Campbell's Hole Water Level — Live Conditions

Lower Greenbelt, approaching Barton Springs

USGS reading Aug 28, 3:00 AM CT · 35 minutes old

🔵 Campbell's Hole is rated Pools only for swimming — an estimated 0.3 cfs is flowing through this reach. Reliable swimming at 15–50 cfs.

Measured at Aug 28, 3:00 AM CT (35 minutes old) — that is when the gauges reported, not when you loaded this page. USGS transmits every 15–30 minutes, so the creek may have moved since.

Estimated from USGS readings at Barton Creek at Loop 360 (0.0 cfs) and Barton Creek Above Barton Springs (0.4 cfs), the two gauges bracketing this spot — the estimate is only as current as the older of the two. See the full Greenbelt dashboard.

What Campbell's Hole is like

A long, broad pool that’s a local favorite for dogs and families, just upstream of the Barton Springs spillway. It trades the drama of the upstream falls for easy entry, room to spread out, and shallow edges that suit kids and swimming dogs.

Campbell's Hole sits on the lowest stretch of the creek, where flow accumulates from the whole watershed, so it usually holds swimmable water a little longer than the upper Greenbelt. Once the creek drops into the 1–5 cfs range it becomes a calm wading pool rather than a swim, and below 1 cfs it stands still altogether.

Does Campbell's Hole usually have water in August?

Campbell's Hole sits between two USGS gauges and isn’t measured directly, so its seasonal record is read from both of them rather than from a blend. Barton Creek loses water into the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone as it crosses the Greenbelt, so the two stations genuinely disagree — that spread is the honest answer, and it is shown rather than averaged away. Everything below is a daily mean, compared against each gauge’s own record for the same calendar date.

Barton Creek at Loop 360

USGS gauge 08155300 (opens in a new tab)

The most recent daily mean discharge USGS has published for Barton Creek at Loop 360 is 0.0 cfs, for August 27, 2026. USGS publishes recent daily means as provisional and may revise them. That is a whole day’s average, not the live reading above — after rain the two can be far apart.

Across the 49 years of daily statistics USGS holds for August 27 (1977–2025), the median daily mean for that date is 0.0 cfs. 0.0 cfs sits between the 90th and 95th percentile for that date. In at least 90% of those 49 years the daily mean for August 27 was under 1 cfs — the point where the cascades stop and only the plunge pools hold water. Taking every calendar day in the record, the median day at this gauge is under 1 cfs in every month of the year.

Days flowing so far in 2026: 14 of 239; Days whose mean was 1 cfs or more, out of the 239 days USGS has published for this gauge in 2026.
Last 7 days vs the 7 before: 0.0 cfs, level with 0.0 cfs; Median daily mean for August 21–August 27, 2026 against the week before it.
Last 30 days vs the 30 before: 0.0 cfs, level with 0.0 cfs; Median daily mean for July 29–August 27, 2026 against the 30 days before it.
The same week a year ago: 0.0 cfs; Median daily mean for August 28–September 3, 2025.
Past 12 months: 0.0–575 cfs, median 0.0; 365 daily means, August 28, 2025 to August 27, 2026.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, gauge 08155300 — daily mean discharge (parameter 00060, statistic 00003) for August 28, 2025 to August 27, 2026, and USGS daily statistics for August 27 across 1977–2025 (49 years). USGS computes those statistics from approved daily means and notes they may not match figures in its official publications.

Barton Creek Above Barton Springs

USGS gauge 08155400 (opens in a new tab)

The most recent daily mean discharge USGS has published for Barton Creek Above Barton Springs is 0.4 cfs, for August 27, 2026. USGS publishes recent daily means as provisional and may revise them. That is a whole day’s average, not the live reading above — after rain the two can be far apart.

Across the 27 years of daily statistics USGS holds for August 27 (1999–2025), the median daily mean for that date is 0.1 cfs. 0.4 cfs sits between the 50th and 75th percentile for that date. In at least 50% of those 27 years the daily mean for August 27 was under 1 cfs — the point where the cascades stop and only the plunge pools hold water. Taking every calendar day in the record, the median day at this gauge is under 1 cfs in February and March, and August through October.

Days flowing so far in 2026: 9 of 239; Days whose mean was 1 cfs or more, out of the 239 days USGS has published for this gauge in 2026.
Last 7 days vs the 7 before: 0.4 cfs, level with 0.4 cfs; Median daily mean for August 21–August 27, 2026 against the week before it.
Last 30 days vs the 30 before: 0.4 cfs, level with 0.4 cfs; Median daily mean for July 29–August 27, 2026 against the 30 days before it.
The same week a year ago: 0.0 cfs; Median daily mean for August 28–September 3, 2025.
Past 12 months: 0.0–584 cfs, median 0.1; 365 daily means, August 28, 2025 to August 27, 2026.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, gauge 08155400 — daily mean discharge (parameter 00060, statistic 00003) for August 28, 2025 to August 27, 2026, and USGS daily statistics for August 27 across 1999–2025 (27 years). USGS computes those statistics from approved daily means and notes they may not match figures in its official publications.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System. All three Barton Creek gauges are compared the same way on the Greenbelt flows dashboard. What these numbers mean for a swim at Campbell's Hole specifically is in the flow-band table below.

Is there enough water for a swim at Campbell's Hole?

The shaded band on both charts is 5–50 cfs — the discharge window this site rates Fair or Good, where the water is deep enough to swim and the current isn’t the problem. Campbell's Hole isn’t gauged, and its estimate is held between these two stations rather than read off either one, so when both charts sit inside the band this spot does too.

Barton Creek at Loop 360 — last 90 days

At Barton Creek at Loop 360 (USGS 08155300), the most recent daily mean USGS has published is 0.0 cfs, for August 27, 2026. The shaded band is 5–50 cfs, the window rated Fair or Good for swimming. Campbell's Hole is estimated between this gauge and Barton Creek Above Barton Springs, not measured at either. The dashed line is this gauge’s median daily mean for August 27 across 49 years of USGS record: 0.0 cfs.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, gauge 08155300 — daily mean discharge (parameter 00060, statistic 00003). USGS publishes recent daily means as provisional and may revise them. The vertical axis starts at zero.

Barton Creek Above Barton Springs — last 90 days

At Barton Creek Above Barton Springs (USGS 08155400), the most recent daily mean USGS has published is 0.4 cfs, for August 27, 2026. The shaded band is 5–50 cfs, the window rated Fair or Good for swimming. Campbell's Hole is estimated between this gauge and Barton Creek at Loop 360, not measured at either. The dashed line is this gauge’s median daily mean for August 27 across 27 years of USGS record: 0.1 cfs.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System, gauge 08155400 — daily mean discharge (parameter 00060, statistic 00003). USGS publishes recent daily means as provisional and may revise them. The vertical axis starts at zero.

Getting there

Reached from the lower Greenbelt trailheads on the Barton Hills side — the Spyglass access near Barton Hills Drive is the classic entry — with a gentle walk along the creek. It’s one of the least strenuous swims to reach on the Greenbelt.

Where Campbell's Hole is

Campbell's Hole
Pools only
0.3 cfs, estimated from the two gauges either side
Gentle walk from the Spyglass access near Barton Hills Drive — the least strenuous on the Greenbelt.
30.26000° N, 97.78532° W
Spyglass access (Campbell's Hole west entry)
Where most people park for Campbell's Hole.
30.25794° N, 97.78742° W
Barton Creek at Loop 360
Dry at the gauge
0.0 cfs measured here
Upstream of Campbell's Hole.
30.24465° N, 97.80223° W
Barton Creek Above Barton Springs
Pools only at the gauge
0.4 cfs measured here
Downstream of Campbell's Hole.
30.26354° N, 97.77223° W

Gauge positions are the surveyed coordinates USGS publishes for each station. Swimming-hole and trailhead positions come from OpenStreetMap (ODbL), retrieved 8 August 2026 — good to a few tens of metres, which is enough to show which end of the Greenbelt a spot is on and not enough to navigate the last hundred feet by.

How to read the flow bands

Condition	Discharge (cfs)	What it means at Campbell's Hole
🔵 Pools only	under 1	Standing water across a long, broad, shallow-edged pool. Fine for wading and for dogs; not a swim, and it warms quickly in the sun.
🟡 Low	1–5	A calm wading pool rather than a swim — shallow edges, very little movement.
🟢 Fair	5–15	Enough water moving through the broad pool to swim in, with the gentle edges that make this the family and dog spot.
🟢 Good	15–50	Reliable swimming end to end, with room to spread out.
🟠 Strong	50–120	A strong current through a wide, open pool just upstream of the spillway. Keep children and dogs out.
🔴 Dangerous	120+	Swift water heading for the spillway. Stay out of the creek.

Frequently asked questions

Does Campbell's Hole have water right now?

This page shows a live estimate for Campbell's Hole, interpolated from the two USGS Barton Creek gauges that bracket it (Barton Creek at Loop 360 and Barton Creek Above Barton Springs) and refreshed every few minutes. As a rule of thumb: below about 5 cfs only the deeper pools hold water, 15–50 cfs is ideal flowing water, and above roughly 120 cfs the creek is dangerous.

Is Campbell's Hole flowing right now?

“Has water” and “is flowing” aren’t the same thing at Campbell's Hole. Campbell's Hole sits on the lowest stretch of the creek, where flow accumulates from the whole watershed, so it usually holds swimmable water a little longer than the upper Greenbelt. Once the creek drops into the 1–5 cfs range it becomes a calm wading pool rather than a swim, and below 1 cfs it stands still altogether.

What water level is best for swimming at Campbell's Hole?

Reliable swimming at 15–50 cfs. Campbell's Hole sits on the lowest stretch of the creek, where flow accumulates from the whole watershed, so it usually holds swimmable water a little longer than the upper Greenbelt. Once the creek drops into the 1–5 cfs range it becomes a calm wading pool rather than a swim, and below 1 cfs it stands still altogether.

Does Campbell's Hole usually have water in August?

Campbell's Hole sits between two USGS gauges and is not measured directly, so its seasonal record is read from both. At Barton Creek at Loop 360 (USGS 08155300), the median daily mean discharge for August 27 across 49 years of USGS daily statistics (1977–2025) is 0.0 cfs. In at least 90% of those years the daily mean for August 27 was under 1 cfs. Taking every calendar day in that record, the median day there is under 1 cfs in every month of the year. At Barton Creek Above Barton Springs (USGS 08155400), the median daily mean discharge for August 27 across 27 years of USGS daily statistics (1999–2025) is 0.1 cfs. In at least 50% of those years the daily mean for August 27 was under 1 cfs. Taking every calendar day in that record, the median day there is under 1 cfs in February and March, and August through October. USGS computes these day-of-year statistics from approved daily means and notes they may not match figures in its official publications.

How do I get to Campbell's Hole?

Is it safe to swim at Campbell's Hole after rain?

Be careful. Barton Creek is a flash-flood-prone watershed and discharge can spike from a few cfs to several hundred within hours of heavy rain upstream. Fast, turbid water also carries bacteria and debris. Wait for levels to drop back into the 15–50 cfs range and for the water to clear, and heed National Weather Service flash-flood warnings and City of Austin Watershed Protection advisories.

More Greenbelt water levels

Sculpture FallsUpper Greenbelt, between the Lost Creek and Loop 360 gauges Twin FallsUpper Greenbelt, near the Loop 360 bridge Gus FruhLower Greenbelt, below the Loop 360 gauge

Planning a Greenbelt day? Check the live Barton Creek dashboard for every gauge and swimming hole at once, read our local playbook for Twin and Sculpture Falls, or see what changed with Barton Springs Pool's 2026 reopening.