Pedernales Falls has been on my list of places to visit for awhile now and I finally had the chance to check it out this Labor Day.

My friend Katie and I started out on the Wolf Mountain Trail hoping to reach some water, but needless to say, we only had some false alarms and some snakes nearby. We found out it was the most challenging trail and also the longest, which we figured as we hiked about two and a half miles before turning back.

After the hike, we used our handy maps we kept in our Junior Ranger backpack (awesome packs that state parks let you check out for free with tons of info on wildlife and animals in the area). We really wanted to see the Pedernales Falls overlook and after a short drive and short hike, we reached the breathtaking panoramic view in the picture above. No editing necessary--it was beautiful.

No one is allowed to swim in this area due to flash flooding (even when there's no rain), but we definitely explored all across the rocks. We took a small trail of steps on the right down to the largest body of water, dipped our feet in as we took the sights in.

We explored all over this area--from one body of water to the next. This is absolutely worth the hour trip outside Austin.

Here are a few more pictures from our adventure.

After a slight sunburn and some blisters, we headed back to the city for an early dinner at a food truck before heading back home.

In the past month I've also had the chance to see McKinney Falls twice, which is just a fifteen minute or so drive from UT. Great place for swimming, hiking, and a bit of a history lesson with the homestead they have there. Check out those adventures below!