We loved our three day weekend to the San Marcos River and had no idea how much science we would take in on our trip. Here are the three things we recommend if you decide to visit this funky fun college town and some of the restaurants we visited at the end of this post.
#1 Tube the San Marcos River
We rented our tubes from Lions Club Tube Rental because their fees go to a good cause and they provide a shuttle that takes you back to the tube rental when you are done floating. We got there at their opening Friday morning to beat the crowds. The first thing you will notice is how chilly the river water is but it was a nice relief from the building Texas summer heat. We also loved how much wildlife we took in on our 1 hour float.
There are protected areas to navigate around like this Texas wild rice growing in the river.
We saw a ton of duckies!
And heron – can you spot him?
But some of my favorite wildlife were the Texas Cooter turtles sunning themselves from the chilly water.
At the end of the float are optional rapids that were great for our older kiddos but our youngest wanted to sit them out since she would have probably flipped her tube going down the first rapid. It impressed us that this relatively fast flowing river is fed by the Edwards Aquifer and decided to explore the aquifer more outside the river!
#2 Explore the Wonder Cave
We have enjoyed our previous trips exploring caves and this was no different. The Wonder Cave was created by an ancient earthquake and discovered in the 1890s. The cave tour only lasted about 1 hour but the grounds also had a train ride through a wildlife / animal petting park.
We enjoyed feeding from our hand the multitude of deer, emu, and a donkey while waiting for the cave tour. The baby deer were especially sweet.
We consider ourselves “seasoned” cave explorers after visiting Inner Space Caverns and Longhorn Cavern near Waco. But this was the first cave that we could actually touch the walls because it was not formed by the slow erosion of water but rather an ancient earthquake. This earthquake formed the Balcones Fault separating two tectonics plates that you can see right there inside the cave!
This is the “Well Room” that shows the first explorers of the cave digging for water from the Edwards Aquifer. It was a nice 72F down in the cave – interestingly the same temperature as the San Marcos River – and now we know why! The San Marcos River was formed from the Edwards Aquifer that feeds the river and also water wells like this one!
You can even see trace fossils formed when the state of Texas was covered in water millions of years ago.
We were happy cave explorers!
The cave tour only took us 190 feet deep – nothing compared to a mile depth at Inner Space Caverns – but we had a great time exploring the origins of the San Marcos River underground.
#3 Ride on a Glass Bottom Boat
This was one of our favorite things to do in San Marcos was ride a clear glass bottom boat around Spring Lake that feeds the San Marcos River.
Spring Lake is fed by water being pushed out of the ground by the Edwards Aquifer. The water is clear and has a beautiful blue color to it because of the calcite minerals at the bottom of the lake. Interestingly we saw calcite minerals in Wonder Cave as well! You can actually see the springs bubbling up at the bottom of the lake in this video which blew our minds! 🤯
Last but not least – here are our restaurant recommendations for your trip!
- Palmers Restaurant Bar and Courtyard
- Black’s Barbeque
- Ivar’s River Pub
- Kirby Lane Cafe (best for Sunday brunch!)
- Sylvia’s Pizza
- Rhea’s Ice Cream (SO good!)
We had an amazing three day weekend exploring science in, around, and underground San Marcos! We hope you take some time to visit this Texas gem with your family too 💕
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