TLDR:

1-2 Hour Paddle

• Put in: Rio Vista Park
• Take out: Rio Vista Park

7-8 Hour Paddle

• Put in: Rio Vista Park
• Take out: San Marcos Scout Camp

Important to Note:

• A can ban was instituted in 2024, and there is a significant fine if you have trash in the river!
• There is also fencing placed at Rio Vista Park on weekends and later in the day that can make it difficult to park. You can always drop your paddling equipment (if you have a friend who can wait with it) near the Lion’s Club tube shuttle by Ivar’s River Pub, find parking, and then come enjoy the river!

San Marcos is known for this tubing spot, but it is one of my absolute favorite places to paddle. The water is clear, cold, and spring-fed. It’s a beautiful spot to paddle any time of year, but in the summertime, the water feels like the fountain of youth! It’s a constant 72 degrees no matter how hot it gets here in Texas. Heads up! The city introduced a can ban in 2024, and you must use reusable containers while enjoying the river.

The headwaters of this amazing river are the habitat for a rare and endangered aquatic grass known as Texas Wild Rice. Be careful not to paddle into it! You’ll see Texas State students maintaining and working in the area.

Since this spot is a tubers’ paradise, you’ll want to get to Rio Vista Park before 9:00 am if you want to experience the dream paddle! My favorite thing to do is park here and paddle upriver towards Spring Lake. You’ll have to work hard to go upstream, and I usually bring a kayak paddle on my paddleboard for this section of the river. But don’t fret, your first swim break will come up at City Park (where you can rent the tubes from the Lions club). This is a great spot to get out and bask in the cold, refreshing water.

If you keep paddling upstream past the campus, there’s a beautiful swimming hole behind Kerbey Lane that is so cold and dreamy! Just a little bit further up is the waterfall of water coming off of Spring Lake, but you can’t access this area from here.

If you want to visit Spring Lake where these headwaters start, you can book a guided paddle, ride in a glass-bottom boat, or even book a nighttime glow kayak with The Meadows Center. (Scroll to the end to see!)

From this swimming spot, it’s time to turn around and enjoy your peaceful drift back towards Rio Vista Park. All in all, this trip might take you an hour or two, depending on how long you relish the swimming holes. I love to paddle up and back a couple of times, just to savor my time on the river a bit longer!

Wanna go further?

If you have shuttle friends and a whole day– you can meet at Rio Vista Park in the morning, unload all of your paddleboards/kayaks, and then shuttle some cars down to the San Marcos Scout Camp behind the Pecan Park Riverside RV Park. It’s just a couple of bucks to park your car here. Then have at least one car drive everyone back to Rio Vista to start your paddle, and you can get a good 7-8 mile paddle in, depending on how many times you paddle up towards Spring Lake! You will have to portage at Cunnings Dam, make sure to head to the left as it’s a better walk than trying to drop your boat down the ladder on the right side of the dam. (Trust me, this sucks!) This trip will take most of your day. Remember it’s a peace paddle- so you are only floating about 1 mile an hour down this lovely river. Enjoy it because these lazy river days are the best kind of days!

The first time I went on this paddle with some friends, none of us had ever paddled it, and we were told it would take 3 or 4 hours. It was dreamy and peaceful, with the sun dappling through the trees and the gentle lapping of the chilly water against our paddleboards creating a serene atmosphere, but when dusk started to settle, we got a little worried we might never leave the river! The setting sun painted the sky in vibrant hues of orange and pink, which added to our sense of wonder, yet our anxiety grew as we realized none of us knew how far we still were from our exit point. We kept making Gilligan’s Island jokes about how it was just supposed to just be a “3-hour tour,” and laughter filled the air, momentarily easing our concerns. Most of the river from I-35 to the Scout camp is private land, so there is no escaping the river until you get to the Scout camp or Texas Tubes, which felt both like a thrilling adventure and a slight predicament. The sounds of nature became more pronounced as night approached, and we eagerly paddled onward, trying to make the most of our experience. Luckily, we made it to the take out point just before nightfall! Whatever you do, just make sure to plan ahead and enjoy your time on the water!

Night Time Paddling?

If you want a truly unique experience at Spring Lake, the reason this beautiful river exists, you can book a lovely nighttime glow kayak with The Meadows Center. They offer this a few times a year along with snorkeling and more, so make sure to check it out! I’ve also night paddled the river with Paddle SMTX and really enjoyed the nighttime kayak with a guide!