Krause Springs — Hotel in Marble Falls

I visited with friends for the day in July. I loved all the seating area(s) around the natural pool, plenty of space for all types of groups. The price to get in was good, I appreciated the price.

The natural pool was dirty and honestly smelled bad. I understand it’s natural water, but it was not pleasant. They state that they only clean the pool once a week, they should increase the cleaning times in the summer, as the pool was very gross in the shallow end. There’s also not really any supervision or rules, which is fine, but the pool was constantly overtaken by screaming children with little parental supervision. No park overview or help to maintain environment. You can’t really enjoy the pool because there’s 20-30 screaming children running around & splashing everyone else the entire time. They should implement an adult swim time to avoid this. The pool has so much potential.

The bathrooms were honestly disgusting. The women’s bathroom showers had all broken handles & only 1 stall had a working handle. There was also no individual trash cans in the stalls so people were throwing their toilet paper & hygiene items on the floor, it was disgusting. There were fans, they all faced out of the bathroom, pulling air out, instead of allowing air in. The bathrooms needed improvement, literally a huge wasp nest in the biggest shower stall.

They had a snow cone stand but it was not open. They advertised concessions at the door but I never saw that.

The price to get in for the day was a really great price. They are privately owned, so it comes with pros and cons. I wish there was a bit more supervision, as parents don’t watch their kids & the pool is practically useless unless you’re a screaming 12 year old. The swimming hole is kind of dangerous to get in, very slippery, swim at your own risk. Water is green and muddy, it’s not what I expected honestly. The pictures show green and blue crystal like water, it’s basically a giant mud hole with the natural water feeding it. The temperature feels amazing but the experience isn’t that...

I finally ventured out to KS late one Wed afternoon and turns out that was the magical hour...between 4-5:30pm on a Wed afternoon in April. I practically had the place to myself until a terribly obnoxious kid w/his parents of the trailer park variety showed up ruining the quiet solace for everyone, as they are want to do. Seriously, this kid, jumped in the water right next to me and splashed all over me w/just a "oh, sorry bout that". But, when you name your kid "Blaine" and let him run around screaming bloody murder for no reason at all, I'm guessing you are already an a-hole, so it follows that your spawn would be.

That nonsense aside, Krause Springs is a fantastic little get away in the hill country and well worth the $7 entry fee. I brought my tube for some extra-relaxing float action right under the waterfall that was especially gratifying.

The springs area itself is pretty smallish, so I can only imagine that it would not be nearly as enjoyable on a crowded day. There is also a spring fed pool on the upper level, but honestly, if you came all the way out here, you might as well enjoy the springs "au naturale".

The owners are nice enough and you pay at the entrance and then walk in. There is a bathroom facility w/shower, but the stalls are just double doors that do not lock, so there is zero pee privacy if there is a crowd. Thankfully, when I used the bathroom and shower facilities, I was the only one in the place.

I have to say, my favorite place (other than floating just in front of the Falls) was sitting in the garden area by the entrance and listening to the symphonic duet of the collection of wind chimes and the waterfall installation. I literally sat there for a solid 30 by myself in full zen bliss!

I don't know that i would be back because I don't do well with rowdy crowds and the couple w/the horrific kid really killed my Zen buzz and it honestly just takes one of those to ruin a moment, but I am so glad I went. It really was a perfectly gorgeous day to enjoy another natural enclave so...

Pretty, but way overpriced.

Some friends, my husband, and I were planning to camp there, but when we realized it would be $15 PER ADULT for a tent camping weekend, we decided to stay elsewhere.

My husband and I decided to go for a day trip, despite the total cost of $18 (plus gas to get to this very out-of-the-way spot).

We were disappointed.

Once we finally got there and found where we were supposed to go, we were greeted by people who acted like, “why are you here??” When we told them we wanted day access, they said, “$18,” and that was it. We clearly had bags with us, but they didn’t say anything about it. I’d read the rules beforehand, so we brought a small cooler with some cans of EastCiders with us. After paying and heading toward the swimming areas, a security guard came up to check our bags. He was kind, but it still made my heart skip a beat when a strange man came up behind us and said, “SIR!” If they’d checked at the check-in, it would’ve been far less jarring.

The man-made swimming section is quite small, dirty, and COLD. My husband wasn’t able to swim in it very long. He’s muscular, but has no insulation (fat), so he swam with me for a while, but then had to get out. I’m a well-insulated lady, so I stayed in the water for a good bit, but still not $9 worth. Once the sun started going down, it was too cold even for me.

As for the natural portion, I completely understand nature is out of man’s control, but the pictures make it look like a clear, running section of natural springs. It’s not. It’s still enough that any place you try to get into the water is slimy from algae. Also, there’s no clear water - you can’t see the bottom of the springs past about 8” deep.

All told, I’d be happy to return there for $5/adult for a day pass, or $20/campsite (the common price for a campsite in the hill country), but at the current prices, I’ll not...