"For who hath despised the day of small things?" Zechariah 4:10, King James
Of the rivers that grace Texas, all have meager beginnings. Not all Texas streams achieve greatness and some that do, do not sustain that status. With notable exceptions, the majority of Texas rivers are flat water streams.
Welcome to the Urban Frontier Blog.
From time to time in my writing I recognize a need for a working definition of a thing that is either buried in the English vocabulary, is a culturally forgotten knowledge, or is something not needed prior. I was raised up in the outdoors. In trying to pass along that heritage, I found that some things that are brainstem awareness for me are absent in folks with urban upbringings. I do not pretend to have discovered or pioneered anything, only to have wrestled and recycled ways to communicate experiences I wish to share.
This is the case for stream sizes found in Texas. Before I start, I recognize there are longer and more voluminous rivers elsewhere. These definitions are for Texas rivers. I write with self imposed restrictions of experience and truth. This limits what and how frequently I write. I admit there are gaps in my knowledge and between articles, but its an invigorating way to write and live!
Aristotle's notions that stories have a beginning, middle and end is simple and profound. This is as important as the invention of standing in line. Aristotle's three act structure of story sifts and sorts the components of perception into relatable, chronological streams of consciousness while eliminating things that do not add to the story. So-called stories that lack these basic components, structures and pruning are recognized as unorganized ramblings, dreams or visions.
Ordinarily we dismiss ramblings, struggle to glean the meaning from a dream and strive to determine what is conveyed in a vision. Stories are direct, purposeful and efficient. Those are good things to strive for. Because of these attributes we understand stories in a direct way. In following the lead of that Grecian, I fall far short of his contribution. Regardless, I am overlaying his three part framing structure onto the Texas streams. For me there are small, medium and big streams in Texas.
The most direct, purposeful and efficient way for understanding the different sizes of streams is spend time on a big, small and medium streams. Every river is different with its own "personality." Unfortunately first hand experience takes time and effort before comprehension and notions form directions and definitions, much less how to convey these discoveries.
Other than descriptions and pictures of my experiences, a good way for me to transfer some of the information is to utilize the US Geological Survey stream gauges. For me the most meaningful, repeatable and comprehendible measurement for understanding the size of a river or creek is the discharge. That measurement is in cubic feet flowed per second. Comprehending a volume of water moving through space and time and interpreting it to practical concepts is complex. Sure, more is bigger, but to what scale? Is this much more too much or not enough or insignificant?
For me the values are easiest realized by comparing readings of streams I am familiar with. For the now, I am using the median and the mean measurements as a point of study. Analyzing statistics is a universe unto itself, but I am keeping this what I can understand and write about. Besides, in a tough spot I can't rely on a mathematical figure or a formula for figuring out if I am in trouble or not.
The Small Texas Stream; Definitions and Examples
I have probably spent more time on small streams than any other size. As a youth and adolescent, my brother my cousin were allowed free range, roaming the countryside and its small streams. I didn't realize it then, but I was gathering information that would stay with me all my life. Over the years I watched the creeks and small rivers rise and fall in all the seasons. I learned the movements of the animals and fish. All along I thought, "...someday, when I can legally drive, I will get my own boat and I'll hit the big rivers and lakes..."
Small Stream Characteristics
There are several markers I use in determining a stream as small. It's pretty basic. If a felled tree can span the banks and block the canoe's path, it's a small stream. Or, if from its brush lined banks I can cast a lure across it, it's a small stream.
Other than washed out trees, I have seen small streams blocked by fences, bridges and even beaver dams. Sometimes the low volume of water combined with sandbars or gravel bars is all it takes to block a small stream.
On a rise or flood is when the small stream flushes out debris and some obstructions. At normal to low stages these streams may not have the volume to float the canoe over its sandbars, much less the river trash that accumulates. As such, small streams can present multiple lining and portaging opportunities.
Another tell is that most small streams usually do not have what I call "superior sandbars." A superior sandbar is one large enough to produce a level surface for camping, with room for more than one tent. They also provide enough space to cook a distance from camp and are high enough to give a degree of safety should the river rise overnight.
I enjoy camping on the so-called superior sandbars, but in a pinch I have spent the night on an inferior one. Despite their "inferior" rating, the smaller sandbars can be fantastically beautiful. Oftentimes they make the trip worthwhile without my knowing it. They are great places to take a break, fish, prepare a meal and change stations in the canoe.
Another characteristic of the small stream is that at normal stages and flows, when they are not filling their beds, they are dormant. This is not to say they are not flowing. As alluded to above, it is when the small streams rises that they cut their channels and clear the debris. New trees will wash off the banks and downstream too, but if the rivers rise several times a year they seem to keep up with clearing their channels. After a rise, when the waters recede the small streams fall back into their inner bed. To an extent this is true of all rivers, but it is exaggerated on the small streams.
Small streams are considered too small for motor boats. As such, the state provided accesses to these waters are usually unimproved. Unimproved accesses on larger rivers can be problematic class 3 access. The class 3 access is another term for obstacle. Fortunately small streams just don't cut as deep into the earth. Many times accesses on the small streams are class 2.
In addition to the class 2 accesses many small streams do not allow A to B passage due to blockages and or low volumes of water. This and other difficulties of small streams put off a lot of folks. Many outdoorsmen will not separate themselves from the comforts of mechanized transportation. Their boats are too big and heavy to launch and land or line, portage or pull over the blockages and obstacles of the small stream.
A final tell I have for small streams are in the bridges that cross them. Low water bridges or semi-low water bridges are characteristic of small streams. The pictures above are two such bridges found on the South Llano River.
Examples of Small Streams
Some examples of small streams I have been on are the South Llano River, San Bernard River, Spring Creek and Cypress Creek. I'll throw in Cummings, Mill and Skull Creek too.
All waters are to be respected but small streams at normal stages typically afford a degree of safety not always found in larger streams. Though they may contain deep pools the typical small Texas stream will have areas that are shallow, and low in flow. This is due to a number of things, but in the coastal regions the gentle slope of the land towards the gulf factors in. On a small stream with a tumped-over canoe, the teammates may only need to stand up, scurry to find their gear and load back into their vessel. These small streams don't usually carry much force.
Here are some discharge measurements of streams I have visited and deemed "small." These measurements were taken Christmas Eve 2023.
Spring Creek at I-45: median 69, mean 226
Cypress Creek at 45: median 58, mean 222
South Llano River at Junction: median 61, mean 69
Some of the small streams I mentioned do not have gauges.
The Texas small streams can offer unique opportunities, challenges and eye-opening beauty. Even the streams near big cities can surprise you with qualities of remoteness and isolation. They often feel cozy and lack the oppressively dour demeanor sometimes found on the larger streams. Small streams offer some of the best day touring opportunities and provide the possibility for fishing, primitive cooking and adventure picnics.
Don't let the nomenclature of "small Texas stream" fool you into thinking this is an easy creek or stream to paddle. Sometimes the small stream exerts a higher physical toll on the canoe team than larger streams. Long class 2 accesses, frequent linings and the occasional portage eat time and devour energy reserves. Put another way, these impediments guard these places from the populous and increase the dwell time in these forgotten and overlooked environments.
The Texas Medium Stream; Definitions and Examples
Though I am very familiar with small streams, most of what I learned of them was inadvertently obtained and retained. Medium-sized rivers are what originally got my attention and study. At the time I didn't recognize them as medium-sized streams, I just knew they were never blocked, they had some nice big sandbars, they didn't load up with river trash unless there was a prolonged drought, and they allowed A to B passage. My conscious mind wanted nothing to do with smaller streams. I had graduated. For me the medium streams are the Goldie Locks. An obvious step up from the small streams, they are not too small or too big, but just right.
My quintessential medium stream is the Colorado River at Columbus. This was especially so prior to the current drought. It might take a long time for the lakes above Austin to re-fill. Hopefully the river will flow at higher levels again. Even in its stressed state I do not see the Colorado River reducing to a small stream.
Medium streams are powerful enough that trees that wash out are forced clear of the channel and allow room to canoe around them. There are places on medium sized streams where currents are strong enough to demand attention and respect. Flatwater rivers do not have rapids, but swifts caused by river features. These swifts can be caused by large bends, tight bends, washed out trees, islands and rock outcroppings.
Under normal stages medium streams always fill their bed; lining and portaging are not required. At low stages the medium river may fall into its inner bed and show signs of braiding. Under these conditions it may be necessary to line the canoe around a gravel bar or sandbar.
More dynamic than small streams, medium streams are always changing a little bit. There is enough force that these streams are constantly shaping and reforming themselves. On medium streams the sandbars are bigger, the bluffs are higher, and the bends are longer. The opportunities are greater here too. Here, A to B trips are the norm and overnight fishing and extended camping trips become possible.
The casual friendliness and lighthearted nature of the small stream is less evident on the medium stream. The medium stream requires more attention, and from time to time astute attentiveness. Urban folks I have met (like my sweet wife Dottie) have no references for the differences in waters. How could they? All they have known are swimming pools, beaches and bathtubs. But a river is a living thing, a force powered by a source older than light: gravity. A river answers to no individuals call for mercy much less the demands of behavior or correctness.
I find the definitions of flat water in the International Scale of River Difficulty a good start for understanding the waters I encounter.
I would add that on a river, size matters. Treating a big class c flat water stream the same as a small class c river is not a good practice.
On medium and larger rivers, junior team members need more training and children more supervision. The mishap of an overturned canoe elevates from an inconvenience to a potential hazard. Spilled gear is best assumed lost with no hope of recovery. Swimming locations must be carefully considered with sometimes strict supervision and rules regarding boundaries and swimmers' strengths and skills.
It's not that danger lurks at every bend, but that there are spots on medium sized rivers that are to be respected.
Swimmers should avoid the fast side, the deep side of the river. Here the currents can be deceptively overwhelming and relentless. Dead trees that snag in these outside bends can be dangerous for swimmers and hazardous for canoeists. These are places for experienced canoe teams, and no swimmers. The medium-sized stream may look slow and muddy, but it is a continuous force that will not quit... at least as long as your situation is dire. Obstacles above and below the surface of the water are being worked on, non-stop.
Medium-sized streams have a curious effect on local weather events that smaller streams do not exhibit. Small streams sometimes tunnel through woods that block or insulate us from the force of the winds. Medium streams are strong enough to cut deep, long, straight paths wide enough to channel winds. Texas rivers typically run from the northwest to the southeast. Depending on the season, the storm fronts that move across the state usually run from the north west to the south east or south east to the north west. Being the lowest elevation point, rivers draw low pressure systems down their channels. Regardless of the direction of the winds, the rivers intensify the effects of the storms as the barrel up or down their channels. These channeled winds are faster and more violent than those inland. Whether it is because they are unimpeded from the long straight runs with no trees, or by the channel bleeding pressure off the storm front, I am not certain. I just know some of the strongest weather I have been through has been on the Colorado River. Just note that Texas coastal weather tends to deteriorate and destabilize October through March.
Here are some discharge measurements of streams I have visited and deemed "medium." These measurements were taken Christmas Eve 2023.
Colorado River at Columbus: median 892, mean 2,510
Guadalupe River at Victoria: median 952, mean 1,660
Village Creek at Kiuntze: median 739, mean 1,120
The Big Texas Stream; Examples & Definitions
Though the big rivers draw my attention, I have the least experience with these streams. I hope to expand my big river experience. Until I had been on the Brazos, I never considered the difference in size between that river and the Colorado. I was in for a surprise!
The closest big rivers to my home are the Brazos and Trinity. These, along with the Neches, Sabine and Red are the largest, most powerful Texas Rivers. These are not playful and mirthful streams and they are they not long skinny lakes. Though they appear muddy and slow, these rivers are forceful, unyielding and relentless. Always at work, they shift sandbars and cut banks. On a rise or flood these rivers crush man made structures, rub bluffs away, wash acres of soil into the gulf, unsettle granite blocks and bend steel.
Compared to the smaller rivers and creeks, the bends, the bluffs and the sandbars can be massive on the big Texas rivers. Cutting deep channels, the unimproved accesses on these waters start at class 3.
I have read where the Spanish explorers mixed up the Colorado and the Brazos rivers. Running through similar regions, they are in places fewer than twenty-five miles apart. Regardless of their geological and geographic similarities, after being on both rivers the only way to confuse them would be from switching their names around on a hand-drawn map. The Brazos is a much larger river than the Colorado. Even the Brazos river valley is noticeably larger than that of the Colorado. For our generations, the big streams that run through remote regions offer a glimpse of a Texas wilderness.
Big rivers are not blocked by natural causes of any kind. A to B passage is a given. Even in times of drought big streams may not require lining an portaging.
Here are some discharge measurements of streams I have visited and deemed "big." These measurements were taken Christmas Eve 2023.
Brazos River at 290: median 2,400, mean 5,570
Neches River at Everdale: median 3,380, mean 5,970
Trinity River at Romayor: median 3,820, mean 8,980
I have not yet visited the Sabine or Red River but the charts let us know these are mighty Texas rivers. See the data below.
Sabine River at Bon Wier: median 4,850, mean 8,470
Red River at Index Arkansas: median 5,700, mean 11,200 (the gauge at Index is within 500 yards of the Texas/Arkansas border, pedants subtract a couple ft/3s for Texas figures :))
The big rivers defy the mind of some kind of basic logic. I used to think anyone willing to do these trips could be successful. First time on the Brazos, I found myself directly at odds with the notion that flat water rivers are for rookies. The Brazos is not where I introduce people to canoeing.
Most every Texas coastal river flows from the north west to the south east. The medium and big Texas streams effectively channel the predominant south eastern winds. April through August I anticipate headwinds for most of a river trip. Factor those headwinds with class 3 accesses, warm summer weather, and an occasional obstacle and your team will have the river to yourselves.
Many people are good for a day on Armand Bayou in early May. Come August when your team takes the road at dawn in order to make as many river miles before the wind and heat build up, that is when you want a veteran crew.
Compared to smaller streams, getting in a bind on a big stream is an entirely different feeling. Long day tours on big streams are no place for the untrained, unprepared or ill-equipped teams. Weather events are the same or amplified as on the medium rivers.
As I get to know the Brazos I am coming to accept that that that river is bigger than me. At the end of a day on that stream, I know there will be less of me.
Sometimes when I paddle through a ripping current or past a billowing boil or I watch a submerged tree hung on God-knows-what... dread drapes over me. I try to not imagine getting hung in those spots.
I know the boundary of the Brazos is set by God and she will not defy that Authority, that His finger traced a deep line in the earth and that is her bed. When she rises out of that bed it is with His permission. On the Brazos I came to understand "fear of the Lord" in a deeper, more meaningful way. I have not had that feeling in any other environment or circumstance. Culturally we recognize something about rivers at an instinctual level. Rivers set the boundaries for counties, states and nations.
I canoe the big Texas rivers every chance I get. If the Brazos is cruel to me, she will yet be fair. We will exchange, that river and me. I will trade something I can never get back and I will obtain something I can get nowhere else.
It's not all dread and hardship though. These rivers possess a grand charm. Driving down to the bridge and walking to the bank doesn't convey the power of emotions these rivers evoke. You have to put in some effort and sweat to get the maximum effect. The discomfort of exposure to the elements and the work of paddling to the isolated and remote places of the big rivers dulls the din of megalopolis and heightens my awareness of other things. All the trees are volunteer here, straight lines and schedules fade away.
Though I appreciate and even like the savage power of the big rivers, that is not the only draw of them for me. I don't shy away from class 3 accesses but I do not enjoy them. I know these contentious spots and rough passages limit 99% of the people from those streams. Once beyond these difficulties the true Texas treasures lay at your feet. I am glad the French and Spanish explorers overlooked these things.
Thanks for reading!
Bonus big Texas stream pictures below. For other reading please click on the links below.
Below are some pictures of some Brazos River sandbars.
The Trinity and Brazos are big rivers I want to become more familiar with. Below are some scenes from the Trinity River.
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