Before 1968 this was the third largest spring in Texas, pushing roughly 140 cubic feet per second into the Rio Grande. Then Amistad Dam closed and the reservoir rose over it, and the spring mouth now sits about 165 feet underwater — it still flows, it simply has a lake on top of it. It was also the only known home of the Amistad gambusia, a small fish that lived nowhere else and was declared extinct in 1987. Cave divers have since reached the opening and measured the discharge, which is rare: most drowned springs simply vanish from the record.
Getting there
29.5368, -101.2530
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
