Ann and Barry's List

This list was compiled by Ann and Barry Bennick, longtime Houston Canoe Club members.  We include it here for its locator value in finding more bodies of water to paddle in and around Houston.  We cannot guarantee its accuracy or the safety of any of the trips listed, but it is an interesting supplemental list for you to expand your paddling horizons.  You will need a good map to locate the stretches of water that are described in it.  Some, but not all, of these locations are new to the "Places to Paddle in and around Houston" listing.

Houston Area - Canoe Trips

By: Ann & Barry Bennick

 

 

 

 

 

Name

Water

Trips

Trip Combinations / Comments

 

 

 

 

 

*

Armand Bayou, Clear Lake, I-45

All

Long Day

Horsepen, Big Island Slough/Osprey, alligators, park

 

Bear Bayou-SE I-10, River Terrace Park

All, Tidal

1.5-2 hrs

San Jacinto Monument/Park for small children

*

Big (Middle, Upper) Eddy-Eisenhower Park 4E

Normal/Hi

2-4 hrs

San Jacinto River & slough/Portages, deer, birds

 

Big Island Slough, from Armand Bayou

All

4+ hrs

Armand Bayou/Collect all sports balls

 

Bray's Bayou (South Central)

All

 

Ho Hum, channelized

*

Brazos River - I-10W, SW 59

Best low

Multiple

Overnights, whitewater, fossils

*

Buffalo Bayou-S of I-10 to Central

All

Multiple

Imagine 1892! Best above Shepherd

*

Caney Creek

High

 

Peach Creek and East Fork of the San Jacinto

*

Carpenter's Bayou - Above Sheldon Reservoir

High

2-4 hrs

Sheldon/Bass, cypress

 

Carpenter's Bayou - Houston Barge Canal, I-10E

All

2-4 hrs

Ship Channel/Watch for Wakes!

 

Cedar Bayou - Baytown, I-10 to Bay

All

Multiple

I-10 tough put in

*

Chocolate Bayou-s of Alvin, Hwy 35

Normal

Multiple

Excellent upper stretches, perch?

 

Clear Creek, I-45 W of Clear Lake

All

 

Motor boats, civilization

*

Cotton Bayou - Trinity Delta, I-10E

All

4-5 hrs

Cotton Lake & Red Bayou/Big Alligators! La. Iris

 

Cypress Creek - NW

Normal

 

Spring Creek, West Fork/concrete coming

 

Dickenson Bayou-Dickinson, I-45 S

All

Multiple

Upper stretch - pines

*

Double Bayou, East Fork, Anahuac, Oak Island

All

4-6 hrs

Unbelievable changes, wild rose, pine woods, oak,

 

 

 

 

cedar, marsh. Park at Oak Island

 

Double Bayou, West Fork, Anahuac, Oak Island

All

5-7 hrs

Shuttle-paddles; go upstream both forks

 

Eisenhower Park Lake, S of Lake Houston

All

Freestyle

Big Eddy/Clean, clear water

*

Greens Bayou-East Houston 90 & I-10

All

Multiple

Hall Bayou A wonder if cleaner

*

Horsepen Bayou (Armand Bayou)

All

2-4 hrs

Armand Bayou/Good to UH - deer, birds

*

Hunting Bayou, SE, I-10E, crosses Federal Road

All

2-6 hrs

Channel, Vince's Bayou/Fiddler crabs, osprey, wild!

 

Jackson Bayou, (San-Jac. River - above 90)

All, High

3-4 hrs

Must San Jacinto River/Deer, remote, sand pits

*

John Wiggins Bayou-Trinity Delta Lakes

Above

4-5 hrs

Must Trinity &/or Lost River/Microcosm of bigger

 

 

 

 

Trinity Delta Lakes area

*

Lake Charlotte, I-10E Trinity Delta

Above

5-8 hrs

Must Trinity & Lake Pass/Dynamic Cypress Wonderland

 

 

Drought

 

Eagles, wading birds, nutria, alligators.

 

Lake Sandy, I-10E-Magnolia St. Park

N/A

Freestyle

Park access, suitable boat day

 

Little White Oak Bayou - Central City N

Normal

1.5-2 hrs

Could showcase Woodland Park

 

Cone Oak Bayou-Smith's Point

All-Tidal

3-6 hrs

Best when green

 

Lost River - West Trinity Delta

All

3-5 hrs

John Wiggins, Lost & Old Rivers/Pelicans, nutria

*

Luce's Bayou - Lake Houston E Tributary

All

2-6 hrs

Undeveloped, Slow, Cypress, Unpolluted, Berries

*

Mac Bayou, Trinity Delta Lakes, East

Moderate

3-4 hrs

Long Paddle up Trinity or Charlotte to access

 

Old River - Winfree, Trinity Delta West

All

3-6 hrs

Cotton Lake or Lost River/Shuttle

*

Oyster Creek-Sugarland

All

Multiple

Squeezed by suburbs, clearing, portages

*

Peach Creek - NE, E Fork San Jac Tributary

High-Normal

 

Combine with East Fork,Coney Creek-Stop at State Park

*

Red Bayou, I-10E, Cotton Lake to Bay

All

4-8 hrs

Must combine with Cotton Lake/Alligators

*

San Jacinto River East Fork-Lake Houston tributary

High Normal

4 hrs

Peach Creek, Lake Houston, Barry's favorite of all

*

San Jacinto R.W. Fork - NW to Lake Conroe to Hou

High

Multiple

27mi 45 to 59, Deer, petrified wood, rocks, berries

~

San Jacinto River Delta

Normal

Multiple

See Note ~

 

San Jacinto River - S Lake Houston to Bay

All, Tidal

Multiple

Eisenhower Park or San Jacinto Battleground, winter

*

Sheldon Reservoir-NE, 90 SE of Lake Houston

All

1-8 hrs

(Wildlife sanctuary, closed winter) Cypress, fish, birds,

 

 

 

 

alligators, lillies, unpolluted water

 

Sims Bayou - SE

Moderate

3-6 hrs

Riffles at low water, concrete coming

*

Spring Creek - I-45 to W Fork, San Jac River

Moderate

Multiple

East Texas real close-Parks/NEEDS PROTECTION NOW!

 

Taylor Bayou-Red Bluff to Clear Lake

All

2-4 hrs

Developed by subsidence, Tiny in 1948

 

The Cutoff-upper feeder, Trinity Delta W

High

?

10 miles from anywhere, Downstream only

~

Trinity River Delta Lakes, See notes bottom of page

 

Multiple

Wallisville or Lake Charlotte Area/Day trips only

*

Trinity River, I-10E. 40 miles

All

Multiple

Gateway to Trinity Delta Lakes, Wallisville

*

Turtle Bayou-E of Trinity R to Anahuac

Moderate

3-6 hrs

White Bayou-Camp in Chambers Co. White's Park

 

Vince's Bayou - Pasadena N to Channel

All

1-4 hrs

Former site of Pasadena Zoo, Park for children

*

Vingt-et-un Islands, Smith Point

Open water

1-4 hrs

Redfish Island/Bird rookeries, open water, bay.

 

 

 

 

Recommended for sea kayaks only

 

White Oak Bayou NW to Central City

Concrete

 

Studewood park/Forget it - Concrete

*

White's Bayou - White Park, I-10 E or Trinity

High

2-4 hrs

Turtle Bayou/Must be high, magnolias, billy goats

 

Windmill Lakes - I-45, Almeda-Genoa

N/A

Freestyle

Old sand pits, residential develop

* Favorite trips of Barry and Ann Bennick.                                                                                                     

 

~ San Jacinto River Delta - Area west of Baytown around San Jacinto Monument: Old River, Lost Lake, Burnett Bay, Crystal Bay,Scott Bay, Black Duck Bay, Tabbs Bay, Jenings Island, Peggy Lake, San Jacinto Bay.

1485 Trio - East Fork of the San Jacinto, Peach Creek, and Caney Creek compose the best canoeing multiple in the Houston area,along with the Trinity River Delta Lakes region. Best of the best is the East Fork. Lake Houston State Park (354-6681) off FM1485 is being developed at the old Girl Scout Camp near New Caney. Don't canoe these streams at high water if you are not an experienced canoeist. Peach Creek is the easiest of the three streams. Though close together, these three streams are very different.

The East Fork has pretty water, gravel and sand bars, numerous log jams, and many twists and turns. It can be treacherous at high water.  Peach Creek is more open and free of twists and obstacles.

Lake Houston: There are numerous canoeing spots in upper Lake Houston related to streams already on this list. One specifically, is the new state park and can be included in a n East Fork downstream trip or paddled up to from our (fish camp) access point to Lake Houston.

Houston Area Canoe Trips list is courtesy of Barry and Ann Bennick, owners of Pine Needle Lodge and Paddler's Caddo Lake Campground on Caddo Lake, another Texas canoeing adventure at new Nature Conservancy/Texas Parks and Wildlife acquisition (one of 10 U.S. sites in an international wetlands program, RAMSAR). For additional information call them in Houston (713) 692-1417 or at Caddo (903)665-2911

Information compiled February 12, 1992/Updated January 12, 1994