camping if you want to stay. Eight to ten bucks at the gate, no reservation, just get there early.

The Frio is the best, and I’ll fight about it

Now the one I actually love. Out west, closer to me, the Frio River is the whole reason I don’t mind a Texas summer. Garner State Park in Concan is the classic stretch — clear green water, cypress on the banks, the slow all-day float a summer is supposed to be. Day-use, no advance reservation, but it fills fast on weekends, so go early or midweek.

A little further up is Leakey, and that’s usually where I end up. Driving out to Gypsy Sally’s — a roadhouse in an old converted gas station, street tacos and a drink called the Slurricane, less than a mile from the water — is one of my favorite things all summer. Honestly the drive’s half of it: from Medina out to Leakey you’re on the Twisted Sister, the famous Ranch Road 337/335/336 loop, a hundred-some miles of tight curves and ridgelines (one fifteen-mile stretch has around sixty-five turns). Gas up before you go, there’s not much out there, and take the long way at least once. It feels like a different world.

When you’re ready to get on the water, tube it. Concan has the most outfitters and easiest access; the popular stretch is about two miles and takes three to four hours depending on flow. Happy Hollow rents tubes for around twelve dollars, no booking, and buses you to the put-in; Josh’s Frio River Outfitter has shops in Leakey and Concan. What matters out there: water shoes (the bottom’s rocky), no glass or styrofoam on the river, and always check the current level with an outfitter first — in a dry summer the Frio runs low and your float quietly becomes a walk. Summer weekends book out weeks ahead, months for campsites, so don’t wing it.

The Medina River — the quiet local one

And then there’s the Medina River, the one in my own backyard here in Bandera County. It never gets the crowds the Guadalupe does, which is exactly why I like it. Spring-fed and clear, shaded almost the whole way by huge bald cypress, and it runs slow and shallow — the easy, lazy float, especially with little kids or the dogs along. Rent tubes, kayaks, and a shuttle from the Medina River Company on Main Street in Bandera. One honest caveat, because I’d want to know: the water down at the Bandera City Park dam has tested high for bacteria and swimming there isn’t recommended, so stick to the cleaner stretches upstream and check conditions after rain or in a dry year.

Before you go

A few things that’ll save your day whichever you pick: book ahead for Blue Hole and Hamilton Pool; the rest you can show up for, but early. Check for rain and low-water closures before committing to a drive. And bring water shoes, cash for the gate, an ice chest with no glass, and more sunscreen than you think you need — the sun out on open water will cook you before you notice.

Before you head out, grab my Hill Country swimming-hole packing list — water shoes, a dry bag, and everything else that keeps a river day perfect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you swim at Jacob’s Well in 2026? No — swimming’s been suspended since June 2022 over low water, still closed. Hiking only.

Which Texas Hill Country swimming holes need reservations? Blue Hole and Hamilton Pool. Krause Springs, Garner, and the Frio don’t.

Where can you tube? The Frio at Concan (Happy Hollow, Josh’s) and the Medina River (the Medina River Company).

What’s cheapest and easiest? Krause Springs ($8–10, no reservation); Garner for a full affordable day.

Which is best for families? The Medina River and Blue Hole — slow, shallow, shady.

And the best overall? The Frio. Every time.

If you only do one this summer, make it the Frio. Rent a tube, pack the sunscreen, take the long way through the Twisted Sister, and don’t be in any hurry to come back.