Blue Hole at Dinosaur Valley State Park

🏊Swimming at Blue Hole at Dinosaur Valley State Park

Swimming is allowed; TPWD's own points-of-interest list invites visitors to 'take a dip in an old-time swimming hole' here, and the Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park say you can swim anywhere on the river in the park unless an area is posted or roped off. There are no lifeguards. The pool slopes from ankle-deep on the gravel-beach side to roughly 20 feet in places, with steep drop-offs along the ledge sides, so it suits confident swimmers in the middle and waders on the beach side. Because it's a deep pool, it usually holds water when the rest of the Paluxy has slowed to a trickle, but the river's flow and the pool's freshness drop sharply in drought. Most people swim May through September; in winter the pool is stocked with rainbow trout and hosts a New Year's Day plunge.

📍How to get to this swimming hole

From Glen Rose take US-67 west to FM 205, follow FM 205 about four miles to Park Road 59, then go one mile to park headquarters (1629 Park Rd 59, Glen Rose, TX 76043) to check in or show your reservation. Continue on the park road past the dinosaur models toward the park store; the Blue Hole is on the river just west of the loop road, between the Main Track Site (downstream) and the Ballroom Track Site (upstream), marked on the TPWD park map.

Parking: Paved parking along the day-use loop near the park store and dinosaur models, a short walk from the Blue Hole; more parking at the Main Track Site trailhead just north. No roadside parking figures or capacity were published. The park often reaches capacity on warm weekends and holidays.

🥾The walk in

No real hike here. The water is a short walk from where you park. No real hike. The pool is a short walk from the parking along the park's main loop road, down the river bank. The Paluxy River Trail (2 miles, easy) runs past it if you want to link the Blue Hole with the Main Track Site and Ballroom Track Site.

💬What regulars say

Go early on summer weekends and reserve a day pass, because the park regularly hits capacity. Late summer is the trade-off month: the river is at its lowest, which is best for seeing tracks (TPWD says late summer is the best time at the nearby Ballroom site) but means stiller, warmer water in the Blue Hole. Check the park's Trails & Tracks update on the TPWD page before you go; on Sept. 9, 2026 it read 'Trails are open to all activities. Tracks are visible.' Bring water shoes and leave glass at home. Dogs are welcome in the park on a leash but not in the swimming area, so plan on someone staying on the bank with them.

📜Backstory

Dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy were first noticed in 1909, when nine-year-old George Adams found three-toed theropod prints after the great 1908 flood scoured the riverbed. In the late 1930s American Museum of Natural History fossil hunter R.T. Bird found the first known sauropod trackway here, and in 1940 his crew excavated tracks now on display in New York and Austin. The land became Dinosaur Valley State Park in 1972 (a National Natural Landmark), and the Blue Hole, a local swimming spot for generations, became part of the park. TPWD mapped the Blue Hole track ledge in its 2008-2009 track mapping project. The Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park have run the New Year's Day Dino Dive into the Blue Hole since 2017, and TPWD has stocked the pool with rainbow trout in winter.