The FM 787 Bridge crosses the Trinity River about a mile west of the small Texas community of Romayor.
The access is on the west bank on both sides of the bridge, please see the image below. This is a class 3 access. There are no bathrooms, boat ramps or trash receptacles. For explanation of river accesses ratings please read the articles Classification of Water Accesses and Scouting River Bridges & Accesses.
Unfortunately the access is on the fast/deep side of the river. The south east bank looks more agreeable, to me. The southern side of the west bank was remarkably clean of trash. I soon found out why.
This is a class 3.75 access. The only thing that kept me from classifying it an unusable class 4 was an unimproved trail found near a fence marking the edge of private property.
In the picture of the bottom left Dave stands at the precipice of the access trail on the south side. It had lightly rained earlier in the day and the trail had temporarily deteriorated due to the slick mud. I did not ascend this trail.
I did pick my way down the most agreeable part of the steep rip rap covered bank. This was pretty much a three point contact trail for me, meaning two of my hands and one of my feet or both my feet and one of my hands was in contact with the terrain at all times.
It isn't until you traverse unstable rip rap on a 50 degree grade that you learn how treacherous the stuff is. Rip rap on a grade like this is just on a super slow slide that eventually ends in the river. Footing on the unstable rip-rap is likely to turn under your feet or flip in you grip. This is not the stuff I want to carry a canoe or any gear down! Apparently most of the bank fishermen wont use it either.
I did climb up the trail at the southern part of the access area. This trail is tight, approaches the river at roughly a right angle and it is steep and twisted. For what its worth I thought it safer to up that climb that trail than to go down it.
If I had no option but to use that trail I would go down it backwards as one uses a ladder. The only reason I did not classify this as a class 4 is because I figured someone will eventually do it to prove it possible. A fit and determined team could use rope to slide a canoe and gear down or pull them up.
Maybe not.
On the other side of the bridge we picked up the real trail. We found tale tell sign of human beings. Trash.
Still, all things considered this was a good sign! I have learned if there is no trash at a class 2 - 3 access then like it or not, there is a good reason for the cleanliness.
There is evidence that both these accesses have been freshened up with various types of gravel. Though not paved there was no concern of getting stuck. A three point turn around is advisable.
I did descend the northern trail, though I mud skied down the top portion of it once the cleats in my boots filled with mud.
The three images above reflect the trailhead through the trails end. Thankfully this trail gently angles to the river. Though the top of this trail is not as steep as the one on the other side of the bridge, it is still very steep. It is not straight. Seeing it in person gives the truest perspective. Under wet conditions I might lower or raise the canoe with rope; at least the top portion of the trail.
Saying all this, this north 787 access is as rough or rougher than the toughest I have seen on the Brazos River. The southern trail at the 787 Bridge is conservatively a 3.5 plus.
Regardless, the Trinity River showed its rough beauty from this vantage.
Nearly 22 miles upstream is the Goodrich 59 Bridge and its class 1 boat ramp. About twenty miles down is the Cleveland 105 Bridge. Given the roughness of the 787 accesses it might be wise to combine these legs into a near 42 mile four day/three night trip.
For details on other river accesses please see the bottom of the article Classifications of Water Accesses.
Thanks for reading!
MSM
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