Sinkhole risk in Lampasas County, TX: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 57%
At or near the surface: 57%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 403 of Lampasas County's 713 square miles on soluble rock, 403 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 23,539 residents (33 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 248 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Lampasas County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Runnels County, TX, about 112 miles northwest. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Burnet County, TX 28 mi south · 63% at surface
Mills County, TX 29 mi northwest · 16% at surface
Coryell County, TX 29 mi northeast · 35% at surface
San Saba County, TX 34 mi west · 59% at surface
Hamilton County, TX 36 mi north · 34% at surface
Llano County, TX 43 mi southwest · 11% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Paluxy Sand and Glen Rose Limestone, undivided (sandstone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about 49% of the county. Next is the Marble Falls Limestone at 3%.

Against the rest of Texas

Lampasas County ranks 39 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 89% of US counties on that measure.