Last Saturday 2/7/26 we did a fun paddle on Champion Lake, Dayton, TX.. For those unfamiliar, it’s a pretty spot about 50 miles east of DT Houston. Beautiful weather… Sunny, mid 70’s! We had a whopping 19 boats! It was great to be out there again after missing all of last year due to a variety of weather and water issues.
The other day actually, the level was a bit low at only about 5 feet (optimum is 7-8), and too shallow to reach some of our favorite areas, but still plenty to play around in.
Per the attached GPS Track (courtesy Tom D.) and the site Map, our path took us first to the spillway near the east end. Just beyond that is a pool called the Boy’s Room which typically is home to several big male gators and off limits to females except during mating season when they are happily received!
From there we headed up Caney Creek toward famous area #5. As expected, the water was too low to get in, but it was worth checking out at least. Then we doubled back towards area #12, another favorite. Again we got only part way up before running out of water about a quarter mile short of #10.
Tom D. caught a couple pics of me sitting on the bottom, stuck in the mud. End of the road! A little frustrating, but still a pretty path. We took advantage of the wonderful peacefulness up there to hang out for a nice lunch break.
From there we headed back down to the #13-14 exit to the South Channel and wound through the wonderfully majestic old cypress trees on the route back to the take-out. Fun time…about 5 miles.
We’ll be back in the spring when everything is amazingly greened-out and hopefully the water is higher!
On the way home, some of us made the mandatory stop at DQ for some fine Jalitos and Chocolate Malts!! Another great day on the water!
Note: All the trip pics are available on the HCC Photo Page.