Our day of exploration begun with a hike around this beautiful oasis. My family and I hiked for 2 hours and danced in the smooth waters of an epic waterfall. This place has so many hidden treasures and nooks to explore. We found teepees made of branches, 3 massive waterfalls, and tons of sights to see. I would recommend going early in the morning this place gets a little crowded around 12-4 just a heads up.

Get there early, as parking fills quickly, or find yourself parked down the road. Easy trails for the whole family dogs included! Trails offer great little of the beaten path which a few times end up in you own little piece of the river. Great views withcool water to recharge to view a little more of what this park has to offer. Would not recommend bringing a stroller or wagon trails can be steep uneven and un paved.

Im a photographer, and Chalk Ridge Falls is one of my favorite places to take clients. There are plenty of places to take beautiful pictures. Lots of nice places to hike, and beautiful scenery. It does tend to get packed, especially on weekends and the parking could use some serious help. Also, be sure to use the bathroom before you go because, YIKES! That being said, the beauty of the actual park makes up for all of that. If you need a bathroom, there is a gas station 1 exit down on 190.

Love this place. So much to explore. Wish there was more terrain like this around here. And views like these. Spend a couple hours here EASY. ️

It was so much fun being with my family there! The problem is that when its dark /sunset , if someone is still there , they can get lost. I want the management of the park to close the park , As soon as when it sunsets. But after all, I LOVED THE WATERFALL.(AND THE WATER!)

Theyre improving continuously. And it always seems to be maintained. I wish theyd put trashcan. That is the only downside. :(And why it has not received 5 stars.

“It wasn’t only a hiking experience, it was a wonderful experience “ Said Michelle. I had told her I did not know how to write a review on hiking, since it’s my first time; black people don’t really go hiking you know. I enjoyed it a lot though! Very nice scenery and very clean. It was a great experience of nature. I would definitely come here again! When I go on more hiking trails , I would accurately assess and compare this place to others.

Nice place to hike and beautiful, folks need to pickup after themselves more. I appreciate the rangers I can tell they are trying to keep it picked up and looking nice. Thank you

Had a great walk. Short hike gets you to some beautiful water features. It’s dog friendly. I do wish there were some trash and cans around the entrance. I saw some people complaining earlier about litter. Someone must have listened, because the park looked pretty good. I plan on visiting again.

We love this place. There are many trails to hike to the falls and beyond. Nice spots to have a family picnic near the flowing water streams.

One side is a little dirty and smells funny but over all beautiful and if you follow the water you’ll eventually get to a great park. Super close and fun! And overall a very shady area so you can enjoy it without being worn out by the sun to quickly.

Always looking for a decent hike while traveling across America for work. This one is a good 1. The 1st part of the trail is a beginners hike. After the waterfall area, it slowly transitions into in intermediate hike. Some stairs and bridges. Im not sure how far the trails go because we didnt explore it entirely. There are no maps of the trails. This one is free But there is trash somewhat throughout the trails and the restrooms need servicing. Bring your own toilet paper. Weekends are OK but they tend to get crowded. I recommend early in the week. Was very peaceful

This is THE place to bring little kids for an easy hike and splashing fun. The shallow creek feeding its water falls is perfectly cold for Texas 100 degree summer. Quite a few dogs visit here but all on leash and everybody is well distanced. Better prepare a trail map in advance. Highly recommended as a family excursion.

I enjoyed the park.Scenic.Great for a hike or short trail run.Pet friendly.

Love it! Nice trails and great place to dip in the river on a hot day.

Another beautiful hike today with the family. Saw some beautiful purple berries, learned that their valled beautyberries and, while edible, taste better when made into tea/jam/jelly/jello/etc.

Place is nice for a few hours! Get ready for decent walk. The water is a slight teal-green and a good amount of people show up. BRING WATER SHOES!!! There is a bunch of small rocks in the steam where make it hard to walk without them. Other than that, its a nice walk/hike, smaller trails are around just dont go down the small one for too long. Hope you enjoy the water like I did.

Perfect place to swim and fish. Caught a 3.4lbs Largemouth Bass down stream and a couple large Carp. It also has a very nice waterfall and if you keep walking down stream you will see a couple swimming holes with rope swings.

This place was GORGEOUS! It has beautiful scenery. The water felt ice cold in the middle of this Texas heat (~100°F today) which was incredibly refreshing. There is a small waterfall that we saw people playing on. Plenty of children were running around so it seemed very family friendly. We went to hike and there were so many trails all over. You could probably hike it all day and never hit the same trail twice. It can be moderate at times because it has some steep inclines and parts where we climbed up rocks (or down) to get places. You can bring your dog on a leash and we saw a handful while we were out there. Great place definitely will return!

Great little hiking trail at the end with a nice little waterfall and cold water. Some of the bridges are out but theyre easily still walked upon but what might be a little bit more difficult for handicapped people. Definitely not wheelchair possible. Take a picnic and enjoy the beautiful scenery in Salado Texas.

Outstanding nature trail! Though some of the stairs are still needing repair after being washed out from flooding a couple of years ago, it was manageable even for this old lady on recuperating knee.Just lovely scenery along the Lampasas River and little meandering creeks!

It is a charming place, it needs signs to give you an idea where to go, but is small enough that even if you go the wrong way, it is easy to find the right path

Great place to take the family. The actual falls are small but there are plenty of places along the river to hang out and not be crowded by other people. The suspension bridge is a little scary but my 6 YO loved jumping and making it wobble.

Had an amazing day here!! First time here... came to take pictures

Nice hiking trails. Beautiful water, though a little crowded. We went on a Sunday afternoon. Good workout with a nice area to cool off.

Its just beautiful! The walking path is well-maintained and easy to traverse. There are areas where you can swim, picnic (no picnic tables - just pick a spot), or simply take in the beauty.

An easily accessible set of waterfalls and trails. Dog friendly and very low maintenance trails. No big brother presence. Loved it.

Wonderful day walking up the river from the swimming hole

Blue green water throughout the entire Lampasas River. Great trails to hike when it hasnt been raining. Came across multiple waterfalls that were hidden throughout.Please be respectful and responsible with your trash. Hiking most of the trails I found tons of bottles, boxes, bags, and just plain TRASH lying around the edges of the water holes and trails. Come on, before this area begins to be regulated by officals.PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT.

Nice hiking trails and creek access.However, parking is terrible. Crowded at 10 am.on a Saturday. Gross chemical toilet near trailhead. Stairs and fence railings are in need of repairs. No upkeep. No trail markers or maps. Worst part is the amount of trash. The virus human have trashed this beautiful place. Cant go 5 ft without encountering bottles, cans, socks, napkins, diapers, feminine products, etc. Just disgusting.

People actually keep dogs on leash here and its very friendly around view areas and waterfalls ppl take nice turns and then keep moving after a bit so its fun for all :)But since covid...the amount of trail trash has become overwhelming especially diapers...please pack it out and teach your kids how to treat the trail

Morning run, not bad at all. some of the trail was fenced off so ended up having to run it twice to get our distance but nice scenery and well maintained.

Our family loves Chalk Ridge. Early morning visits are the best as it quickly gets hot and it seems the air is always at a standstill once you get into the trails. If you are hiking with kids be sure to bring shoes and clothes they can get wet in.

Lots of fun, good parking, restroom (primitive) great trails, Dog friendly (leashed), kid freindly( some spots are slippery)

The trail definitely needs better markers but the sites were awesome. Lots of people and dogs but everyone was friendly and all the dogs were leashed. May want to post some poop bag stands throughout as it might help with pet clean up. Overall it was a great spot!

Great hiking! I think it would great for mountain biking as well.

This may be the prettiest place I’ve visited outside of Austin in Texas and possibly even including Austin. Totally worth an hour drive from Austin. I love this place. My dog really enjoyed it. And it wasn’t crowded either.

Went on whim and was not totally prepared, but still had a good time. We arrived around 6pm. Lots of folks there, and like some other reviews might have mentioned there is quite a bit of trash around the place. People would bring their lawn chairs and coolers and make camp in the water, which might explain the trash. I love that there are certain spots that are safer and shallow for her but getting down into the falls is a bit tricky. Will try again at a different time.

Great nature! If youre a nature person, this is your place to go! Dont know about fishing..but everything else is great! Yall would have to come here and check it out to know how it feels to sit n relax. And bring all yalls family with yall too!

Beautiful place to have a coffee and take a walk.

I went here yesterday for the first time and fell in love with this park. Absolutely beautiful

Beautiful Park, smell can be unpleasant sometimes. Please pick up after yourselfs to reserve this gem.

Chalk ridge falls park doesn’t look like much when you arrive there. But once you make the 10min walk you reach the falls. Not Niagara, or the Iguazú but a nice little treat and great photo op

This has become a favorite family place, simply because its great for hiking, simple for fishing, and the little ones and I simply love enjoying the different water holes to splash around in.

Definitely a hidden gem! This place reminds me that Texas is great!

This place was so beautiful. The waterfall is a wonderful sight. Make sure to bring a lock and stop by the dam nearby to hang your lock on the fence.

We live in houston and saw this park on a FB group called Backpacking and Hiking Texas (check it out) someone posted photos of the falls and that same night I booked the hotel for the weekend. 3 hour drive later and OMG.... absolutely beautiful.. will definitely make this a recurring roadtrip. Very kid friendly, beautiful hiking scenery, rivers and OMG the fallsssssssss. Dont hesitate, book your hotel and get out here.

Great experience! The only thing Id suggest, more signs. Thankfully there were several other people coming and going so we found our way.

This place is a good way to get out of the house do some fishing, hike a bit, and go swimming. I recommend comming here it is hot bring tons of water

Great park with multiple trails, bridges, water falls. Parking is convenient and free.

We stopped by on our way home from a trip. We will definitely stop here again. There was a cool little waterfall, which was nice and cold. Nice hilly trails and little clear ponds with little fish in them.

This park is beautiful! The walk to get to the waterfall wasnt bad, the kids and adults all had fun.

Beautiful scenery, there so many trees that you cant feel the heat.

Beautiful scenery. Great place for a trail walk with the family or dog.

Ive been coming here since I was a child and I love it!! Now I can bring my own family there!!

Love the trails and the falls. Perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy nature and relax

Cool place to explore and bring kids. Not a long, strenuous trail. Areas to rock scramble.

I got an awesome hike in.....with awesome scenery

Clean, family friendly trails, fishing areas, fresh air. Ill definitely be back

Cool place, but poorly cared for. Lots of trash. The waterfall is pretty close to a real one (not easy to find in central Texas), but someone really needs to clean it up.

Just beautiful trails all year round and fun for fishing.great spot for photography. So many enchanting trails youll never get bored of visiting. I have been for 2 years! I bring everyone I know because its worth it. Just remove any trash and keep pets leashed.

Went for the fishing. To far up to the falls with gear. Still a very nice spot.

Absolutely beautiful!! My families favorite place to go hike and just be with nature!!

Great nature hike for the entire family. Go past the waterfall in sneakers or water shoes and walk towards the opposite direction of the water and view and sign the graffiti fence. Then youre able to climb up on the right of the fence and get back on the hiking trail.

This would be a nicer place to visit and hike if it were more kept. Theres a cool suspension bridge, rivers, and overall scenic hill country on a fairly short out and back trail. However, the few times Ive visited with my family theres always been empty beer bottles littered throughout along with trash. Also, there are too many dogs, which isnt necessarily a problem, except for the fact that owners wont pick up after their dogs. Because of this its not a place I like to go despite it being close to me. I think the Corps of Engineers is responsible for the park but they cant possibly pick up after everyone. Leave no trace behind - if youre going to enjoy nature pick up after yourselves or just stay home and watch T.V. so everyone else can enjoy it.

Great place for the kids. They have a blast every time. Can always see something new and not crowded. Best part is its free! Thankful for memories here

Really great little hike with a variety of scenery. I will be going back!

My boys and I have been coming here a very long time. We always take out what we bring in and bring extra bags for litter. However, in the last 2 years or so, it seems we cant bring enough bags to make a difference. The scouts and many other volunteers work hard to keep the park beautiful and safe for everyone but they cant do it all.What happened to dont mess with Texas? Take a look at my previous pictures, this is a gorgeous park, lets keep working together to keep it that way.

This park is very beautiful. The water is very clear as it comes out of natural springs in the back of the park. There are many trails that you can decide to hike most of which arent very challenging so everyone can do them, even more picture opportunities, and it is basically an endless source of fun if you are like me and love being outdoors. Overall, a great place to spend the day. I only wish camping were allowed here.

My son loves this place. The walking bridge especially.

Once quiet ace to have a family gathering but there is always those that have no respect.for others did not respect social distance not the fact that smoking around others should be respected especially around children

Great place! Love the trails and who doesnt love water?

Hiking trails were good for feet, not strollers/mobility impaired. Lots of people fishing some splashing/kid swimming, but water was murky. Take a bag and fill it with the trash you see along the trails if you want to do a good deed. Enjoyed the views, and free entry was nice.

The park has a great view of the waterfalls, unfortunately the trail is very worn down. Several spots along the nature trail have been completely washed out by water. Be careful where you step when you reach the end of the trail with the waterfalls as there is no pathway and you have to trek down to the base of the fall. The park is free for everyone with parking spots and a public restroom.

The falls gave a decent pool of water. Have to travel to find better swimming holes. Good hiking trails for people and dogs

Only wish I had gone to this place wayyy before now! It was a wonderful experience in which I was happy to share with my little one! Unlike other trails my young daughter stayed interested. Beautiful scenery!

We go here often. Its beautiful. Dumb kids keep spray painting things though. The water is always cool and refreshing so clear too.

Great place to be one of my place little gems to head off to when I need some space or just to clear my head or get in tune with nature. The different land features are amazing there. Its a must see if you ever in the area.

The Falls are busy during the summer, but if you continue past them there is plenty of great creek space away from others.

Perfect trail distance to the fall from the park entrance (15 min walk). the fall was smaller than i expected but appeared secluded and private.

This place is cool the waterfall is not that big but out its beautiful

Best park in the Belton/Temple/Killeen area. Great hiking trails and water spots to dive in. Can get a tad busy, however the area is so large its never impossible to find a secluded spot for your party. Tons of hidden gems here outside of the main falls (which to be honest are the least impressive of this parks offerings). The fishing isnt great and you wont see much beyond a few striped bass. However, for the nature lovers theres quite a variety of birds and wildlife to see.

Well love this place and come back every year several times. I would give 5 stars but honestly it could use some TLC lately. I feel like some of the stuff isnt safe even if it is a hiking trail and its kind of at your own risk...that. ridge just seems like its going to fall any day now. But the area is so beautiful!

The trails were beautiful and with all the resent rain the falls were so pretty!! There are a lot of little side trails that allow you to get closer to the water. Our family had a wonderful time and will definitely be back to check out the trails we didnt have time to hike.

It was a small trail but very beautiful refreshing and re-energizing

It is a nice place to go for a short hike and cool down in the river.

Relaxing walk.. brillaint rivers and waterfalls

Nice little water falls with multiple ponds and great fishing spots. Plenty of places to swim and trails are moderately easy.

I love hiking here! There are many different trails to follow. There are also a couple of waterfalls that are really nice to sit and cool down at. Good place to fish too.

Beautiful scenery trail good for a family outing.

Beautiful hiking trails. Great waterfall

Great place for a quick or long hike!Good place for dogs, just don’t forget their leash. Not too strenuous, but some difficult parts with steep stairs and a bridge that B refused to cross.

Lots of trails, elevations, fun bridges, water spots and waterfalls!

Very easy Trail for all especially toddlers who want to explore. A lot of great picture spots and some cool Bridges to cross including a small suspension bridge my toddler loves it. There is also a free Forest School that meets theyre at 9:40 on Wednesday mornings to let children meet up for a playdate and explore nature. Look them up on Facebook Bell County Forest School. There are bathrooms at the parking lot they are not the best but it is better than nothing. A lot of people walk their dogs on this Trail so if you have a child who is scared of dogs or if you plan on bringing your dog be aware that there are many other families with their dogs there. There are benches along the way and lots of good spots to stop for a picnic.

My first time there. It is so very pretty. There are alot of trails to follow with benches along the way to rest. I will def go back.

Lots of little trails to explore down here! Not stroller friendly, the trails are narrow and hard to navigate. But great for families or couples trying to explore the outdoors.

Beautiful! Cant belive its this well kept a secret!

Beautiful park to take the family and walk along the fall. Parking is usually packed so i suggest you go later on in the day.

Chalk Ridge Falls is my go-to getaway place that I found by accident! I have seen many snakes but they are always in the still water below the bridge and they dont bother people. Dont swim in that still water. I love that you can find beauty no matter which direction/path you decide to take. Its very pet friendly which is great because my dog loves going with me!

Good hike. Cold water. Clean park