DEEP IN THE CHIHUAHUAN DESERT
in West Texas, at the foot of the Davis Mountains, water beckons. It flows far beneath the musky, cotton-tailed creosote bush, the ubiqui subterranean river has sustained life for thousands of years.
I know the water as Balmorhea Pool, among the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pools. In photos, the color of the limestone-and-adobe-walled pool ranges from a brilliant, oceanic aquamarine to a calm, clear jade—a startling juxtaposition against flat brown earth encircled by the gentle silhouettes of the surrounding mountains. Located in Balmorhea State Park in Toyahvale, two hours north of Big Bend National Park, the pool encompasses 1.3 acres and holds 3.5 million gallons of fresh water. Every day, the San Solomon Springs discharge 15 million gallons of water into the pool, keeping it clear and cool, and providing a home for the nearly extinct Comanche Springs pupfish, which exist nowhere else.
I drive more than five hours west from San Antonio on Interstate 10 to see this revelatory oasis. When I finally turn off the highway and follow signs to Balmorhea (population 475), I find a strip of shuttered brick and wood storefronts. Colorful twinkle lights adorn the small tin-sided Balmorhea Grocery; a hut with a faded sign reads Matta’s Burger Place; and two ranch-style motels welcome weary travelers. Dusty residential streets extend like thin arteries from the main road, revealing an apartment complex with bright blue doors, aging pastel homes, and immaculate trailers. It’s a town, I sense, that has needed to be stubborn to survive.
Because look around—at the low, swollen clouds, charcoal bellies ready
