FAQs

The namesake of Marble Falls, the great falls across the Colorado River, has been covered by Lake Marble Falls since 1951 after the completion of Max Starcke Dam.

The falls themselves lie just upstream (west) from the Highway 281 bridge, starting on the north side at the intake above the old Power House, running directly across the river and then around midway across turning diagonally to the south side (under the electrical high lines going across the river). There were actually three levels of rock shelf, the top being the highest and most distinguished, which held back the original and natural Lake Marble Falls. The top level lies some six to eight feet under the surface of the lake.

The falls were the beginning of a canyon that runs a mile and one-quarter through a 380-foot thick shelf of limestone, falling some 47 feet in the process, and exiting into a 100- foot plus deep pool called the Bluebonnet Hole, now at the head of Lake Travis.

The geological formation of the falls is limestone in a transitional state which will become marble. To early settlers, the hard rock at the falls itself looked like marble, hence the name. To geologists the falls structure is classified as a form of limestone.

Every few years the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) will lower the lake and the falls are revealed again. Sand has covered much of the lower falls but the landmark itself stands clear. For reasons of their own, people will begin walking and exploring the falls from the moment they emerge and will continue to do so until they are covered back up.

From 1951 onward, this has been the most common question asked in Marble Falls, especially in the decade following the impounding of the modern lake.