I started kayaking when I moved to Austin, but in 2021, I bought an ISLE Paddleboard, and it changed my paddling behavior FOREVER! Having an inflatable board made it so easy to travel and try out new places! I even started taking the kayak out on trips, too! Check out my list, and let me know where I need to go that I haven’t been yet in the comments!

Austin

• Ladybird Lake downtown: I like to put in at the Austin High Boat ramp and paddle at sunset! I also love taking the yak to the Festival Beach ramp and then booking it over to South Congress to watch the bats emerge from under the bridge in the summer. It’s quite a windy paddle back in the dusk, so I prefer kayaking to paddleboard for this!

• Red Bud Isle: This is one of the first places I took my paddleboard, and it made me feel like I’d become a real Austinite. However, it has a very limited amount of parking…. Like only 10 spots! So you may have to circle the lot to get a spot. This is a very popular spot for dog walkers.

• Quinlan Park on Lake Austin: One morning we couldn’t get into Emma Long Park. So I took a friend to rent a board close by and we put in at Quinlan Park. It was nice and cold, but there was a lot of boat wake here, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
• Jessica Hollis: This is at a low water-crossing by Mansfield Dam. This is a great place for beginners as it is generally calm and the water is SOOO cold and lovely. Unfortunately, in 2024, they instituted a new policy where you have to reserve a $45 table to paddle here on the weekends. On Sundays, they release water from the dam, which makes it quite hard to get back sometimes!

• Cypress Creek Park on Lake Travis: This is a great little cove with minimal boats! 2024 update: The drought has dried up a lot of this cove! Wasn’t able to paddle here for a few summers- has it filled back up yet?

North of Austin

• Brushy Creek Lake: Not super impressed with paddling here as the algae is really gnarly because of the fertilizer run-off from the golf course. However, I love the hike/bike trails, and I will share a post about these and other ATX biking trails soon!
• San Gabriel River: This is a great little spot to put in at Chandler Park. It’s short and the water isn’t the cleanest, but it is super chill. 2025 update: Haven’t been able to check yet, but I’m sure the July floods have made this impassable.

• Lakewood Park in Leander: You can rent paddleboards and kayaks here. It’s very quiet but it was really windy the day I went out! Note: They have a REALLY cool skatepark here!
• Georgetown Lake: We put in at Russell Park, and it’s a very windy lake! I never even made it across to the Crockett Garden Falls yet. I think I’m just not much of a lake paddler!
• Georgetown Blue Hole: This is also on the San Gabriel River. It has a very long portage from the parking to the blue hole, but I do love to paddle (and hike) this little stretch of the San Gabriel River! 2025 update: This is not paddleable until the July Flood damage is cleared out! (And my poor Katy trail bike ride is also out! (I’ll include the awesome Georgetown Trail Foundation trails in my epic trail list!)

South of Austin

• San Marcos: Rio Vista to Spring Lake is my absolute favorite paddle; I call it the Dream Paddle. It’s pretty fun to keep going down past the chutes! I’ve gone as far south as Don’s Fish Camp, but have yet to make it to Martindale. Read more about this paddle here.

• New Braunfels Guadalupe to Comal: I like to park at Cypress Bend Park but you have to get here really early. You can toodle about and swim in this shaded place all day, or head to the confluence and head up the Comal just mind those tubers! During drought summers, this is one of the only places to paddle in Central Texas!

• Spring Branch: We kayaked the Guadalupe here from Edge Falls to the Guadalupe River SP- it had a lot of rapids- so I wouldn’t recommend SUP, but it was a great kayaking trip! It would probably be better to kayak from the State Park down to Nichol’s Landing as it’s more traveled and a safer trip! 2025 update: I’m not sure this is paddleable since the July 2025 flood. According to the state park, most of the debris has cleared up.

East of Austin

• Lake Bastop South Shore Park: This is another super chill spot, but the lake is by a power plant, so if you paddle too far out, it is a bit noisy. It’s probably best for just chilling and swimming!

• Bastrop Colorado River: This is a really nice float if you put in at FisherMan’s Park and paddle about 6 miles downriver to the Colorado River Refuge. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday! You can rent a boat or even just a shuttle with the Bastrop River Co. You can also start higher up the river and end at Fisherman’s Park.

• Navasota River in Fort Parker State Park: I love camping and exploring rivers, and I can’t wait to go back to see more of this river! On this trip, I’d forgotten my paddle, and the state park was nice enough to loan me one for the weekend!

Central Texas

• Frio River in Garner State Park: This is one clear, gorgeous, and short paddle but it is a wonderful beginner paddle, and a glorious place to swim in the summer. I love to camp, hike, bike, and paddle here! Well worth the drive and the hype!

• Inks Lake State Park: So close to Austin, yet it feels like you are on another planet. This is one of my favorite places to camp, hike, and paddle! I like to put in at the lake and head over to the Devil’s swimming hole. This is also one of the best places in Texas to hike among wildflowers and Bluebonnets in the spring!

• Colorado River by Colorado Bend State Park: I stayed at Barefoot Camp and paddled here, but I have yet to meet my goal of paddling to Gorman Falls! See my full post about hiking and backpacking at Colorado Bend through the seasons.

North

• Lake Ray Roberts State Park: If you live in North Texas, this is a pretty chill place to hang out in the coves or by the beach. Great camping too!

West Texas

• South Llano River: This is another great spring-fed river in Texas! Back when REI was still doing guided trips, I went on this 18 mile paddle on the South Llano River! We paddled 11 miles the first day, camped at South Llano River State Park, then paddled the rest of the way to City Park in Junction the next morning. The REI guides were so awesome, and it was such a nice group of people. I met my adventure buddy, Shana on this trip, and we’ve been on many trips since. The water was low and the rapids were fast! A lot of this paddle felt like playing a video game. At one point, my boat turned around at the start of some rapids and I had to paddle backwards down them- looking behind me to avoid rocks and rudder backwards. At just the right point, I shoved my paddle into the water and flipped the boat around the right direction. I felt like a total badass.

• Santa Elena Canyon: This epic paddle deserves its own post, read more here. My teen daughter, adventure buddy Shana, and I booked a trip with Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company to canoe into Santa Elena Canyon, camp in the backcountry, and enjoy life! We covered 18 miles of the Rio Grande on this boomerang trip during our 3 glorious days in Big Bend National Park, canoeing, swimming, and camping. I would absolutely recommend Big Bend Boating and Hiking Company as outfitters. We had great guides, great food, and an amazing experience! They outfitted the canoes, dry bags, tents, sleeping pads, food, and water!