Sinkhole risk in Palo Pinto 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: 39%
At or near the surface: 39%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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 367 of Palo Pinto County's 953 square miles on soluble rock, 367 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 30,231 residents (32 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 371 map points about 1.6 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 Palo Pinto County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Baylor County, TX, about 79 miles northwest. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Parker County, TX 30 mi east · 21% at surface
Stephens County, TX 30 mi west · 13% at surface
Jack County, TX 34 mi north · 23% at surface
Young County, TX 35 mi northwest · 2% at surface
Hood County, TX 36 mi southeast · 42% at surface
Erath County, TX 36 mi south · 27% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Mineral Wells Formation (sandstone), Pennsylvanian; Missouri Series in age, covering about 18% of the county. Next is the Winchell Limestone at 11%.

Against the rest of Texas

Palo Pinto County ranks 66 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 83% of US counties on that measure.