In Bosque County northwest of Waco on Hwy 6, Clifton lies on the banks of the Bosque River near Lake Whitney.
The town had an estimated population of 204 in 1904 and 3,195 in 1990. It had 100 businesses in the 1980s. In the early 1990s an exotic-animal preserve open to tourists was located southwest of Clifton on Farm Road 3220.