Hamilton Pool visitors frustrated with closed swimming area

Hamilton Pool problems

Visitors to Travis County's Hamilton Pool are growing frustrated over the often-closed swimming area. Much of the pool itself has been shut down indefinitely since the 2021 winter storm.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Visitors to Travis County's Hamilton Pool Preserve are growing frustrated over the often-closed swimming area.

Swimming was allowed on Tuesday, July 30, but, so far in 2024, that's only been the case about half the time. In fact, much of the pool itself has been shut down indefinitely since the 2021 winter storm.

When it comes to the closures, Travis County officials say there are two main culprits: high bacteria levels and falling rocks.

"We checked the website this morning, and we saw that there was no swimming, so we were a little upset, because we had made our reservation a couple of months ago," said Ken Morton, a Hamilton Pool visitor from Austin.

"We were kind of sad because we wanted to swim," said Mika Morton of Austin.

In fact, from Jan. 1 through July 17 of this year, swimming was allowed on 104 days, but there was no swimming on 95 days.

Travis County officials say bacteria levels have been elevated lately, leading to the pool's closure for much of the summer. Experts say poor water quality is the downside to the heavy rainfall we've seen in recent weeks.

"That's always happened since the existence of the pool itself," said Hector Nieto, director of Travis County's public information office.

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Travis County Parks announced Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs has to temporarily shut down for swimming due to recent rain and the threat of high bacteria levels.

"Runoff levels that pour into the pool do cause increased bacteria levels," said Nieto. "And so, out of the abundance of caution, we close the pool to let those bacteria levels go back to normal before we allow swimmers to go back."

But Nieto says too little rain can also lead the pool to close. That's been a problem given the ongoing drought in recent years.

"Obviously, then that means our water levels are going to be low. And so we have to be mindful of the ecological impacts and what may also occur when more people start visiting the pool," said Nieto.

In addition to the rain, park staff say birds can contribute to high bacteria levels, too, especially during the summer. FOX 7 was told park staff test the water on a daily basis to determine when swimming can resume.

"It's a little frustrating, but I also feel like it makes sense," said Brianna Sheffield of Austin.

When the pool is open for swimming, it's limited to a roped-off area, and that's because of the long-term issue of rocks falling from above. That problem stems from the devastating winter storm in 2021.

"That resulted in water that was in and around the Hamilton Pool grotto, which is where the rock is overhanging, freezing and expanding," said Nieto. "We did see some rocks falling down into the pool."

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Because of that, about 75% of the swimming area has been cordoned off.

"I can imagine there are people that go there that just want to know, 'why can't we just open this up?' The chances of us getting hit by a rock are really small. And that is true," said Brian Hunt, a geologist with the University of Texas at Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology. "But there are some very large blocks of rock up there that, you know, if they fell would be catastrophic to anyone below them."

Travis County has partnered with geologists from the University of Texas to try and figure out a long-term solution. But Hunt says no formal project is underway, at least not yet.

"I think for the time being, my suggestion would be that and until real solutions for monitoring or maybe engineering are presented, it probably should remain sort of off limits.," said Hunt.

The good news? The park is still open for hiking and features some pretty breathtaking views.

"It's still really pretty down here. I would still definitely recommend coming down here," said Sheffield.

"What we did was we made another reservation for August. So, hopefully, then we'll luck out," said Ken Morton.

If you make a reservation, you have until midnight the night before to go online and reschedule in case swimming is off limits. You can do that, as well as make a new reservation.

To check whether swimming is allowed, click here.