TX Hill Country Rivers

[lalyle]

I'm looking at heading down to the New Braunfels area sometime this week for a little warm, sunny, R and R and piddle around on the Guadalupe, Comal, and San Marcos. Stoppin' in Salado to see a classmate who runs a candy shop.

That's a lot of driving and paddling to do alone and there'll be way too many tasty treats for me to manage.

Anyone wanna team up?

[RomanLA]

Are you going to be there for the weekend? I was thinking about heading that way. I want to catch Grand Canyon Adventure at the IMAX in Austin and do some surfing at Rio Vista. I'm not sure if any of the rivers are running.

[lalyle]

Where's Rio Vista?

Dude, tell me anything you know about those rivers. From what I've gathered, they're dam released. It didn't even occur to me that they might not have a good release schedule in the off season. Although, while researching campground, I did see one rental place saying they'll be renting this week. Hmmmm . . . maybe I should use my phone sometimes.

[RomanLA]

Rio Vista is at the city park in San Marcos. I've only been there in winter, so I'm not sure if it's being overrun by tubers yet. There's a map and directions on American Whitewater...
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... l_id_1830_

I think this is the section that people run on the Guadalupe. I paddled Hueco Springs rapid last year, but it was ridiculously low.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/conte ... l_id_5194_

Your best bet is to head over to http://www.paddletexas.com, but don't expect a warm welcome. It's a rough crowd. Oh yeah, you could also talk to FarPastGone. He just moved to Arkansas from that area.

[FarPastGone]

I was actually down there this week...you are picking a pretty good time to get down there, most Texas school had spring break last week so it was a little crowded (plus it was really nice out and I think the college crowd has figured out they can go to Rio Vista over Sewell and drink). Don't know how crowded it will be next week, but there are lights out there so you can generally go in the morning (till 10 or 11) before even seeing any tubers, or just show up around 7:30PM and it will be cleared out and you have lights (plus sometimes River Pub across the river is having bands play outside at night, so that is kind of cool, you can even paddle over and pick up a beer).

Rio Vista is on the San Marcos River (in San Marcos), it is spring-fed, so you are guaranteed water 24/7, and it is 72 degrees year round. It is low right now, so you won't have the wave hole, but there is a decent glassy wave you can carve, plus some great squirt lines at the second drop.

The Comal is more of a novelty to paddle as it was completely designed for tubers, but you can still have fun out there, and it has decent water (spring-fed again so you are guaranteed water 24/7). When we go play at the Comal we generally do so later in the afternoon or early in the morning (or on colder cloudy days) so we don't have to deal with drunk tubers. Best bet is to just go park at Prince Solms Park in New Braunfels, TX and go run the tube chutes, then walk back to your car with your boat a couple blocks through New Braunfels (smiling at all the funny stares). Make sure if you do that you get out at the last exit for tubes, or you will be in the Guadalupe on your way to Lake McQueeney (you will know it is the last exit by all the signs everywhere and the big staircase you have to walk up). There are a couple big seal launches and slides into the river you can do along the way that the results of will vary depending on the level.

The good section of the Guadalupe will not have water, and even if for some reason it does it needs to have several thousand cfs to be any good (which it won't).

Bet on Rio Vista on the San Marcos and the Comal, you can usually catch paddlers out at Rio Vista during the less trafficked hours or at any time on less appealing days to spend on the river. You could try PaddleTexas.com to hook up with some locals, but you will probably get 10 posts from people that say they paddle, calling you an idiot for going to Texas, and then 1 post from a guy named Guordo that makes no sense and has nothing whatsoever to do with your OP. Don't forget to stop by Lulling or Lockhart (which can be reached easily from San Marcos) for your BBQ fix.

If you PM me the dates you will be down there I can make sure there will be some paddlers out at RV to show you around.

-Matt

[BooF4FooD]

wow.. yeah gourdo makes Zero sense.. lol ... reading his stuff is like trying to solve a rubiks cube with one hand