The Llano River is a tributary of the Colorado River

Colorado River (Texas)

The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California....

, approximately 105 mi (169 km) long, in central Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It drains part of the Edwards Plateau

Edwards Plateau

The Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...

 in Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country

The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...

 northwest of Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

.

Two spring-fed tributaries, the North and South Llano, stretch across the otherwise arid lands of West Texas

West Texas

West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....

 before merging just east of the small town of Junction, Texas

Junction, Texas

Junction is a city in and the county seat of Kimble County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,618 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

 in Kimble County

Kimble County, Texas

Kimble County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 4,468. Its county seat is Junction. Kimble is named for George C. Kimble, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.-Geography:...

, forming the head of the Llano River proper. The Llano River runs generally ENE through the rolling limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 terrain of the Edwards Plateau

Edwards Plateau

The Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...

 as it flows through Kimble County

Kimble County, Texas

Kimble County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 4,468. Its county seat is Junction. Kimble is named for George C. Kimble, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.-Geography:...

 and across rural Mason County

Mason County, Texas

Mason County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 4, 012. Its county seat is Mason...

, passing to the south of the town of Mason, Texas

Mason, Texas

Mason is the seat of Mason County, Texas, United States. The town is an agricultural community on Comanche Creek southwest of Mason Mountain, on the Edwards Plateau and part of the Llano Uplift. The population was 2,114 at the 2010 census.-History:...

. Continuing in an easterly direction, the river carves its way through the Llano Uplift

Llano Uplift

The Llano Uplift is a roughly circular geologic dome of Precambrian rock, primarily granite, in Central Texas in the United States. It is located in the eastern region of the Edwards Plateau, west of the Texas Hill Country...

, a roughly circular geologic dome of Precambrian

Precambrian

The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...

  rock, primarily granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

, located in Central Texas

Central Texas

Central Texas , is a region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is roughly bordered by San Marcos to Fredericksburg to Waco, and to Brenham, and includes the Austin–Round Rock, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station, and Waco metropolitan areas...

. Flowing through Llano County

Llano County, Texas

Llano County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 19, 301. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River....

, the river passes to the north of Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock is an enormous pink granite pluton rock formation located in the Llano Uplift approximately north of Fredericksburg, Texas, USA and south of Llano, Texas. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which includes Enchanted Rock and surrounding land, spans the border between Gillespie...

 and flows through the town of Llano, Texas

Llano, Texas

-History:Llano County was established in compliance with a February 1, 1856, state legislative act. The Llano River location was chosen in an election held on June 14, 1856, under a live oak on the south bank of the river, near the present site of Roy Inks Bridge in Llano...

. Northeast of Llano it turns sharply to the southeast, joining the Colorado

Colorado River (Texas)

The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California....

 from the northwest as an arm of Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, approximately 15 mi (24 km) southeast of Llano and 50 mi (80 km) northwest of Austin, Texas

Austin

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...

.

See also

Colorado River (Texas) Colorado River (Texas) The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California.... Pedernales River Pedernales River The Pedernales River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin... Frio River Frio River The Frio River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. The word frio is Spanish for cold, a clear reference to the spring-fed coolness of the river.-Geography:The Frio River has three primary feeds; the East, West, and Dry Frio rivers... Brazos River Brazos River The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...

Double Mountain Fork Brazos River Double Mountain Fork Brazos River The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about west-northwest of... White River (Texas) White River (Texas) The White River is an intermittent stream in the South Plains of Texas and a tributary of the Brazos River of the United States. It rises west of Floydada in southwestern Floyd County at the confluence of Callahan and Runningwater Draws. From there, it runs southeast for to its mouth on the... Pecos River Pecos River The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it... Rio Grande Rio Grande The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...