Kayaking San Marcos - Clearest River in Texas (Swimming Hole)
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- Опубліковано 25 вер 2024
- Today we travel to a river charged by the most prolific spring in Texas. But there's more than just paddling here. Follow along as we explore an incredible place in the Hill Country! The pandemic has changed the way we access parks, rivers and swimming holes. With the help of a local and some kayaks we set out on an epic day trip to the hill country.
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Man 2 years ago, this exact spot is what led me to fall in love with being out on the water in the this great Lone Star State of ours all over again and helped transform my life at a time when I needed it the most. So awesome to see y’all come and enjoy and experience it and express how important it is to make sure we protect these special places. Keep on flowin man, and take me with!! Haha!!
Words cannot describe the stupidity of closing rivers and parks because of Covid. Don't these people realize that sunshine and fresh air aren't dangerous?
Right?! Luckily they reopened but still such a wild idea. The only reason to close would be a lack of staff to upkeep the facilities but it stayed closed way too long for that to be a reality
Facts
And Vitmain D
I can’t believe you don’t have more subscribers your videos are so high quality and I really enjoy them. The first video I saw of yours I clicked on without looking at the view count and when I did I was in for a shock. You are a hidden jewel of UA-cam. Keep up the great work!!!
Thank you Anita! I suppose the subscribers will come but we make these videos to share with y’all and to remember our wonderful trips! We have the best community here and for that I am thankful
It is so cool to see guys your age making the time to follow your passions and not be consumed by your careers like so many my age who count on having the time, money, and health to do those things when they retire. Bravo! Bring some of that clear water when you come back to North Carolina!
Thank you dean! It’s easy to be consumed by the world but sometimes you have to take a step back and get out in nature. You’re exactly right! NC mountains have a lot of it!
Looks like a great trip, and fantastic footage. Kayaking a lot more now because of the pandemic. Enjoying the rivers and lakes more now than ever.
Thank you! Yeah the kayaking scene has exploded because of the pandemic. Always cool to see
I love the San Marcos river. It’s so much deeper than it looks.
The San Marcos is one of my favorite places to paddle. Such clear water!
Not any more!
I spent 4 years in San Marcos getting a degree, and swam in the river year round, yes even in winter. The temperature of the water fluctuated between 68 and 72 degrees. We never wore wet suits. Nice video.
Keep Exploring, that tells the story Gatewood you and your crew keep it up.
Hey DD! Exploring gives us energy and fun memories to look back on. Just as your crew has never stopped exploring!
Gatewood Brown thanks for the amazing videos man I just back from rio frío and it was amazing! Keep up with the awesome content man 🤙🏽
Your energy is contagious, you have me wondering what music you listen to and what you do to have such a calming electric spirit. ⚡️ Today my family and I are driving up to San Marcos just because of this video. Thank you 🙏 Godbless.
Thank you so much! Just trying to make the most of our weekends. We all work typical jobs and these weekends make us experiences a whole different type of environment for sure. It’s surreal to hear you and your family are making a river trip because of the videos! Literally made my day
I LOVE THIS RESTAURANT IN SAN MARCOS & THIS SWIMMING PLACE! ✨✨✨
It’s a great spot!
You are correct. No adventure goes as planed. Oh my goodness what an incredible area!! Now that looks like a lot of fun!! Really cool video Gatewood 👍👍
Haha there’s always something that goes awry, but we take it in stride
Can’t wait until the bag drop Gatewood, awesome video as always!
Should be coming soon!
4:18 I could not agree more, Gatewwod!! As always excellent Video, I like the slow-motion effects!! thanks for sharing!! We'll see you on the next Upload!!
Thank you Saul! The slow motion is one of my favorites haha
San Marcos springs has 72F water year round.. Not freezing for most people and for sure not wetsuit required. No one uses them in summer. Great tubing place. Now open
Wetsuits just allow you to spend more time in the water close to the springs. Great for tuning and glad to see it’s open again
Gatewood, I think the San Marco's river is one of the prettiest places on earth. The wife and I used to take our children tubing has far back 1995. Thank for the sharing your fantastic adventure.
It really is pretty out there! Wow your family is fortunate to have grown up tubing it. Thanks for tuning into this one!
We are doing a 3 day 2 night kayak camping trip down the San Marcos in a couple of weeks. We have a business owner that will let us launch and store a vehicle and plan on doing 38 miles to Luling. We are going to take advantage of all of the parks being closed which means no tubers 👍🏻.
That should be an awesome trip! We have yet to kayak camp it but that is on the short list
Beware the effluent discharge from the local communities...
Nice to have pages like this to show more parts of Texas than most of us knew of or ever thought about going to! Hello from the David and Mercy Whipple channel!
It’s our pleasure! We have so many gems in this state worth sharing. Thanks for tuning in!
They can close the park but cannot cancel the adventure. Excellent video. Nice looking pack as well.
That’s exactly right! It’s all about being resourceful and figuring out a solution to your problem.
That water is so clear!! Another great edit GB.
Hey Caleb! Yes it’s quite unreal out there!
Very beautiful and a place to check out someday. I hope the parks open up again sometime. Have a wonderful day my friend.
Absolutely BF. Make sure to bring some goggles too!
The springs at the headwater (just another half mile upstream or so) are theorized to be the oldest continually inhabited place in human history at like 12,000 years old
That’s a really cool stat! I’ve heard it before and seen paintings from the natives of the springs boiling up
I love the San Marcos river! My favorite river to float!
The SMR is amazing! Our second time there and it’s always so magical
Honestly gatewood brown is the reason I got into kayaking as a hobbie and i love it so much I now have 2 kayaks 😂.
Man I appreciate that! Christian your comment made my day
Gatewood Brown changed my life man. Keep it up. 🤙🏽👍🏽
Christian Alvarez dang man that is crazy! Always stoked to hear stuff like that though
Great video! I’ve kayaked from SM to Martindale more times than I can count. Now that I live in New Braunfels, I think the Comal might be the cleanest, but I could be biased
The comal is another very clean river! Unless it’s stocked up with tubers haha
I used to swim this spot as a kid and teenager. It was always my favorite spot.
It’s such a cool swimming hole!!
Slow mo makes everything seem cool! Just ask Dave Chappelle. Good word at the end. YOU are spot on!
Slow monis my favorite! That’s probably why I use it so much
so glad to be moving here!
It’s a wonderful place!
My buds and I used to hang out there before Spanish class at SWT wondering how we were going to pass the class, since the only language we understood and could tawk was Texan. The way we passed was NASTY and ingenious (thought up by me!) I also met Steve McQueen and Allie Macgraw there one afternoon...he was really short, and she had crooked teeth, but I still let them use my snorkeling equipment. One of the most magical places on the planet...and I have been around!
Haha that’s an awesome story! Definitely jealous you guys went to school with this beautiful river running right through campus
Looks like a great spot! It's not too far from home, so I'll definitely have to check it out! Anxiously awaiting your release of the Remote Designs gear!
It’s awesome there! Once the parks open up I think you all would enjoy visiting. It’s a little tricky to haul kayaks and gear there right now
Those shots!!! Well done man and another fun trip! Keep it up brother!
My wife and I haven’t gotten out in the heat just yet but after the latest rain, another trip in the hill country is needed!
Fantastic as always!
I appreciate that!
Lots of fish hang out under the water full. There is a restaurant just above it.
Oh that’s rad! We saw a bunch of baitfish but the bigger fish must’ve been hiding. Saw plenty of pleco though
Sick dude! Love it
Thanks Chris!
great cut as usual
Thanks nick! I’ve been enjoying your vids as well
Man that water is beautiful! Hard to believe I haven't been there yet lol I've been all around it!
You’ll have to go back once people start tuning again! I’d imagine there is treasure to be found
That waterfall looked fun!
It was awesome! The water clarity was unreal
Great video man thanks for sharing 👍👍👍👍👍👍🤸
Thanks you! We had a fun time out there
Beautiful place. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for tuning in!
@@GatewoodBrown Always looking forward to your videos. Very well done.
@@GatewoodBrown What FPS are you using when exporting the MP4?
Great video brutha, love the message of preserving the wildlife and nature!🙌💯
Heck yeah my man. Do what we can do it’s a long lasting resource
@@GatewoodBrown amen brother !!
That’s sick man!
It’s a cool spot!
The devils river in Texas is also nice, another river system to check out is in Missouri, the current river, the springs that feed that river are amazing.
Yes! I’d love to hit the devils this year. Missouri is calling my name as well. Wonderful streams up there
Is that restaurant on the falls still called "peppers"? I was there 35 years ago, in that freezing water. Cured a sunburn or 2 there.
I don’t recall! Looked pretty closed up
Frio River is the most amazing river! Definitely go there!
It’s incredible out on the Frio! I have a couple videos about it
@@GatewoodBrown that is my favorite Texas River!! It is up a bit now since storms have moved through the area
great vid! so happy things are somewhat back to normal, although the crowds are back as well.. lol. what's that wetsuit top you're wearing? those are hard to come by.
Yeah it was so weird having parks shut down. Like what?? Outside is the best place to be to avoid this stuff. It’s a waihana wetsuit. Best one I’ve ever owned man
Great photography as usual. Can’t tell which is the pro and which is yours. Maybe both of you are pros. I need a bigger bucket for my bucket list.
Thank you George! Haha we are both pretty good I guess. His photos are next level though
That backpack looks stout. Can’t wait to see a review on it.
I’ve been abusing it for sure. They launch soon!
Still wondering how you don’t have millions of views. Great video as usual!
Haha maybe one day my man! I appreciate the kind words.
your videos seem to all be extended Remote Design commercials
It is my company and I enjoy using the gear on my adventures so it’s definitely prevalent in the videos. Hope that makes more sense of the situation!
How come y'all didn't launch underneath the I-35 bridge? I've been planning that same trip except I want to hit the rio vista rapids on the way back. Do you think it's possible or would it be too tough of a paddle upstream?
We thought about it but went with a shorter paddle. I was unsure how hard paddling upstream would be haha
That spot is a restaurant called Kerby Lane now. I used to park there last semester and walk across the street to biochem class 😂
Hey man I go to Texas State university shouts out the Olympic center glad y’all enjoyed the river
Right on! Have fun in school, college is a wonderful time
Man I was a great video. I love seeing that underwater footage that was awesome. Man that sucks that they close down all the parks for you to have fun. I'm supposed to go kayaking this weekend if I can get back from Lake Charles Louisiana in time. If I drive all 18 hours Non-Stop night I'll be home by tomorrow night. Be the best time to go while the wife is not at home worrying about me Kayak out there.
Underwater footage is some of my favorite to capture. We find our ways around the closure though! I hope your drive was safe
@@GatewoodBrown man that's awesome to hear. You can tell you having fun doing it. Yeah you can't let them stop you from kayaking. Yes I made it home safe but kayaking was not. I think I dislocated my shoulder. Just got it out the cast like in June or July from the truck accident.
84 and 85 i lived one block off the trestle near rio vista dam....put in at the trestle ....rode up and down from rio vista to pepper falls (pepper is where steve mcqueen made love in the water to ali mcgraw when he got out of huntsville prison).....spent many hours days on this very trip....the water was very clear in 84 85....
What a cool spot to live for some time. I can imagine it was even better back in the day!
Awesome video my friend...
Thank you!
Re you gonna do a review of your Ascend kayak? How easy is it to paddle? How does it do on rough water?
That’s on the list of vids to do! I’ll be sure to cover everything about it
So where is this kayak friendly entrance to the water. Thanks in advance
Enquiring minds want to know. I know giving away secrets isn't cool, but I gotta see this place.
I live here! the restaurant is Ivar's River Pub where he entered but the city just opened up all the river access points so there are many options now
You didn't show the three water falls section, that's one of the best.
We’ve been meaning to go back someday soon!
San Marcos....ahhh I see
Thank you love the video’s
Thank you for watching!
This is five minutes from my house. Real nice area.
I'm jealous of that!
Hey Gatewood. Did you ever get back on the San Marcos for a camping trip? And if so, what section did you target?
Ya know I haven’t made it to the SM for camping yet. It’s flowing well right now though
You're facts are only a little off. The San Marcos springs are the SECOND most prolific in Texas, not the Most. Really great video though, truly. Just had to fact check you for fun!!!
Ahhh comal forgot about that one. How could I! Haha
@@GatewoodBrown Honestly I had no idea it existed 'til I hit google.
I guess I got jelly over your super cool cam equipment and was like, let me fact check this guy lol. Keep at it man, the opening story line was Strong, It held my attention!!
@@derekjp6043 thanks man it’s all good! Hopefully these springs are around for decades to come. Pretty cool feature!
👋😎👍 great vid!
Thanks my man!
Awesome video! Did you have any trouble with the University/ SM Police?
None at all!
I live in East Texas (Tyler), all we have are muddy lakes and rivers. Any recommendations on some places near that have clearer water?
East of I-35 is really muddy because the soil composition changes, anywhere east of I-35 is really clear
Eric answered it perfectly! West of 35 has immaculate water
Darn! had I known you were coming to SM I would have loved to come with you!
Haha yeah maybe we will run into each other on the river!
Imagine having to wear the suit to swim in that water when it’s hot out. When I was at Texas State we’d jump in the San Marcos river in the winter because the water is warmer than the outside temperature
This is Tru! 72 year round by the springs. Feels great during summer for quick dips and floating
I wonder if you have looked at a Bonafide 123EX sit in? Would it be good to use for camping trips on the Texas rivers?
I have never paddled a bonafide so I can’t speak to it. I’ve heard they’re good kayaks though.
I’m interested to know what paddle you’re using.
I use aquabound these days!
What, no alligators? Don't laugh. I'm from the Pacific coast where we don't have them but I'm super paranoid about rivers in Texas. Have you had any encounters?
In the rivers in the hill country that he is paddling your chance of ever encountering a gator is next to nothing.....i kayak and fish in SE Texas where most of the gators in Texas are located and i still very rarely see them. Dont let alligators scare you from enjoying the water. Even if there was one in your vicinity it wants nothing to do with you
@@nomaderic Thank you! Happy paddling!
Exactly what TOF said! Snakes are a much bigger issue than gators
Lyria the gators are along the gulf coast where there's mud and soil. Central Texas is too rocky and not conducive to burrowing like they do.
Thanks so very much for sharing this knowledge with me 🇨🇱🧡
Thank you so much for watching!!
That’s my favorite river to kayak camp
Never camped it but that’s the plan eventually
KAYAKING!!!!! I'm kinda jealous right now, not gonna lie.
That’s right! It felt so good to paddle
Thats a cool wetsuit! Did you drop down that fall in your kayak?
Thank you! Haha no that was a buddy that sent it. Not I!
lol, the water is 72 degrees fahrenheit all day every day year around, not freezing. If you can't handle that, I don't know what to tell ya.
Common misconception. It’s colder during winter and warmer during summer because the springs flow into a lake. But it doesn’t fluctuate nearly as much as other rivers. When you spend 2 hours swimming in it you’ll want a wetsuit
@@GatewoodBrown It is not a misconception, it's an actual fact, it's 72 degrees all year long regardless of weather.
I've lived in San Marcos and frequented the river on daily basis for years, winter or summer, never had to use a wet suit.
Gentleman 100 degrees with wet suits? Retired Ranger took a 2yr sabbatical in 2010.
Wanted a environmentally safe water activity.under $1000. 8ft Kayak and gear. Texas State was 15min away. Every day 11-3pm Kayak from headwaters down stream 3miles. The three rivers I Kayak all maintained 72 degree temp. Comal, Guadalupe and San Marcos. Rivers had some traffic old to young many were out of state visitors. They acclimated, you guys in much better shape should have acclimated too.
Where about’s is this swimming hole please Sir?
San Marcos!
Awesome vid just subbed was wondering what water shoes you use?
Steve Story hey my man! Just added a link to them in my description. I actually sometimes even wear them with socks around town haha
Gatewood Brown thanks
Are there gators in that water?
Nope! But if you go downstream far enough you’ll find gators closer to the coast
What type of camera do you use?
Mostly GoPro Hero 9 and a Sony A7III
Nice video. Thank you for sharing it. You have my support. :););)
I appreciate that, thank you!
the devils river is the cleanest clearest river in texas
I disagree! The devils is very pristine though. The San Marcos headwaters are the strongest spring in Texas and produce the clearest water in the state.
This feels like you're rubbing it in a bit. Lol
Haha it’s one of the few rivers that flows welp year round!
That bag tho (retrofit81) 📷
Thanks my man!
what kind of music/track is playing at 0:12 minute
👌
Cheers!
No you don’t I go there all the time feels good
Ehhh if you’re in the water fully submerged for an hour you’ll want a wetsuit
@@GatewoodBrown I’m going to the San Marcos now and I just wear a bikini and I’m in there all freaking day and I don’t even know wetsuit
Can I please use this footage for my video?
You can reach out to my connected email for licensing inquiries! Cheers!
What sunglasses are those?
Isn’t that the water fall next to the steak house?
I think the business has been shit down for some time now
@@GatewoodBrown lol
How has the pandemic affected your kayaking? Stay safe out there guys!
You got me into kayaking this year, hardest part was finding a kayak to buy
I live in SM and honestly, finding places to put in has been the toughest part. Good to know about Ivar's!
A lot more people seem to have discovered it in my area
I had just bought a brand new kayak in the spring but was not allowed to take it anywhere to use it. Fortunately they relaxed the rules in June and it has been a really good season so far.
Where can I get that backpack?
Coming soon! Stay tuned to the channel and you’ll see when it launches
Is this near Austin TX or new Braunfels
Right in between
What Mona said!
When's the best time to go
Summer! The warmth balances out the cold water
Excuse my language but that must have been a bitch paddling upstream all the way there lol. It looked damn worth it though. Looks like yall basically had the spot to yourselves as well. Beautiful spot
It definitely wasn’t easy! Especially with how much flow it had. But man was it worth it.
What kayak are you using?
Hey! I’m in an ascend h10. My buddy is in an old town vapor
Gatewood Brown I love the videos man! I’ve binged watched about all of them. Wanting to plan a trip soon
I appreciate that Gregory! It means a lot to have your support
Didnt see any 🐟 🐠 fish ?
We saw a bunch of small bass! No fishing allowed though
Closing a river is insanely moronic.
Agreed. Absolutely wild the governments were doing that
@GatewoodBrown hey so while you're here 🤣 I live in Texas and am looking at doing a 3 day 2 night kayak/canoe trip with friends as my bachelor party. Targeting late September early October for timing and temperature reasons. What stretch of what river would you recommend in either Texas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas?
To add a little more info, some of those attending have zero experience. And we would have to rent the canoes or kayaks.
You do not have to wear a suit to get in the water.
Naked may be a bit bold!
🐾 💪🏊⚓ 🙀 📡📊 ❤️ ⛱️🥪🍺 "flow rate"
Yeah!