I am planning to canoe the Navasota River from Hwy 30 near College Station to Hwy 6. It is small river and I have read it can be a challenge. I plan to camp out 1 night. It’s a 27 mile trip. Any fellow Texans ever done this? My primary concern is upsetting a land owner. Between 10 & 20 miles down is very wooded and looks like it will be great for hammocks. I appreciate any feedback if anyone is familiar with this route. Thanks.
It is all private property down in there, and lots of wild pigs. I doubt the land owners would even know you were there if you camp in a wooded area though. Banks are muddy sand so hammock is definitely the way to go. It will be very similar to the Brazos down there as you are pretty close to where they join.
1 Like
Yea, that is what I figured. I live about 40 minutes south of the take-out, only about 2 miles from the Brazos. I haven’t seen too many hogs lately, but I shoot at them whenever they are near my property. I’ll keep a pistol handy, but hogs usually run off when they see you. I’m watching the weather and river level close. If I can’t find a good spot for a fire, I will have my Solostove.
One of our guys did the Brazos from Waco to the coast last year and he was camped on of the last nights down in your neck of the woods below Hildalgo Falls on a small river bank that turned out to be a pig trail. He had is little tent in their way and like 50 were just standing there staring at him until they decided to go around him. He had pistol at the ready too, but it never escalated. Hammock would be my choice. I have had critters go right under me during the night.
1 Like
I believe Hildalgo Falls is the reason steamboats stopped at Washington. There is another bit of rock south of Hempstead. I’ve paddled by that before. Hammocks would have been nice last weekend on the Neches. It rained all day and most of the night the first day. River was high so there were no sandbars the second night. Had to camp in the woods and it was muddy from all the rain. We had a great time anyway. I hope to post a video soon.
There is an old Lock and Dam downstream of Hildalgo. At one point long ago, they were able to run smaller boat traffic all the way up to Waco or there abouts. From what I gather, Washington was the steamboat terminus and smaller boats came and went from there, like they used to on the Trinity. Must have been something to see.
1 Like
Have you ever paddled with the Navasota River Rats?