Colorado River in Texas

Trip Overview

My wife and I took our kayaks down the Colorado River between Bastrop and Smithville. This was our first trip on this stretch of river, but reading other reviews of the area led us to try it. We were glad we did! This 25 mile section made a perfect two and a half day trip.

The first day we launched at Fisherman's Park in Bastrop. We had planned on going about 7 miles the first day, but being fresh and with a good current we ended up about 12.5 miles downriver before stopping at a gravel bar for the night.

As we ate our dinner we watched a Great Blue Heron hunt for his. We saw many different types of herons hunting the shoreline during our trip.

The second day we left shore around 10am and were on the water about four hours. Since we wanted to spend two nights out and due to some periods of light rain, we made camp around 2pm. It didn't rain anymore, so we had a chance to rest, do a little fishing, swim, and generally sit and watch the river flow.

Day three brought a thunderstorm around 6 in the morning but we were still in bed so no matter. We left around 10 and had an easy 2 1/2 hour float to the take out in Smithville.

I would recommend this trip for anyone wanting a pretty easy float. There are a few fast water spots and riffles but no 'rapids'. The river was running 1200-1700 CFS during our trip and I would say that this level is ideal.

The river twists and turns and is lined by large trees so wind, if any, is only a problem for short distances. There are many islands and gravel/sand bars for camping.

Accommodations:

We spent the night before our trip at Bastrop State Park.

Shuttle services and up-to-date river information were provide by the fine staff at Rising Phoenix Adventures in Bastrop (512-677-2305)

Outfitting:

Wilderness Systems Pungo 120

Dagger Blackwater 12

Directions:

Bastrop is east of Austin on Highway 71

Resources:

I printed Google Earth satellite photos of the river.
Rising Phoenix also provided a river map.