My next Texas State Park stop down I-10 was Balmorhea State Park, just outside Balmorhea, Texas. The reason I was attracted to the park was the pool. There is a 1.75 acre spring-fed pool! And the literature said that it was a steady 70º year round.
The park was built by the CCC from 1935 – 1940. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the CCC, the Civilian Conservation Corps, was created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 as part of the New Deal. Young men, ages 17 – 25 who qualified for public assistance were given jobs working on conservation projects. Clothing, food, medical care and lodging was provided and they earned $30 a month. They sent $25 of their wages home to their families.
When the CCC company arrived in 1934, the first things they built were barracks, a mess hall and a kitchen that would be their home for the next few years. There were as many as 200 men working on the site.
In addition to the enormous pool, they build a concession building, two bath houses, and San Solomon courts, which is a motel. They used local limestone and and made adobe bricks for their building materials.
The water in the pool came from springs in the mountains. An information sign showed how the water seeped through the layers in the limestone and accumulated in a spring. The CCC channeled the water into the pool.
The water left the pool and passed through channels that sends the water along to irrigate cotton and alfalfa fields in the valley. Although the park’s name sounds biblical to my ear, the name actually comes from four men’s surnames: E.D. Balcom, H.R. Morrow, Joe Rhea and John Rhea: Bal-mor-hea. These men formed an irrigation company in the area in the early 20th century.
They have recreated some of the naturally occurring desert marshes that uses the water before heading to agriculture. They refer to these areas as “las cienagas” which is Spanish for the marshes. And, if you have ever been to Los Angeles, I’m sure you have heard of “La Cienega Boulevard”. Imagine that! A street named for a swamp.
There was a lovely viewing platform for the marsh right across from my campsite.
As I walked up, I thought I heard the wind rustling the reeds.
It turns out that they were in the middle of maintenance and the posts were wrapped in plastic. The park was well kept-up.
My site was very nice. In addition to a sheltered picnic table, my site had electricity and water AND cable! They also had wifi, in theory, but I could never find a signal. I could get a strong Verizon LTE signal, so all was good.
The views were lovely.
My main goal was to go swimming in that wonderful pool, and so I did, although I have no photo documentation of me in the water, so you will just have to take my word for it.
The water was cool and refreshing, and I was comfortable as long as the sun was out. There were signs warning about the slippery stairs. The stairs were a bit slippery because the water was fresh and untreated. It was absolutely delightful!
I was swimming with the coots.
The pool was huge! And, they put safety first by warning us that we shouldn’t run.
No chance of that, though.
I swam about until the sun was obscured by the storm clouds moving in. I got out and got dry, just in time for a gorgeous sunset.
The next day, I hitched up and got ready to move further west. I met the most interesting fellow on my way out.
This is Ranger Doug, who is touring the National Parks in his totally refurbished Airstream. He told me that this is Airstream #3 and he has just completed an axel-up renovation. That photo next to him is his grandfather, who was a park ranger.
He is a retired dentist from Alaska who has a business selling silk-screened prints of the WPA National Park posters as well as modern posters “in the style” of the WPA posters.
He was heading to Big Bend National Park, which is south and I was heading west. I big him adieu and motored onward.
Next stop: Hueco Tanks State Park near El Paso, Texas.