Pedernales Falls State Park
Our third state park of the holiday 2022-2023 Vanabout was Pedernales Falls State Park!
Logistics
We stayed in the only campground in the park, which accommodates tents and RVs (with electric and water hookups).
The campsites were huge!—this was the nicest campsite of the trip. Our picnic table was very far back from the road and surrounded by trees.
The only thing I didn’t like about the layout of the park is that many of its points of interest (the falls and its surrounding trail system in particular) aren’t really walkable from the campground. (Once we park, we can kinda be lazy about driving again).
We had intermittent cell service in this park, but slightly more consistent than Garner.
Nice, new, clean, warm showers! (I’ve noticed the Texas State Parks system seems to be really good about this in general)
Pronunciation
I had assumed it was pronounced PE-der-nah-lees (you know, how it’s spelled), but at a party the week before the trip, some friends swore to me that it was pronounced PURR-den-als. When we got to the park, I asked at the ranger’s station how to pronounce it and he confirmed it is indeed PE-der-nah-lees.
Of course, about two seconds later, another ranger answered the phone “PURRRR-den-als State Park, can I help you?”
So we concluded that while PE-der-nah-lees is technically correct, it’s PURRR-de-nals if you want to sound like a local!
Hiking
We arrived at the park on New Year’s Eve, so were fortunate to do our “First Day Hikes” here!
We started out on the Twin Falls Nature Trail, which loops off from the camping area. Once again, this trip disabused me of the idea that “nature trail”='“easy.” It was one of the more challenging ones I've encountered, with some significant elevation changes and rocky parts. It passes by Twin Falls, a spring-fed waterfall that empties into a small pool. There are several signs indicating various plants, which I found really helpful-- I love being in nature, but I so rarely know what various plants are!
View from Twin Falls overlook
Later that day, we took Trammel's Crossing to the 5.5 mile loop in the northeast corner of the park. Trammel’s Crossing is exactly that, you literally cross a river! Be warned— your socks will get wet unless you plan appropriately!
About halfway through the hike, there are a pair of scenic overlooks. Now, there are a lot of “scenic overlook” trails, especially in the hill country. I enjoy them all, but I really want to call out the western facing overlook here. It was spectacular. Jaw-dropping would be an appropriate term.
Woah.
Now that I’ve appropriately raved about the view, I’ll be honest and say the rest of this hike was a tad boring. It is mostly just endless Ash Juniper trees (which at this point in the trip I had discovered I am very allergic to). Not that it was a bad way to spend the afternoon, but it was not a must-do hike. If I were pressed for time, I would consider just going to the overlooks and straight back, although that would probably only cut 1-2 miles from the total trip.
On our way out, we stopped by the falls. We were sorta rushed because we had reservations at Longhorn Cavern later that day (more about THAT in an upcoming post!). I really wish we had planned better, because I bet that exploring the falls and the trails around that area is really fun— when I go back to this park, I would definitely make time to do that.
