Although Spring Lake is highly protected, it is accessible to visitors through the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, a program of Texas State University, which offers glass-bottom boat tours among other opportunities to explore and learn about the ecosystem.

[2] The San Marcos Springs is an area of artesian outflow from the Edwards Aquifer along the Balcones Escarpment.

Archaeologists[3] believe that the San Marcos Springs area may be the oldest continually inhabited site in North America, with sediment core evidence of human activity dating back approximately 11,500 years.

Texas State University-San Marcos purchased the surrounding area in 1994, and the site is now known as The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.

For example, the iconic California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera is found only west of the Balcones Fault,[5] which runs through San Marcos Springs.