Jones Spring at Pedernales Falls State Park

Tucked in far back along the southeastern boundary of Pedernales Falls State Park is a little spring called Jones Spring. Chris and I had been there many years ago and I wanted to visit again during our trip in July 2021. When we hiked in originally we came from the Wolf Mountain Trail near the main park road, a hefty hike in from that area. You can also park off of County Road 201 on the south side of the park, parking in the parking lot there, or we pulled over at the eastern junction of the Madrone Trail and that road where it was obvious other cars had parked before. There isn’t a no parking sign on the map or at the location but we did get a notice from a park ranger that we weren’t supposed to park there, so park there at your own risk. I would still contest it—there’s nothing marking that you can’t park there, or at least there wasn’t at that time. And frankly, to expect people to only park in that one location is a bit absurd as the loops in that area are rather large.
Park Map Here.

Needless to say, if you hike out in this part of the park you will likely have a lot of it to yourself. Especially on a warm but overcast summer afternoon.

Once you wind your way back down the Wheatley Trail, you eventually come to Walnut Creek. The map makes it look like the spring is right there near the trail junction but you have to walk eastward down the creek to find the spring.

And there is the oasis with maidenhair ferns and other lovely wetland plants clinging to the rocks around it.

We sat and had lunch there, oogling the little waterfall coming down from the spring-fed pool above. Chris had packed out some ice cream in a Thermos, which was surprisingly still pretty solid when we got there. We continued on, making a loop of the Wheatley and Wolf Mountain Trails, and a smidge of Windmill Road, to cap off the hike.