Tubing on the San Marcos River

When the Texas summers get hot, there's no better activity to relax and cool off than tubing down a Hill Country river, and in my opinion, there's no better tubing river in Texas than the San Marcos River.

the San Marcos River, one of the cleanest in the United States

The river, fed by the nearby Edwards Aquifer, is so clean in fact, that it is rated at 10 times the EPA standard for municipal drinking water! It is home to two extremely rare species which are only found in the cold, clear waters of the San Marcos River: Texas wild rice, and the adorable San Marcos salamander. The people of San Marcos take a great deal of pride in their river, and work hard at keeping it one of the cleanest (if not the cleanest) in the country.

the water is perfectly clear

We had reserved tubes with the Lion's Club tube rental service in advance, though we really needn't have bothered. It was a quiet morning on the San Marcos River. It was early, it was summer (so all the Texas State students were out of town), and it was a weekday morning. Altogether, it meant that we had the river very nearly completely to ourselves.

we packed a six pack cooler of beer, and hit the river

Yes, it was only 10am, but it's just not proper tubing without a cold beer in hand. A good tubing beer needs to be fairly light, fairly sweet, and refreshing. This time, we packed a six-pack cooler full of Revolver Blood & Honey, a local favorite from Granbury, Texas. It's a delightful blood orange and honey golden ale, and it meets all my requirements for a good tubing beer.

Blood & Honey is a fantastic tubing beer!

As we floated down the river, we finally took some time to relax. We had been having a blast on our Texas road trip, but we had been going nonstop for several days, and were starting to get tired. Floating in the cool water gave us the chance to chill out for a few hours and enjoy the natural beauty of San Marcos.

Along the way we passed turtles sunning themselves on rocks along the riverbanks and a big yellow-crowned heron perched in a tree above the river.

this is the best way to spend a summer morning

The cool thing about tubing in San Marcos is that, while the section of the river dedicated to tubing is fairly short, you can go again and again as many times as you want! You just rent the tube for the day, and once you finish your leisurely float the river, you can hop in the Lion's Club bus to be taken back upstream to go again.

it was a quiet day in San Marcos

The San Marcos is a very slow-moving river... that is, up until the very end! Right where you need to get out, a small set of rapids (or maybe a tiny waterfall) drops into a public park's swimming area. You can tube down it if you are brave enough, but I certainly didn't feel like doing so! Fortunately the current isn't super strong, and the river is shallow enough to stand in and pull your tube to the shore.

it's a good idea to get out of the river before going over the small rapids in the park!

We ended up floating down the river twice, spending about three hours in total on the water. The last thing that you want to do while tubing is rush. It defeats the entire point!

enjoying the day