San Marcos River
San Marcos River Retreat to Scull Road
January 1 to January 3
Trip Report by Christy Long
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Put-in
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San Marcos River Retreat
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Take-out
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Scull Road
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Fees or Permits
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$3 per person, per day to launch; $10 per day (includes launch fee), per person to camp
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Gage
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On January 1 the river level was 80 cfs on the
USGS 08171400 San Marcos Rv nr Martindale, Tx
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Temperature
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67 deg F when we launched 70 deg F when we got off river.
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Sky
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Cloudy, Sunny, Clear at Night
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Moon Phase
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Waxing Gibbous, bright moon in the evenings
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Sunrise/sunset
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Sunrise 8am/sunset 5:45pm
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Precipitation
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none
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Wind
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Little wind
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Coordinator
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Christy Long
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Participants
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Christy Long, Steve Long, Amy McGee, John Ainsworth
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Shuttle
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Left vehicle at TRPA locked Parking on Scull Road
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Craft
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3 kayaks
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River Miles
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3.5
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HCC Club Miles
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10.5
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Road Miles
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340 from Pearland and Back
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Guide Book
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Rivers and Rapids, Canoeing, Rafting and Fishing Guide by Ben M. Molen and Bob Narramore. ISBN 0-9632403-8-2
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Photos
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San Marcos River, Jan 1,2,3 2026
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Food
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Grilled on campfire, cooked on camp stove, electric coffee pot, JetBoil, appliances in RV
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Water
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At campsites
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Map showing San Marcos River Retreat to Scull Road
It was on the cold side but Amy, John, Steve, and I met at San Marcos River Retreat to camp and paddle for New Years Day.
John was on site 8 and the rest of us were on sites 12 and 13. John was there from Tuesday to Saturday; Amy arrived Thursday and departed on Friday; Steve and I arrived Thursday and departed Saturday.
Map of San Marcos River Retreat
The river was clear and moving when we launched. It was so calming to be on the river after the hustle and bustle of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. We launched around 11.
We played and warmed up at Tom’s Rapid. The river is low and at this level it is a good time to practice hard moves. So, we eddied, ferried, and attained in this small rapid.
As we floated past Tom’s Rapid and before Old Mill Rapid, we saw two men facing the rising sun and quietly singing: one on a small drum and the other on guitar.
Old Mill has many opportunities to catch eddies, ferries, and make attainment moves. It was fun we played our way through the short rapid.
Below Old Mill Rapid we saw an owl in the tree. I have not seen many owls, so I took it as a good sign. The only other boaters we saw, at that time, were Evelyn and her son Alex, of TG Canoes and Kayaks. The five of us watched the owl as we silently floated past.
At the wall two options are available to enter the rapid and both were floatable. We lingered and played in the little wave at the bottom of the middle entrance.
I ran S-turn (aka Broken Bone, Broken Nose) on river right and entered the eddie. We stopped here, played in the rapid. and had a snack.
Don’s Fish Camp was quiet. During warm weather this short stretch becomes a human obstacle course. Which is fun, as long as boaters and obstacles are friendly to each other.
We floated and talked our way to the long pool of still water. The pool is longer when the river level is this low. We slowly paddled our way to the area leading to Cottonseed Rapid. The river starts to narrow, and the water moves faster. We eddie hopped until we reached the entrance to Cottonseed. There are several options, and your decision needs to be made quickly.
Once through the top of Cottonseed, you come to the wall. The wall has slowly dropped and moved downstream over the years. But it has always commanded your attention. The first 30 to 40 feet past the wall has plenty of opportunities to catch eddies, ferry, and make attainment moves.
Since this is the last quarter mile of the run, we returned to floating and talking. There was a fisherman at the takeout, but he gave us plenty of room to get out and move our boats to the road.
We got back to camp by 3:30. We grilled dinner and had a campfire.
Friday morning, Amy packed up and went home, after some coffee and talk of the day before. John, Steve, and I had breakfast and sat around the morning campfire for awhile. Each of us brought campfire but John brought a huge bundle. This was a lazy day of reading, napping, eating and stoking the campfire.
On Saturday, we had coffee, broke camp, packed up, and headed home.
What a great trip. I was so happy to paddle and camp on the first day of the year.