Hello to a River
Pick your pleasure: Whether it’s the remote canyons of the Rio Grande, the peaceful currents of the Sabinal, or the rip-roaring rapids of the Guadalupe, our team of thrill seekers has found the best places along our favorite Texas rivers to go tubing, kayaking, fishing, camping, birding, picnicking, and more.
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Five miles north of Vanderpool on Ranch Road 187; $2 ($3 in October and November). For camping reservations ($8 per site per night), call 512-389-8900. For park information, call 830-966-3413 or go to tpwd.state.tx.us/park/lostmap. Christopher Keyes
Go With the Flow
PEDERNALES RIVER IN PEDERNALES FALLS STATE PARK One of the few stretches of water in Central Texas where you’re guaranteed to have no man-made obstructions blocking the view (and, usually, nobody else on the river), the Pedernales is for hard-core floaters: You’re going to have to take your own tube and do some hiking, and you won’t be allowed to drink any beer. Although the falls themselves are off- limits due to dangerous undertows, the stretch immediately below them is great for tubing. A good plan is to leave a brightly colored towel or piece of clothing near the bank of the swimming area (just north of Trammel Crossing) before hiking about three quarters of a mile back up along the river until you reach its bend. Put your tube in here for a 45-minute float through the park’s beautiful, unspoiled scenery. Once you arrive back at the swimming area, look for the object you left behind so you’ll know exactly where to take out.
From Johnson City: Head east on RM 2766 for about 9 miles; the park entrance will be on your left. From Dripping Springs: Head west on U.S. 290 for about 9 miles and, after the tiny town of Henly, turn right onto RM 3232; after 7 miles, the road will dead-end into Pedernales Falls State Park; 830-868-7304, tpwd.state.tx.us/park/pedernal/pedernal.html; call ahead to check river conditions. Stayton Bonner
Kid Around
LLANO RIVER AT KINGSLAND Your inner leapfrog will love the Slab, an unmarked spot where granite “lily pads” dot the Llano. Sometimes swift and sometimes still, the water works its way over and around these smooth boulders, creating mini-rapids for tubers, wading pools for small fry, calm stretches for stone skippers, shallow patches for minnow catchers, and plenty of perches for anyone with a good book to spend a summer afternoon. While my friends and I skipped some stones and attempted to snag a few minnows, we had the most fun hopping from rock to rock with a giddiness we hadn’t felt since childhood.
In Kingsland, where the river crosses FM 3404. Stacy Hollister
Drift Back in Time
RIO GRANDE BELOW BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK There are no roads leading to the lower canyons of the Rio Grande below Big Bend National Park. There’s no reliable cell phone service, either. No strip malls, telephone wires, or any other trappings of modern civilization. What you’ll discover instead is one of the last true wilderness experiences in North America. During a seventy-plus-mile float trip, you’ll travel back not only in historical time—you’ll pass old cowboy encampments along the route—but also in geologic time: The deeper you go into the canyons, the more magnificent and ancient are the layers of limestone. In between rides down class II and III rapids, you’ll take day hikes up spectacular side canyons, soak in hot springs, and camp along sandbars where the silence is so astonishing it can feel like the loudest thing you’ve ever heard.
A guided trip down the lower canyons takes seven to twelve days, depending on water levels and your desired travel pace; $1,100 to $1,500 per person. For more information, contact Desert Sports (888-989-6900, desertsportstx.com) or Far Flung Outdoor Center (800-839-7238, farflungoutdoorcenter.com), both in Terlingua. Christopher Keyes
Catch Cabin Fever
FRIO RIVER IN CONCAN It must have been temporary insanity when I decided to celebrate the first day of spring with a dip in the Frio at Neal’s Lodges, family-owned and -operated since 1926. I headed down the private stairs that led from my cabin to the riverbank, climbed down the makeshift steps of a cypress’s intertwined roots, and plunged into the jade-colored waters. Mere seconds later I fled back to my cabin, having discovered the hard way how the river got its name. Maybe I had it right the day before, when I’d watched good-timers float by on neon-green tubes, beer in hand; dined in the cafe on grilled chicken, corn on the cob, green beans, and a bottomless glass of iced tea while a couple of guitar players strummed and sang on the patio; taken a kid-friendly sunset hayride, which culminated in a riverside marshmallow roast; and just relaxed on the sofa in my homey, no-frills cabin under a framed black and white photo of Neal’s and the river back in the day. Appropriately, it was inscribed “Wish you were here.”
Neal’s Lodges, along Texas Highway 127 in Concan; 830-232-6118, nealslodges.com. The 61 cabins range from $88 to $300 per night (for up to four people; each additional guest is $6 per night); summer hayrides nightly (minimum 20 people), $6, children under 5 free; tubes $5 per day, shuttle $3 per ride. No glass containers allowed on the river. Stacy Hollister
Cast For Catfish
COLORADO RIVER FROM WEBBERVILLE TO BASTROP East of Austin, the Colorado loops through a scruffy hinterland of gravel pits and construction sites before finally shaking the city loose somewhere near Webberville. From here to Bastrop the river lies in curls on the wide valley floor. This stretch of the Colorado is an uncrowded paradise for fishermen and kayakers; at roughly the halfway point, there’s even an island where you can camp out. Surrounded by a patchwork of fields and ranch land and floating between wooded banks, you’ll find catfish, freshwater drum, and both largemouth and Guadalupe bass. Water flow can vary significantly depending on the release from the Highland Lakes, with somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 cfs considered ideal.
Put in: Little Webberville Park—from downtown Austin, head east on Martin Luther King Boulevard/FM 969 for about 20 miles to Webberville, turn right onto Water Street, and continue to the park entrance. Take out: Bob Bryant City Park, Bastrop—approaching Bastrop from the west on Texas Highway 71, turn left onto Old Bastrop Highway, left again onto Schaefer Boulevard, then right onto Charles Boulevard. The park entrance is on the left. Outfitter for canoes and kayaks: Cook’s Canoes, Webberville; 512-276-7767, cookscanoes.com; kayaks $20 a day, canoes $30, shuttle $30 (shorter trips $8). Charlie Llewellin
Before You Go…
A few things to know.
>> WATER FLOW ON MOST TEXAS RIVERS is regulated by the release from the dam upstream, and trip time and fishing conditions can vary greatly. Consult your outfitter, or, if you are paddling solo, check with Texas Parks and Wildlife at tpwd.state.tx.us/texaswater/rivers.
RIVERBANKS ARE PRIVATE PROPERTY. Know where you are going to spend the night and where your take-out point is. Don’t camp on somebody’s land without asking.
FLOAT TRIP SUPPLIES AND ADVICE: Austin—Austin Outdoor Gear and Guidance, 512-473-2644, kayaktexas.com. Dallas area—High Trails, 972-272-3353, hightrailscanoe.com. Houston—Canoesport, 866-665-2925, 713-660-7000, canoesport.com.
GUIDE SERVICES: Float trips—Marc W. McCord (Dallas) will guide you down any Texas river; 972-404-1556, canoeman.com. Fishing—Alvin Dedeaux (Austin) has some twelve years of guiding experience in Central Texas; 512-663-7945, alvindedeaux.com. Also try Expedition Outfitters (Canyon Lake), 210-602-9284, expedition-outfitters.net; Scott Graham (Sattler), 512-947-7145, flyfishingtexas.com; and In the Hills Fishing Excursions (Canyon Lake), 830-964-5565, inthehillsfishing.com.
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