Passport to Texas

Enjoying time on the Goliad Paddling Trail

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This is Passport to Texas

Goliad State Park and Historic Site was the first park to host an inland paddling trail. The trail meanders along the San Antonio River.

It’s about 6.1 miles of beautiful pristine river. The site here in our park is the take out site. The other developed areas to get on the paddling trail is north of our park. So once you get to the park people have to get off the river unless they want to continue to float with no easy access to get off.

Brenda Justice is park superintendent. Next week the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS features the trail and the folks who love it, including Charles Clapsaddle.

The six and a half miles current trail I can make in about an hour and a half, most people take a little over two hours. We will go pretty close to downtown Goliad, a couple of blocks from the courthouse and you wouldn’t know you were near a town. You hear crickets and cicadas and birds, nothing that sounds like humans. It’s a nice friendly river.

Even people new to paddling will enjoy the Goliad Trail.

It’s a coastal stream so it has muddy banks. Grass and trees grow right down to the bank. You usually see a lot of wildlife because of that. It’s good for families. You don’t have to be a skilled canoeist or a kayaker to enjoy the river. Right now we’re just drifting, we’re floating on the current.
Get a sense of the Goliad paddling trail’s serene beauty next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. Check your local listings.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife, Cecilia Nasti.

Map of Port O’Connor Paddling Trail

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This is Passport to Texas

Port O’Connor offers outdoor enthusiasts an enticing paddling trail opportunity.

We are in Mule Slough in the back bay system of Port O’Connor, Texas. This is an isolated flat, and it is surrounded by black mangrove and cordgrass.

On a segment airing this week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series, we follow Alan Raby with Dolphin Kayaks as he takes Xandra and Jade Alford on a tour of this unique place.

 This is my backyard. My backyard’s always been outdoors with everything. And you get to sit in a kayak and get to see pelicans, seagulls, herons – everything. You get to see it all.

Kayakers experience wildlife up close and personal.

[Alan] So, the Port O’Connor is unique in the way that it’s probably the most vast one on the Texas coast that’s easily accessible. There’s over 40 miles total of paddle trail. [Xandra] Look, Jade. Look at tht look. [Jade] That is just a camera ready loon. [Xandra] He’s getting his fifteen minutes in.

Alan Raby says the Port O’Connor trail, always feels new.

[Alan] It is an adventure almost every time you come. I mean, the saying goes, once you visit here once, you always come back a second time. [Xandra] You know, Port O’Connor has a way of bringing you back. It’s a great place to be.

Discover the Port O’Connor paddling Trail on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS through October seventh. Check your local listings.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

The Devils River

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This is Passport to Texas

The 37-thousand acre Devils River State Natural Area is primitive and isolated. Visitors to the site should be prepared for a rugged wilderness experience.

The waterway, for which it’s named, is one of the state’s most ecologically intact rivers. Paddling Devils River ranks high on many people’s bucket lists.

While limited access is available for paddlers through the Devils River Access Permit system, paddling this river is not for the faint of heart. Due to its remote location, safe, reliable, and legal camp sites on the river are in short supply.

To help create safe conditions for the recreational use of the Devils River and minimize trespassing issues, the Texas Parks and Wildlife River Access and Conservation Area Program opened two paddle-up-only camp sites last month.

By adding the two new campsites, permitted paddlers can explore the river safely and maintain the high standards of river stewardship that will preserve its uniqueness.

Texas Parks and Wildlife is partnering with the Devils River Conservancy to collaborate on educational materials that will be distributed among local guides and vendors to prepare paddlers for overnight trips on the Devils River.

These camp sites are the newest additions to Texas Parks and Wildlife’s statewide network of 19 River Access and Conservation Areas, offering improved angler and paddler access to more than 100 miles of Texas rivers.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Paddling in Texas

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This is Passport to Texas

Photo-journalist, Camille Wheeler, grew up in a farming and ranching family in West Texas, and remains a country girl at heart, despite living in the Capital City since the mid-1990s.

I didn’t grow up around very much water. So, while I was a country girl, I’ve always had a fascination with rivers and streams.

Given her fascination for flowing water, she wondered why she’d never explored Austin’s Lady Bird Lake.

So, about a year ago [in January], I went out—really for the first time by myself—on a kayak, on Lady Bird Lake. And the lake was just filled with all these wintering birds. And the double crested cormorant is one of my favorite birds in the world. There were so many of them, and I could paddle up close to them and take pictures. And I was like: Why have I not been doing this?

She discovered Lady Bird Lake is in Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Paddling Trails Program, which gave her an idea for an article. She shared the idea with TPW magazine’s editor, and the agency’s nature tourism manager.

We came up with this idea of me traveling around the state as a beginner [paddler] who has medium knowledge of birds, and putting the two things together for readers.

Read about it in the March issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. On tomorrow’s show: how Camille Wheeler found the middle of nowhere in the middle of everywhere on an urban paddling trail.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Kayaking on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. Photo credit: ©2011 Chase A. Fountain / TPWD

Spring Break: Kayaking Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Looking for a fun outdoor activity you can do solo or with friends this spring break? James Graham says traveling aboard a kayak is the ultimate means of individual navigation.

It’s what we call people power… it’s a way to experience waters that are less crowded, that are more pristine.

The Houston kayaking instructor teaches folks the finer points of paddling. Since these boats don’t use motors to move, they can access more places than …say… a powerboat…

And that’s one of the things fishermen are really appreciating now…they can get up into some very, very shallow water…the fish aren’t used to people in those areas and you can really enjoy of lot of Texas this way

He says there is a perception that kayaks are dangerous because people see them going over white water rapids on TV…

Well white water is only a small part of the sport…in fact kayaks are more stable than canoes because you are sitting lower in the water, the center of gravity is lower, your balance is better.

Learn more about kayaking and canoeing on the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

We record our series at The Block House in Austin, Texas, and Joel Block engineers our program.

That’s our show for today…the Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and works to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.