Brazos,

Gauge Information

River Description

From an anonymous contributor (2009-01-29):

You need at least 500cfs for this to be worth your time. Really I would wait until it was close to 1,000cfs, at this point the river makes a wave train and several small surf spots in the lower ledge. There are two ledges on sandstone at Port Sullivan, the lower was dynamited back in the 20's and 30's and the upper is only accessible through private land past the cemetery. The upper has three sandstone ledges, that might create surf spots in high water (think 800+). You can see the lower ledges and the old steam boat lock from the highway.

Here you have a choice, you can exit off of the side of the bridge, put in below the rapid and paddle up. Which requires you to drag your boats up the half mile to the top of the rapid. Or you can go past the bridge and take your first right, which will wind you through the woods until you reach a clearing and a aluminum double gate on your right. If you hop the gate the top of the rapid is straight across and down a cow trail. Locals often enter here to fish for catfish off of the rocks, but for the most part this is a pretty secluded area.

The rapid itself is choked with large pieces of what used to be sandstone ledges, there is a main channel on river right that has a decent wave train, until you reach the first boulder, which creates a ledge and a good eddy/ferry spot. Below that there are two more large obstructions, the last being almost the steamboat lock. Both of these have strong eddies and ledges where you can surf your boat in the right conditions. On river left the channel is choked with drops, boulders and sandbar island, I've only seen this section at 10,000cfs once, but the whole rapid washes out at about 7,000 and creates a large wave train. I would speculate that at 3-5,000cfs it's running at the optimum level. Of course if the Brazos is that high, you might as well go to Hidalgo- if you have a key.

Poor access, class I-II rapids, and the rarity of navigable flows make this section less than desirable. However, it's proximity to Texas A&M campus(25 minutes), great food at the Dixie Café in Hearne and the ability to run it without being a member like out at Hidalgo, make this section an attractive run for desperate Texas paddlers.

For more info, see Texas Whitewater.