My dad, brother and I are set to take a river camping trip a month from now (almost to the day) on the John Graves Scenic Riverway on the Brazos below Possum Kingdom. It appears the Ross Fire has burned a significant portion of that. (Prayers first and foremost to all those affected. And prayers for containment and safety). Does anyone know of other rivers that offer good bank side camping and a long float. The obvious one is the Devils, but I'm not sure we can get a permit this close to the start date. Just looking for other options as I know some private landowners may limit camping along some rivers. Any advice would be good

Neches River through the Big Thicket.

Dad and uncles used to do the Sabine near Longview but that was 50 years ago.

Big Bend Rio Grande Sante Elena canyon river trip and camping is one of the highlights of all my vacations. Highly recommended

More of a drive but the Buffalo lower sections may still be floatable.

LCRA Parks | Paddle the Colorado

Hey Gman,
If you're serious about the Devils, just get in touch with Gerald Bailey at Blue Sage. You don't need a permit to do Baker's Crossing back to Blue Sage. He'll pick you up at Marlene's and shuttle you to the drop-off and 3.5 days later you'll be back to his place.

I'm happy to chat with you over the phone to share campsite coordinates and discuss the logistics. I've done it in October and March. Gonna be warm and possibly buggy this time of year, but sounds like you were already prepared for that.

First step is to call Gerald and check the river flow. I have his cell if you don't see it online.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Plenty of stretches of Colorado River a can be paddled between Austin and La Grange. Check the weather before hand and you can safely camp on gravel bars or possibly at pullouts at parks or bridge rights of way.

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Exactly what I've done. Paddle down and fish- camp on the gravel bar islands. Put in at the 130 bridge before the Tesla campus was built and floated down to Webberville Park.

I can't recall the name or number of the shuttle service we used though.

This guy has a lot of videos about kayak camping most of the rivers in Texas. Didn't even know this was possible on some of the skinnier ones.

https://m.youtube.com/c/gatewoodbrown

Never done it but the Pecos river is a long float -59 miles wilderness float starting in Pandale.

Also raiderarizone - is Gerald Bailey back in business? I read that he shutdown a few years back as an available outfitter on the river.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Plenty of stretches of Colorado River a can be paddled between Austin and La Grange. Check the weather before hand and you can safely camp on gravel bars or possibly at pullouts at parks or bridge rights of way.

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We've done Smithville to La Grange multiple times with our scouts. Put in at the park in Smithville on Saturday morning, take out at the boat ramp at the second bridge in La Grange, I think it's business 71 maybe, before lunch Monday. Could paddle it faster if you wanted but that's a good pace and plenty of time to relax and chill at night.

There's multiple islands and sandbars you can stop for lunch, camp, etc.

If you want to stay on the Brazos…
You can put in at the dam of lake granberry and go down to 67. There is a campground there that you can take out. It's 30 miles by river

You could do it in two days but certainly turn it into 3-4 if you wanted.
I have done the first 9 miles from the dam and then recently about 2 miles about half way down.

He no longer has his concession with the State but he still shuttles folks on the stretch I mentioned. Right at 22-23 miles and a beautiful trip. He's a cool dude!