ABOUT THE PLACE

In the middle of the West Texas desert there lies Balmorhea Spring, and at Balmorehea State Park they've turned the spring into a swimming hole. It's actually a really neat thing to see. The water is crystal clear to 20' deep, and there are all sorts of little fish swimming around. The water is nice and frigid and has a pretty strong sulfer smell which you get used to quickly. You can scuba dive in the spring, and there is even a small dive shop just outside the park entrance.

Other than that, however, there's not much else at the park. No hiking trails and the camping areas are pretty awful. There are "hotel rooms" that you can stay in as well, and I'd probably advise that over the camp sites. There's virtually no privacy at the camp grounds, and it's not landscaped, so it's just a bunch of tents in the dirt.

I would have normally given this a 2 flag rating, but the park's proximity to other really cool things gives it a 3 star rating. It's near Davis Mountains State Park and the McDonald Observatory.