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The
“Perdiest” Falls in Texas or
Falling for You: Central Texas Travel
Text & Photos by Audrey A. Herbrich
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| A sign
sits atop a graveled path: WARNING - The Pedernales River running through the
park can flash flood with little or no warning. The water in the river can rise
from a placid stream to a raging torrent in a few minutes. If you are in the river
area and notice the water beginning to rise, you should leave the river area IMMEDIATELY.
Texans know firsthand how the mood of Mother Nature can change in an instant;
this sign near Pedernales Falls is just another reminder of that. |
At Pedernales
(pronounced “Per-denales” by locals) Falls State Park near Johnson
City, it is not uncommon to instantaneously see pristine blue skies morph
gray or to see powder-puff white clouds transform into rolling herds of smoking
whisps. Climate often changes in an instant, creating changes in the landscape.
But that is part of what makes Texas so unique. And this is precisely what brings
so many visitors, year-round, to one of the “perdiest” expanses of country in
central Texas.
Pedernales
Falls State Park spans over 5,200 acres of land in Blanco County, including land
along the scenic back of the Pedernales River (the same river that runs near former
President Johnson’s boyhood home). The state of Texas opened this natural retreat
to visitors in 1971, making camping, hiking, swimming (seasonal), tubing (seasonal),
biking, and fishing available to all.
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| The
falls themselves, however, are what really draws visitors to the park. On any
given day, visitors young and old, from near and far, can be seen exploring the
expanse of the falls. When no recent rain has occurred, the falls serve as a serene
escape for weary travelers, a calming cove offering visitors a place to relax.
A fifty-foot overlook accommodates the timid; a trail of descending rock steps
entices the adventurous, leading directly into the valley of the falls.
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The falls
are created by a natural, downhill layering of limestone. These river limestones
result from the 300-million-year-old Marble Falls formation and are part of the
southwestern flank of the Llano uplift. Water flows steadily through the falls
year-round, but after heavy rains, water cascades across this 3,000 feet of natural
barrier, creating a ferocious surge of water, woods, or whatever else might get
in its way. Flashfloods are frequent and dangerous in this area, with little natural
warning. Flooding occurs almost instantaneously through the wide-mouth falls of
the Pedernales when Texas-sized drops of rain begin to pour down. Nature now creates
another scene, this one a bit unwelcoming but no less a sight to behold than the
first.
Still, visitors flock to this area, whether tame or treacherous.
Both are fine examples of biological beauty; however, the falls offer more hands-on
exploration activities when the water level is low.
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| After
any flood, loads of soft sediment are deposited along the riverbanks, creating
a beach-like “shore,” with yards of warm, golden sand extending beyond the width
of the river. This rural beach is even complete with the displacement of various
rocks and shells perfect for collecting. With each flood, the shore is washed
away and replaced, in a perpetual cycle of old and new. |
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| Normally,
these falls are a restful ravine, where a quiet trickling of water snakes through
the rocks, reclines in cesspool crevices, and continues calmly down the Pedernales.
The exposure of the limestone as the water folds beneath them reveals, quite simply,
large rocks, which appear foreign and out of place among the ash, buttonbrush,
and cypress landscape that peppers the adjacent river terrace. |
The rocks
are easily accessed opposite the sometimes-shore of river sand. During periods
of calm, the rocks become a giant playscape, with children and adults alike jumping
from one to the next, hoisting themselves over and through the craters that look
not unlike bestial footprints. With jeans rolled up, toes taste the cool, blue
water, wind tickles fingers, and eyes squint to avoid the sun. Children wade while
dogs paddle. Families picnic, and friends photograph. Brothers skip rocks along
the bank. A grandmother collects shells. A Labrador chases a walleye between the
rocks. Teenagers sunbathe. Some just sit.
Breezes blow crosswise through
the falls. Crappie, bass, catfish, channel cats, and sunfish dot the water. Oak
leaves fall from swaying trees. Acorns drop--then sink--into soft soil. Insects
create a natural symphony.
All that surrounds the river is in a constant
state of flux, forever prisoner to the cycle where one scene is replaced by another
as weather changes from rest to rage. The river, quite old, becomes new again
several times each year. Sometimes, even the visitors, too, exchange their old
views of beauty and serenity as they experience nature anew. Maybe this is why
they come: for a refreshment of sorts courtesy of one of central Texas’ most picturesque
alcoves.
Whatever the reason, the falls are a welcoming beacon among
the otherwise harsh terrain of the Texas hill country, tempting visitors to taste
of its waters, to eat of its milieu.
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| The
falls area is at the far west end of Pedernales Falls State Park, which is located
nine miles east of Johnson
City on FM 2766. The park is open seven days a week year-round, except when
park wildlife management activities force closure of all or part of the park.
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