Canoe and Kayak Launch Fees and fishing fee

Fee for persons launching canoes or kayaks - does not include day use of the facilities:  $3/person

Day use fee for fishermen (we have a lease agreement with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and we allow fishermen to fish along the banks of our campground)  $5/person

  

Overnight camping fees (reservations are required)

5 years of age and under: free

6-17 years of age: $5 per night

18 and over: $10 per night

Church group rate: Call or e-mail :

Day Use Fees (reservations are required)

youth groups or church groups or person’s visiting campers - launch fee included 

Youth Group Fee:   $3/person

Adult Group Fee:    $5/adult

A note about reservations:

As we have said, our focus is on youth groups and church groups.  And we have a special love for canoeing and kayaking.  So, if your group is going to be learning how to canoe or kayak, please let us know.  We prioritize who gets to make a reservation.

We also have a commitment to support Holly Orr (Canoe and /or kayak lessons: Paddle with Style  Canoe or kayak rentals: Texas Canoes and Kayaks).  We have known Holly for years (our daughter was her partner several times in the 260 canoe race from San Marcos to Seadrift).  So, if you are renting canoes and/or kayaks from Holly, you have our highest priority for getting a campsite.  And, there will be some times when Holly will have exclusive use of our campground (for overnight camping). 

Next, we have a special love for certain groups.  Like the UT stream team, and Texas A&M (and other university) outdoor rec programs.  Especially when those groups are canoeing and/or kayaking.  

And, obviously we have a love for youth groups, especially those who are canoeing and/or kayaking.  

If you have a scout or youth group and you intend to take them tubing - you will be rather low on our priority scale.  Sorry.  We don’t really consider tubing to be much of a sport.

For Reservations, call, text or e-mail:

512-392-6171     or   512-787-5574     tomgoynes@mac.com

To Reserve a campsite

The first thing you have to do is choose your campsite(s).  If you haven’t been here before, and you don’t know which site(s) would be best for your group, you should start by clicking on the “Camp Map” link on the top of this page (second from the left on the second row of links).  The river is flowing from left to right on this map - so on the bottom of the page it is flowing east and then it turns toward the north.  

We have 18 sites along the river (sites 5-22).  These sites can hold about 10 people per site, so if you think you may end up with 25 people we would hold three sites for you.  The best river access is the gravel bar between sites 8 and 9.  It is listed as the "Canoe launch” on the map.  To keep the trail to the gravel bar open, we give one group the sites upstream of the bar - like sites 9-11 and another group the sites downstream - like sites 6-8.  In other words, to avoid having tents blocking the trail to the gravel bar, we don’t reserve sites 5-9 to the same group - we would have one group on one side of the gravel bar and one group on the other.  I should mention that there is a rapid just downstream of the gravel bar (about site 7) that makes some really nice noise if you like hearing a rapid at night when you camp.  You can hear it well from those sites from 5-11.

There is a large pecan tree in site 9, so it has the advantage of having some shade all day (although you may have to move to stay in that shade) and sites 9-11 are larger than the sites on the downstream side (like 6-8) so sites 9-11 would be the most popular of the sites along the river.  Also, if you are doing a canoe trip on this stretch of river you will probably be taking out at the gravel bar.  If you are doing a two day trip you might be pulling the canoes into your campsite (like site 9) at the end of the day Saturday and continuing downstream Sunday.  So, some groups like site 9-11 for that reason.

Some groups like to reserve the sites at the end of the road (ending with site 22).  Since that is a dead end, we encourage groups to block the road to keep out traffic.  It can therefore be a very private area.  The down side is that it is a ways from the restrooms.

Other options are, you could use one of our group sites or another batch of sites along the river.  Our group sites are on the right side of the road as you drive through the campground.  Site one is basically a field on the right before you get to the restroom/bathhouse.  It is right across the road from the gravel bar, so it still offers easy access to the river.  It gets good afternoon shade.

We always lump sites 2-4 together as our largest group site and reserve it for large groups.  I has some open field (mostly between the restroom and the site) some large pecan trees, and the woods (with some clearings) that are beyond the field.  It has held as many as 100 people.  It might be a larger site than what you need.

The middle sites along the river (sites 12-18) are kinda a mixture of open sites and sites with trees.  Access to the river isn’t great along that section (we do have a set of steps at site 14 and another at site 20.  But the gravel bar is the best location to access the river.  And, of course, everyone has access to the gravel bar.

Once you have selected your site(s) just let us know (by e-mail or phone) and we will tentatively reserve them.  To confirm the reservation (and you can do this instantly if you use a credit card) you will need to put down a deposit.  The deposit is $20 per site.  It is kinda like earnest money.  It is our way of making sure that people either show up or call us if they are not coming.  If you choose to send in a check for your deposit we will apply the deposit to the total camping fee (which, for a scout troop is $5 per scout plus $10 per adult leader per night) and you will pay the balance when you check in.  If you choose to give us a credit card number, we simply keep the number but we would only run the card if you don’t show up that weekend and/or you don’t call to cancel the reservation.  You can pay the camping fee when you get here.  We prefer cash or check, but we do accept credit cards.  The company we use charges us an average of 3% when we accept a card, so obviously a check or cash is best for us.

Hope all of this helps.  The main thing is for you to select the site(s) you want and get them reserved - at least tentatively.  That way you will have your space held.

Feel free to give me a call (or e-mail) if you have more questions.  I get a lot of robo calls, so my phone is set to only ring if the phone number is in my contacts.  So if you would like to call me you will need to email or text your phone number to me first so I can add you to my contacts.

Tom Goynes

San Marcos River Retreat

cell: 512-787-5574