Things to do / Travel Guide
The best bet to rent a boat and enjoy some peaceful paddling is to contact the Texas State Parks authority. The authority is quite organized with its boat rentals. Availability can fluctuate, so either contact the park you are interested in or the Texas State Parks for updated information.
Austin/San Antonio
Bastrop State Park is a popular lake destination only 30 miles southeast of Austin. It is the site of the Lost Pines, an isolated pine and hardwoods forest. Canoe rentals are available every day for paddling in 900-acre Lake Bastrop.
Palmetto State Park is named for the rare tropical Dwarf Palmetto that flourishes here. It is probably the best state park to canoe in. Located in Gonzales, just east of Austin, Palmetto offers a route on the Guadalupe River for overnight canoeing. You can rent canoes or paddleboats from the park store. Nearby vendors also offer inner tubes if you are up for tubing.
Hill Country
Garner State Park, in Concan, a far corner of the Hill Country on the Frio River, is one of the most famous spots in the region for camping. The park rents kayaks and paddleboats. Garner State Park is an extremely popular place to visit, so it is a good idea to reserve a campsite, even weeks in advance.
Corpus Christi and Coastal Bend
Lake Texana, near Edna, is halfway between Houston and Corpus Christi. The lake is named for the ghost town of Texana. Located next to a reservoir of the Navidad River, canoes, hydro-bikes, and single-person, sit-on kayaks can be rented here.
Between the Gulf of Mexico and the many waterways of southeast Texas, there are many opportunities to kayak. If kayaking in the Gulf Of Mexico is your bag, you should consider Corpus Christi or Galveston. Here you can find many sports shops that rent out kayaks, as well as sailboards and surfboards.
Many enthusiasts find the bodies of water between the barrier islands and the mainland to be supreme kayaking areas, and, if you are an expert, this is the recommended area to try. The idea is to plot a limited course along the 3,000-mile Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), a fascinating shipping highway for barges and oil tankers which extends all the way from Mexico along the Gulf Coast, to the tip of Florida and then up the East Coast.
The mounds of silt formed by the building of the ICW are fascinating little islands with their own mini-ecosystem, teeming with life. Here you can get out of your kayak and find prickly pear cactus, mesquite trees, wild flowers, exotic birds, and even coyotes brave enough to swim the Waterway.
The brave and adventurous kayakers often island-hop and check out these small, strange islands alongside the ICW. If you decide to do this, be respectful of the private cabins that are built there. While the islands are the property of the state of Texas, many people have built cabins and the state allows them to keep them. The people who vacation in them are generally welcoming to guests. If you intend to kayak in the fall or winter, be careful to avoid duck decoys that you may see in the water, as many hunters use these islands as place to hunt ducks.
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