I've already read enough that the Guadalupe is not a place to take a family, even in the middle of the week.

I've got the wife and two kids, 11 and 9. My wife was worried that Comal is just an hour float and the kids will get bored.

Would appreciate thoughts on which River to float. We're going to float one day and do Schlitterbahn the other day.

The good thing about the comal is the tube chute. It is only about 1.5 hrs to float, but takes only about 5-10 min to get out and get taken back to go again if you want. Or you can hangout below the chute and the kids can do the tube chute until they pass out

Are there parts of the Frio that are a bit scary for a 9 year old?

I'm a big fan of the easiness of the comal. When I was a kid, we would float the comal once, then come back and do the toob chute until we were exhausted.

My 3 yr old just tubed the Frio for his second time....the first he was only 1.

The Frio is a pretty tranquil float and usually if you come to a drop you'd rather not go through you can just walk around in about 30 sec.

There are tons of places on the comal where you can park it and let the kiddos play if you are worried about cutting the trip short.

Heck you can buy your own toobs and head over to "himan Island" park after your float and grill etc and it is right on the comal and backs up to the 17th hole at Landa Park.

for reference

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=29.708225,-98.126192&spn=0.002185,0.006689&t=h&z=18

You can make the Comal float as long as you want it

Float the Comal so you can get out and float again for as many trips as you want. I was never bored as a kid especially going over the weir after the tube chute. You can also walk back to just above the tube chute in the same time you can catch a shuttle if you park there at Prince Solms park.

rooster,

I assume there is a tube rental place right there?

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Heck you can buy your own toobs and head over to "himan Island" park after your float and grill etc and it is right on the comal and backs up to the 17th hole at Landa Park.

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Better do this while it is still free. I heard on KNBT radio the other day that the city was thinking about making the "Himan Island" entrance into a pay only. If they do, I think that stinks.

The citizens of Texas own the Comal River and there should be a public access to it. This is one situation I am going to follow and I hate the tourists. If its tourist season, where do I get a license?

Go to the Landa Falls tube place, longest float on the Comal, about two hours. If you start early you can easily get two trips in one day.

When the Frio is flowing well, the Comal is utterly boring compared to the Frio, in my book. The Frio has a lot more rapids and is a more interesting river. The comal is almost a narrow lake with a bit of a current in it for much of its length. It's a nice float, but I prefer the Frio myself.

[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 7/23/2010 9:20a).]

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then come back and do the toob chute until we were exhausted

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Unless things have changed, you have to buy a tag to be able to take the chute more than once.

Why is the guadalupe not an option? I prefer the guad to any of the other floats.

We float the horseshoe to 4th crossing and it takes about 4 hours. Flows out of the damn are 250 cfs which isn't bad.

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When the Frio is flowing well, the Comal is utterly boring compared to the Frio, in my book. The Frio has a lot more rapids and is a more interesting river. The comal is almost a narrow lake with a bit of a current in it for much of its length. It's a nice float, but I prefer the Frio myself.

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The other 360 days of the year the Frio is a beautiful hike too!

if you go on the guadalupe above the dam its fine. put in at specht's and get out at 281

What are the fun and party zones on the guad river?

Unless the Frio gets some considerable rain soon, floating it won't be very fun. Right now it's at 45cfs. We went in June when it was at 75cfs and it was just at the minimum for a good float IMO. 45 will require walking in the low spots and paddling in the holes. I love the Frio, but with kids even the "short" route will take the better part of a day at 45cfs. If this is your first float with them I would hit the Comal a few times then Schlitterbahn. Go to the Frio again when the water is up.

the horseshoe in sattler mainly

Meh, maybe that's because when I "tube", I never spend much actual time in the tube. I'm usually fishing from it, swimming, snorkling, etc, and the tube is just a "base" where I keep my beverages.

I can sit on my ass and float in the watera nd drink in a lot of places besides slow moving rivers...and any walking or careful steering to stay in the deeper water is part of the fun...that's my view. To each his own.

[This message has been edited by MouthBQ98 (edited 7/23/2010 9:48a).]

The horseshoe float is always packed.

The other good floats are down around second crossing and Hueco Springs. Most of the campers float from second crossing to Gruene Bridge.

Medina!

That's a nice and underused little river, too, much like the Frio: when it is flowing, it is great.

Thanks for all the info Ags.

This has made planning so much easier.

TexAgs - we know stuff

[This message has been edited by Reload8098 (edited 7/23/2010 1:38p).]

frio: cleaner imho and more exciting more of a current
comal: can be very overcrowded at times with lots of people drinking and cursing up a storm

Frio without question is better for family experience than comal.

Isn't the Frio down?

The Frio is down but in Garner on the opposite side of the dam was great last week!

The frio's probably about normal flow right now. It's about DOUBLE the flow rate it had last year.

We've gone tubing in that river with 5 and 6 year olds, fresh off the "water wings". No problems at all.