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Hidalgo Falls River Festival
March 20-21, 2010 Hidalgo Falls on the Brazos River Near Navasota, Texas |
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Also this year will see the release of Aaron Smith's Hidalgo Falls River Guide, a booklet packed with detailed information about the property and photos of features at different water levels. To see a teaser, go to the Hidalgo Falls Yahoo Group website.
Due to recent rains, water levels will be better than they have been in years. Scheduled events include:
We hope that people will offer to coordinate float trips down to Hwy 105 (in addition to the one scheduled for Sunday morning), do impromptu tours of the property (e.g., identifying plants or talking about the geology of the falls) when interested people are around on Saturday and Sunday, and swap information on where to paddle in the state. This is all very informal.
This year we are asking people to donate at least $5/day/person and $10/weekend to help cover expenses (e.g., new bathhouse, electricity, property taxes).
As in years past, on Saturday there will be a 28-mile downriver race
from the Koppe Bridge Landing south of College Station to Hidalgo.
Recreational division paddlers will leave from the Koppe Bridge
starting line at 9:00, and competition division paddlers will leave at
10:00. Registration opens at 7:30 at the put-in. Racers are required to pay
$15 to register for the race in addition to their donations for the festival ($5/day,
$10 weekend/person). Classes include:
Aluminum | Solo Canoe | Tandem Men's Canoe | ICF K1 | Recreational Solo |
Standard | Solo Unlimited | Tandem Mixed Canoe | Tandem Mixed Kayak | Unlimited |
Sunday would be a good day to share what you know about the composite formations that create the rapid or what you know about how to spot and deal with poison ivy. If you would like to do something like this, let Steve Daniel know and we will post a list of places and times for interested folks to get together.
We have electricity for those with extension cords, but you will need to bring your own food and drinks this year. As in the past, camping is available at our upper and lower campgrounds, but functioning bathrooms are available only at the lower campground. For a map of the property, click on the Hidalgo Falls website.
People will start arriving on Friday afternoon, so someone should be able to let you in the locked gate if you are not currently certified to access the property. (Opportunities to join TRPA and become certified to use the property will be available throughout the weekend.)
Here are some pictures of the festival grounds (courtesy: Andrew Stone and Skip Morris) from the 2006 festival:
For pictures of the first festival in 2001, click here.
For pictures of the 2004 festival, click here.
For general information about the festival, contact Steve Daniel (sdaniel@people.tamu.edu)
Information about the location of Hidalgo Falls, TRPA ownership, pictures, etc. can be found at the Hidalgo Falls website: