The Blanco River Narrows Is One of the Best Swimming Holes in Texas

There are some things (besides Barbie Q), which are hot and excited about Texas than the reader -administered swimming holes. And in the mountainous country of Texas, the river Blanco is a place of legendary swimming that has seen something – or even heard about it.

Here, miles away from the nearest public road, a small valley parked in a rotating limestone. It is a hidden world of springs and deep, dark ponds. When you descend into the valley with dry rivers, all the sounds are eliminated, saving the spring water. Maden Hair Furns waves slowly on the walls of the valley, and the curious fish floats to the surface, their parliamentary wings have pursued both sides as soon as they follow the water. This surprise is known as the Blanco Narrow River.

Both sides through private land, the Noron is accessible through the only challenging increase through the Blanco River (mostly) dry bed. For this unpleasant adventures that are ready for travel, Noroz is a searching.

“This is the end of this horrible experience, and then you are in the nearest worldly, magical, hidden place where very few people want to go,” says Wes Ferguson, a Texas -based author and 2017 book “The Blanco River”, “The author of Texas and the 2017 book” The Blacko River “. “It’s incredible.”

Once, the land around Naro was owned by a family who invited people to raise their property for a little fees and to walk on the ponds. Now, it is more difficult to go to him. If you do not have a direct relationship with any landowners, there are only two ways to reach the tight at this time.

At the beginning of this summer, we have decided to build a track through the upstream route. The round journey includes more than 14 miles of hiking through a low water bridge (mostly) dry rivers, starting with Blanco along the Chamani Valley Road. The other route begins with the flow, and although it is a slight increase, the maximum water is crossing.

Hiking for both entry points needs to be on the edge of the rivers – which is a public land according to Texas law. Keep in mind that although it is legal to walk the edge of the rivers, it has not stopped local landowners from trying to scare hiking. After reading the reports that the hiking returned to our cars to reduce their tires, we chose to take a ride share on the bridge instead.

When we already got out of the car in the dark, impressed the reality of our work: We were suddenly lonely without a car. We, too, were also for a long walk on uneven regions, deep water of the neck, and will have to withdraw the heat of the afternoon of Texas summer on return. We took a deep breath and stepped into black water with rocks near the lower bridge.

It took about 4.5 hours in our addition to the narrow. The first half was flooded with a mile or more recent rain, and at one point, the stream was so deep that our feet could no longer touch. Most of the rest of the addition was dry and traved soft gravel rods or smooth stones of lime stone, in which the edges of grass -bulls and rocky rocks were to scratch.

When we approached the end, the edge of the rivers was widened in the seemingly non -ending field of long grass, surrounded by rocks, which slowly work. After that, he once again tied to a rocky channel in which the trees of Psychmore were tied to the trees, and the rocky land provided the way to the solid sheets of the water -digested lime stone. Finally, the limestone bed opened, and we saw the valley.

The first pool we encountered was cool, green and shallow. When we swim in the length of this pond, the rest opened in front of us. Stepping from the ladder between the walls of the valley -covered valley was a series of shelves and ponds, which made them look black. We jumped inside our 50 -foot rope with an easy column in the rocks.

The ponds themselves were amazing, the edges were impossible. Ferguson says, “Interesting geography is amazing amazing amazing amazing.” They were formed by the rocks in thousands of years that are trapped and rotate when the water flows. Grinding these small rocks slowly produces large scale pits … in the legend it is baseless. ”

I swim to try to look down, but not luck. The ponds may look baseless, but I later found out that they were between 20 and 50 feet. Some are underwater, and I swim under the beautiful sinking monks between them.

The narrow spanning a quarter mile, and sometimes, the walls of the 40 -foot -long valley do not exceed 10 feet. The springs covered by its lush franc are quite the opposite of the surrounding rivers, and I wondered why Blanc came out of the underground in this particular place.

“You know, it doesn’t happen in a way,” he says. “The river is flowing underground under the river. But at this place, the types of rivers open, and thus you are essentially looking in a cave that has lost its roof.”

When we packed and left the narrow, took ourselves back to the bridge to increase more than seven miles, where the kind friends will pick us up at the end of this afternoon, I felt thankful to experience this Texas natural surprise. I do not know if I will track again, but I know that the beauty of tight will appear again in my dreams for years to come.

If you choose to visit this magical place, be respected and practice not to give up any trace principle. Pack what you pack, and do not take fossils or samples that you meet. Before starting your adventure, research the increase. Although our tight journey was smooth, online accounts can give you some ideas about other obstacles you can face. Be prepared with water, food and ropes, and take extra care not to commit adultery while staying at the edge of the stream. When you get closer to the narrow, purple paint markers on the rocks indicate the limits of private property.

“I think landlords … feel like they are the guards of this magical place,” says Ferguson. “So, I understand where they are coming from, and I think that for the rest of us, they have to continue accessing (it) and cares about it.”