Austin’s Most Haunted Lakes

Posted: 05.07.2025 | Updated: 05.07.2025

Many flock to Austin for spring break, but those who do may wish to stay clear of certain waters. Strange specters and murky dangers may lurk below, waiting to pull you under. Few consider the water when searching for the most haunted places in Texas. Yet strangely enough, some of this region’s most haunted sites may be its lakes and reservoirs. 

Those intrigued by spooky lakes have likely heard of Georgia’s Lake Lanier or the Sierra Nevada’s Lake Tahoe. However, Texas contains a multitude of haunted waters within its boundaries that will leave you clutching your beach towel in fear. 

Looking to keep your feet dry and tour Austin’s most haunted places from the safety of land? Book a spine-tingling Austin ghost tour with Austin Ghosts to plunge into this region’s dark and weird history. 

What Are The Most Haunted Lakes in Austin? 

Austin holds many bodies of water within its surrounding area, several of which have an ominous reputation. Whether you prefer lakes to sunbathe beside or desolate swimming holes to hike to, this city harbors many sinister reservoirs, including:

• Hamilton Pool: A stunning natural pool that conceals a dark legacy.
• Inks Lake: An 830-acre body of water, home to a dead forest and a 1969 murder. 
• Lady Bird Lake: A reservoir in which dozens of drowned bodies have been recovered despite no swimming being allowed.
• Lake Buchanan: A man-made lake that encapsulates a ghost town and countless human remains below its shallow surface.

Hamilton Pool

Hamilton Pool is hauntingly beautiful, but it harbors a deadly nature beneath its majestic teal waters. This naturally formed pool, shaped from a sunken grotto and fed by a 60-foot waterfall, is a striking sight to behold. Yet those looking to journey to its watery reaches should take heed. 

Rumors of Comanche ghosts surround this idyllic swimming hole, said to reside in the shadows of the cool, turquoise pool. Their ancient spirits surge below the surface, tied to this terrain’s land and water. If you disrespect the natural beauty of this place in any way, they may be angered. 

Some say bygone screams echo in the pool’s grotto, emerging from different directions. The unearthly voices are those of women and children — their otherworldly tones lending swimmers a sense of unease. 

There have been numerous drownings over the years at this wondrous spot. In 2010, a neurobiology student from the University of Texas drowned in the pool. In 2016, a 20-year-old man went under the water and never resurfaced — his drowning was tainted with mystery. Less than a month later, a teen boy succumbed to a similar fate. 

There have been many near drownings as well, with people swimming out to the middle of the pool, only to begin flailing and sinking. Many accidents in the Hamilton Pool preserve appear to be those of young men. Coincidence? Perhaps. 

Hamilton Pool in Texas is visited by hundreds of tourists a year, many of whom are ignorant of the pool’s haunted reputation. Those who dare visit this deadly watering hole, be on guard. There are larger forces than you at play in these glittering waters. 

Inks Lake

Inks Lake State Park in nearby Burnet encompasses a stunning 1,200 acres, many of which hold haunting stories. Drownings, murders, and even a dead forest swarm the air of this Texas state park. 

Those who visit this lake will quickly notice its unusual characteristics. Inks Lake holds a ghost forest within its depths. Here, the peculiar limbs of bony trees rise from the water’s surface, lending the landscape a mesmerizing quality.

This lake stands on what used to be a verdant forest, which was submerged after the Inks Dam was constructed, resulting in the creation of a new lake atop this rich ground. The trees that protrude from the water are long dead, just skeletons of a once-lush landscape. Yet, deceased trees aren’t the only corpses this lake has held.

In 1969, a double murder rocked the community of Austin. Two UT Austin students, John White and Keitha Morris, were murdered by a man called Clyde Durbin Jr. After coming across the two on a hike, Durbin killed John and abducted Keitha, after which he took her to Inks Lake. What horrors she suffered there are ultimately unknown, but they seemingly left a haunting impact on the serene landscape. 

On January 9th, 1969, her body was found floating facedown in Inks Lake by a Utah couple fishing nearby. The autopsy indicated she had been thrown into the lake while still alive, ultimately drowning. Fifty years later, echoes of this crime still ripple in the waters. 

Lady Bird Lake

There’s a very good reason you can’t swim in Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. Beneath its glassy waters lie perilous hazards. Scraps of broken dams and treacherous debris riddle the bottom of this man-made reservoir, resulting in several drownings over the years. 

But are these deaths due to drownings or something more nefarious? Multiple bodies have been found within the lake in the past few years, the numbers quickly reaching double digits. Some believe the work of a serial killer might be at large. 

More than 20 bodies have been pulled from the chilling waters in recent years, with the public calling on officials to reopen many of the cases and investigate them as potentially criminal. One wonders why they haven’t. 

Swimming in Lady Bird Lake is not permitted. Are these victims simply thrill-seeking lawbreakers, or might someone be using the lake as a dumping ground? Others have put forth the theory that the lake may be cursed. 

Originally called Town Lake, this body of water didn’t exist before 1960. Not all were happy with its construction, with many preferring the land to have remained a green space. Perhaps something far older has cursed this lake in retaliation for its unnatural intrusion into the landscape. 

Whether these tragic deaths are the result of accidents, accursed waters, or due to more wicked activities remains unknown. Either way, few are foolish enough to find out by daring to come near the waters of this eerie reservoir, likely teeming with ghosts. 

Lake Buchanan 

Drive an hour or so northwest of Austin, and you’ll find the former site of Old Bluffton, now known as Lake Buchanan. Home to no more than 50 families, the community of Old Bluffton was small, marked by orchards and fields. Today, it is no more. 

Rarely seen, it lies below Lake Buchanan’s waters, only visible during extreme drought. Known as the underwater ghost town, the lake that now submerges this once-quaint Texas town was the result of the Buchanan Dam.

After the dam’s completion in 1938, families began to slowly leave the town, thinking they had plenty of time before the rising waters consumed their homes. Officials believed years would pass before the lake fully formed. Yet, excessive rainfall that year resulted in water flash flooding the town, rapidly covering Old Bluffton. 

What now lies a mere 30 feet below its waters is truly haunting. A 2009 drought lowered the water level by 26 feet, unveiling the remains of the town eerily preserved by water. Homes and a hotel were revealed, as well as tombstones from its forgotten graveyard.

The townsfolk, having little time to get themselves to safety, were forced to leave the remains of their loved ones behind, entombed in an underwater cemetery. Their headstones are eerily preserved in this watery boneyard, although their names remain unknown to many who drift above. 

Might this fact alone make Lake Buchanan one of the most haunted lakes in America? Many would say yes. 

If you decide to swim or sail in this ghostly lake, remember that you might be paddling only a few dozen feet above a cemetery where long-forgotten souls lie sleeping. You best be quiet, lest you risk disturbing their spirits. 

Haunted Austin

Those who seek to swim near Austin, Texas, should beware of its many haunted lakes. What spirits may haunt the land or curse the waters you float in may be watching, vexed by your disturbance into their peaceful pools. 

While you cannot swim in Lady Bird Lake in Austin, you can descend to this city’s darker reaches along a spooky walking tour of Bat City with Austin Ghosts. Along your Austin ghost tour, we’ll keep you far from such inky depths, safely planted in this buzzing city’s downtown. 

Are you fascinated by this area’s dark history? Keep reading our blog to explore more haunted destinations in Austin, from haunted buildings to haunted roads. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to stay up-to-date on our latest haunted releases. 

Sources:

• https://www.texasalmanac.com/places/inks-lake
• https://www.austincityguide.com/listings/hamilton-pool 
• https://www.destinationdrippingsprings.com/p/aboutus/blog/4-spooky-hotspots-and-haunts-in-dripping-springs-tx 
• https://abc7chicago.com/archive/7369817/
• https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/man-from-mexico-identified-as-hamilton-pool-drowning-victim
• https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Local-teenager-drowns-in-popular-Texas-swimming-hole-390224821.html
• https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2017/11/11/vacationing-couple-save-drowning-man-from-hamilton-pool-perform-cpr/10014554007/
• https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nature/texas/ghost-forest-tx
• https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/something-went-wrong-the-double-murder-that-austin-nearly-forgot/ 
• https://www.austintexas.gov/blog/lady-bird-lake-fiction-or-fact
• https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/lady-bird-lake-bodies-found-20246360.php
• https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/lady-bird-lake
• https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/old-bluffton-underwater-ghost-town 
• https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hill-country/the-history-of-bluffton-the-underwater-ghost-town-in-the-texas-hill-country/ 
• https://www.austinmonthly.com/austins-most-haunted-history-and-urban-legends/