Check Out the World’s Largest Spring-Fed Swimming Pool!

On Tuesday, 3/7, we made yet another short hop to Balmorhea State Park, just 40 miles from Davis Mountain. I’d read about the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool built here by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936 and thought it would be worth checking out. Good call. 😊 

Compared to the huge areas (about 1.3 million acres!) covered by the Big Bend state and national parks, Balmorhea State Park is a minuscule 46 acres. There’s just a small campground, the 18-room San Solomon Court (also built by the CCC) and a series of canals and bridges. But you aren’t here for the vistas, the hiking, or the biking (there aren't any) – you are here for the pool. And what a pool it is! 

What do you think of when someone says swimming pool?  Usually a tiled rectangle of chlorinated water, right? Now image a V-shaped pool that covers 1.75 acres and holds 3 million gallons of water. It varies in depth from just 3 feet for the kiddies to 25 feet for the scuba divers. No chlorine here, this pool is fed by the San Solomon Springs that put out about 16 million gallons of water a day. As if that isn’t awesome enough, the pool is a natural habitat so you get to swim among plants and with thousands of fishies and some shy Texas Spiny Softshell turtles too. The water is beautifully clear with underwater visibility of 80-100 feet. Oh, and to sweeten an already good deal, the water temperature is a constant 72-76 degrees. The only thing missing are some manatees. Lol.

The pool is so large I couldn't get it all in the picture!

Love the natural stones, plants, and local residents.

Wow!

This wing of the pool is 70 by 240 feet and 20 feet deep.

I'll be swimmin' with the fishies soon. :) 

We walked around the park, which really is a desert oasis. While a lot of the water from the San Solomon springs is used for agriculture, there is a lovely series of canals, small ponds, and stone bridges in the park. This is a good bird watching area and I had fun trying to get photos of the shy turtles, little did I know that I’d soon be swimming with them!

The camera shy Texas Spiny Softshell Turtle.

They were fun to watch in the pond, even more fun to swim with!

Angry eyes. Lol.

Rog and I hit the pool on Wednesday with our snorkel gear. I stuck my face in the water and I don’t think I came up for well over an hour. It was just so much fun chasing the fish – or being chased, sometimes it was hard to tell! Lol. How often to do you get to look up and watch ducks paddling across the surface of the water, it was a unique perspective. It was also hilarious to watch the American Coots diving for a tasty tidbit. I was thrilled to see several of the local turtles – they were still shy, but I did my best turtle paparazzi impression. 😊  

One fish...

.... two fish, red fish, blue fish.
(actually black, but we gotta be faithful to Dr. Seuss)

Very curious catfish.

Loved the natural habitat.

Best of both worlds.

Scuba divers in the pool.

Diving Coots.

Chased this one down for a quick pic. 

The perfect hiding place for turtles. Trust me, I know. :)

We had just two nights at Balmorhea and then we’re off to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We’ve been watching the weather carefully, the park is situated in Guadalupe Pass and there have been frequent high wind advisories reporting gusts up to 65mph. The forecast is looking good and we have our fingers crossed that it stays that way!