Howdy,
I am a central Texas native who enjoys spending as much time on the river as possible, but lately I have grown bored with local paddling trails and such. So I decided i wanted to paddle the Colorado river in Texas from as close to the source to the mouth of the river. I have done a good bit of looking around on the internet and have found the GPS coordinates for the source of the river but when i put it into a mapping app, it showed it as a street. Im curious, has anyone ever done any part of the river above the San Saba county access point at N 31 deg 13’ 6.64"/ W 98 deg 33’ 52.09" or knows a good reference material? if so, where is a good access point? thanks for any help
well …all but 1
This might help or at least narrow it down with the contact info and links
http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/colorado2.html
If you are bored, you might try
competing in the Texas Water Safari:
http://www.texaswatersafari.org/
the source
the “source” is more evident if you punch the coordinates (32°40′47″N 101°43′51″W) into topo software such as www.caltopo.com. It’s the drainage just to the SE of that road intersection. However, you’d have to go far, far downstream to find the head of canoeability. There’s a gauge just upstream of Lake JB Thomas (USGS# 08117995), at FM Road 1205. That looks like it typically carries about half a foot except when it storms; so somewhere around there is about as far upstream as you could possibly put in. But, with a series of reservoirs downstream, you could be walking some places if they’re not releasing much water.
Start here and you can explore the various gauges to get an idea of how much it flows:
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/glance.php?wfo=hgx&gage=bact2&riverid=203566
Some of the pictures available online of the upper sections look pretty bleak from a paddler’s perspective. But I’m sure it would be an adventure to explore.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/43855750
colorado 100
Great race. Bastrop to Columbus. No dams.
Ryan L.
Colorado River in Texas
Realistically, from the paddler’s standpoint the Colorado River in Texas is not worthy of any consideration from its “headwaters” until you get all the way past Austin. Even in those rare years when it rains in Texas the “river” consists of dams, lakes (sometimes), and a dewatered streambed. Downstream of Lady Bird Lake in Austin there is often enough water for boating. Take a look at Southwest Paddler for the best river descriptions.