Pedernales River Nature Park — Attraction in Johnson City

This is a lovely park! I went there yesterday (January 13th) and spent about 5 hours there, and to the best of my knowledge, I had the entire park to myself! It was so beautiful and serene, which on its own made the trip and entrance fee well worth it! No crowds; no noisy people; any parking spots I wanted throughout the park; no waiting, jostling, or fighting for choice amenities - simply the pure freedom to go and do anything I wanted and the knowledge that, for the day, I had a picturesque piece of heaven all to myself! However, that is definitely not to say that I wouldn’t have enjoyed my visit if there had been other people in the park. It’s a fairly large park, after all, and there could definitely be other visitors there without you ever knowing.

Oh, and before I get too far into my review, I feel that it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to correct a statement made by the last person who reviewed this park, right before me. They said that all of the photos shown of this park were from Pedernales Falls State Park, and this is 100% UNTRUE. I went through all of the photos, and I can confirm that EVERY ONE OF THEM was from THIS PARK. They must not have bothered to actually take the time to look around and see that this park is, in fact, beautiful, and is the same place shown in the photos.

At any rate, I personally chose to visit the park in order to do some rockhounding and exploring, and it absolutely did not disappoint! When you cross the river anywhere below the dam, there are rockhounding prospects as far as the eye can see! There were fossils, flint/chert in every color of the rainbow, many types of jasper, garnet, quartz/smoky quartz, calcite, citrine, flourite, and much, much more! I had a blast!

NOW THEN, I would have given this park five stars, but there are a couple of fairly significant maintenance issues that need to be pointed out. The first would be the roads within the park (especially the roads leading to parts of the park below the dam). The paved portions are littered with countless, fairly deep potholes, which are so abundant that it’s impossible to avoid them all without literally driving around certain sections off-road (there are actually bare, packed down stretches of dirt next to the worst portions of road, specifically from lots of people who chose to go off-road to avoid the potholes - and these are actually much smoother than the road itself, ironically). There is also one intentional unpaved road, as well, but it has its own issue, unfortunately. Along that short road, there are quite a few large, protruding rocks that erupt up and out of the dirt track, and many of these have some fairly sharp edges and points that could potentially damage tires. Thankfully, it is possible to avoid most of these with some careful driving, but it’s still an unfortunate problem. My final complaint is that below the dam (at least in the area with the large parking lot), there is no safe way to access the river. There is a paved pathway that leads down to the river, but at the end of it is an abrupt drop of a few feet. It looks like there may have originally been a few more steps down to the riverbank, but it was likely washed away in a flood at some point in the past. I walked a little way along the river, searching for a safe access point, but there were just steep drop-offs everywhere I checked. There may be a safe spot further up the river, but I really wanted to cross the river near the back edge of the park, since there was a decent natural path across the river there. I ultimately ended up finding my own way down the steep drop off, but some mud caused me to slip on the way down, and I ended up knee-deep in the river on a 55 degree day as a result. I didn’t let it ruin my plans, however, but it sure would have been nice if the intended path down to the river would have been repaired.

In spite of the maintenance issues towards the back of the park, I still had a fantastic time, and I would absolutely recommend for other people to check this...

Was hesitant to visit based off the reviews but so glad I came and experienced it first hand.

Soon as you enter the park, to your left is a sign that clearly states "Pay station." Where you open a wooden box, place your payment in the envelope, and tear an edge to place in the vehicle windshield. Actually talked with the park ranger (who was very pleasant, kind, and helpful).

Park ranger was so patient and kind to answer any inquiries and even discussed the bad reviews I had read that made me hesitant to visit. Honestly, the people who have written those reviews most likely did not honor the honor system to just pay a very small minimum fee.

Overall, not a big park but still a very quaint beautiful gem of nature in its own right! Very relaxing and tranquil!

Has BBQ pits, fishing is allowed, pavilion (first come, first serve), and park ranger stated you are welcome to bring your own kayaks.

Come and experience it for yourself and BE...

Very strange. We passed by this park and decided to look and see if it would be somewhere nice to hang out sometimes but before we even got a glance, we noticed the park host tailing us in his vehicle, which just felt weird so we left. I just don't understand paying an entrance fee before even knowing what is within the park. All parks I have ever been to either have a parking fee, so you pay when you park, or have a manned booth which gives you information when you enter. The host is obviously not so busy, so why not check people in? Either that or at least give them a chance to park somewhere before shelling out $?? ...