Brazos River in Texas

by  guest-paddler

A self-supported trip created by guest-paddler

Trip Overview

The first day of the trip we encountered some good fishing, rain, very strong headwinds.(the fishing made up for the rain). The scenery was great. We had a hard time finding a place to camp that wasn't on rocks, so it made for a hard time to sleep at night.

The second day is where it got tough; the river was very low and we started to drag our boats for very long sections. With high temperatures it was very grueling and a lot of work. It seemed like we dragged our boats 4 miles or so over the whole trip. We also had leeches every time we got in the water for any length of time.

The second night we found a sand bar and it made a nice camping area. We were awoke by a air boat spotlighting our camp at 2:00am, don't know what that was all about...

The third day was the best water. It was a little deeper and we didn't have to drag the boats but a few times the whole day. We caught some decent fish in that section too. There were a lot of snakes on tree limbs in the water, they were not a threat to us at all. We saw a lot of birds.

As we approached Waco, the river turned into more of a lake than a river, and there were boats everywhere. The last 5 miles of the river was the hardest part due to all the wind and ski boats constantly going by and around us.

The hard work and shallow stagnant water made a very tough and uncomfortable trip. I will never do this section again unless water is flowing 3000cfs or more. I would not recommend doing this river unless you want to work hard.

Outfitting:

kayaks

Fees:

no

Directions:

Hwy 22 to River park Drive and that takes you to the water.


The take-out is in Cameron Park in Waco.

Resources:

I used a Garmin hand-held gps. It was handy for tracking our progress.

Trip Details

  • Trip Duration: 2-3 Day Trip
  • Sport/Activity: Kayaking
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Water Type: River/Creek (Up to Class II)

Trip Location