The Pedernales River (locally pronounced as per-du-NAH-les) is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 106 mi (170 km) long, in central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin.
Description
It rises from springs in southeastern Kimble County, approximately 25 mi (40 km) southeast of Junction. It flows generally east into Gillespie County, past Fredericksburg, and into Blanco County, passing north of Johnson City. It joins the Colorado from the southwest in Lake Travis, approximately 10 mi (16 km) west of Austin.
The river has a close association with the Texas Hill Country, tied to the history of the region and emblematic of its geography. Along its route it flows over numerous rugged limestone escarpments as it winds eastward, passing along the north side of the ranch of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who grew up in nearby Stonewall, south of the river. The name "Pedernales", first used in the middle 18th century, comes from a Spanish word for the flint rocks characteristic of the riverbed. In 1750 Fray Benito Fernández de Santa Ana proposed a plan to the Spanish government that a mission be established among the Lipan Apache who lived along the river. In 1789, the river was the site of a skirmish between Col. Francisco Xavier Ugalde and a group of Lipan and Mescalero Native Americans. The first permanent white settlement along the river was in 1846 when the town of Fredericksburg was establishment by German immigrants. The threat of raids from Apaches restricted settlement in the area until the 1880s.
Pedernales Falls State Park is located along the river in Blanco County east of Johnson City. Like many rivers in central Texas, it is prone to variable water levels. The lower river is a popular destination for whitewater rafting during the high-water season. The Johnson ranch is now operated by the National Park Service as Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.
History: Pedernales Falls State Park, 5211.7 acres, in Blanco County east of Johnson City, was acquired from private owners in 1970 and was opened to the public in 1971.
Pedernales Falls is the park's main attraction and may be viewed from a scenic overlook at the north end of the park.
In this area, the elevation of the river drops about 50 feet over a distance of 3000 feet, and the cascading falls are formed by the flow of water over the tilted, stair-step effect of layered limestone.
Flowing from deep springs in southeastern corner of Kimble County toward the northeast for 106 miles The PedernalesRiver crosses Gillespie, Blanco, and Hays counties, to its mouth on Lake Travis.
The name PedernalesRiver translates from the Spanish as River of Flint due to the abundance of flint rocks found in the riverbed and frequently quarried by Native Americans to fashion flint tools.
In 1845 Meusebach chose the valley of the PedernalesRiver for a settlement as it was half way between New Braunfels and the Fisher-Miller Grant.
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