Balmorhea State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

located on the San Solomon Springs in

Reeves County, Texas Reeves County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,748, and was estimated to be 11,956 in 2024. Its county seat and most populous city is Pecos. The county was created on April 14, 1883 ...

, opened in 1968. The closest city is Balmorhea, Texas.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitat (ecology), habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state park, state's parks and historical ar ...

manages the park. The park is open year-round, and visitation is capped at 900 people per day.

Features

The main feature of the park is the , freshwater pool built around the springs. It is the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool. The spring has a constant flow of 22 to a day so no chlorination is required. The water temperature ranges from and up to deep. The pool bottom is flat in the more shallow areas and has a more natural rock bottom in the deeper areas. The pool is used for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...

, and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

History

The Texas State Parks Board bought San Solomon Springs and the surrounding land in 1934. Company 1856 of the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) built the pool between 1934 and 1941 as part of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

as a way to open up jobs for people needing work. The CCC also built the bathhouse, residences and the San Solomon Springs Courts motel units, which rents rooms for overnight stays.

Camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

and

recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and ca ...

sites are also available. A private concessionaire operated the facility until 1968, when the Parks and Wildlife Department took over management, and it became part of the state parks system. The Balmorhea State Park Cienega Project, started in 1995, recreating a desert

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

in the park. The original cienega was lost when the CCC channeled water from the springs into the pool. The cienega now serves as a habitat for endangered fish such as the Comanche Springs pupfish and Pecos gambusia (also known as the Pecos mosquito fish) as well as other aquatic life, birds and other animals. In early 2018, a wall in the pool around the diving board collapsed, and the pool was shut down.

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

-based Apache Corporation pledged to match all donations made to repair the pool up to one million dollars. The goal was reached in about four months. Sixty percent of the donations were under $100, however, other Texas companies made significant contributions, including Saulsbury Industries, Texas Pacific Land Trust, McCoy Remme Ranches, Legend Energy Services, Pioneer Energy Services and Garrison Brothers Distillery. Apache Corporation also established a one million dollar endowment fund for the park. The pool reopened March 1, 2019 after repairs to the pool were completed. Only day-use facilities were available while the renovation of San Solomon Courts and campgrounds were still under way. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shut the park again on September 3, 2019 to repair the park's failing septic system and again in January 2021 for further repairs "for the foreseeable future." The park partially reopened in June 2021 with the swimming area reopening.

References

External links

Home movie of the Cummings Family Scuba Diving at Balmorhea State Park in 1964

Balmorhea State Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife
{{authority control Protected areas of Reeves County, Texas State parks of Texas Swimming venues in Texas Civilian Conservation Corps in Texas

Features

History

See also

References

External links