The Brazos River is one of my favorite places to ride within a couple hours of DFW. Even when the wind is up, the river seems to be pretty well protected and smooth. The Brazos river dumps into the north end of Lake Whitney and continues on below the Whitney dam. I'll never forget the 4^th of July weekend trip my son and I took where we almost the only ones on the lake and it was calm as possible. We found a cool area with a lot of reeds, cliffs and plenty of water to enjoy.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/lakes/whitney/lake_id.htm

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/images/inland/lakes/whitbig.gif

http://maps.yahoo.com/yahoo/yt.hm?FAM=yahoo&CMD=MAP&SEC=geo&GC=X%3A-97.37546%7CY%3A32.23568%7CLT%3A32.23568%7CLN%3A-97.37546%7CLS%3A300000%7Cc%3ARio_Vista%7Cs%3ATX%7Cd%3A623%7Cp%3AUSA&GAD2=&GAD3=Rio+Vista%2C+TX&W=600&H=375&IC=32.23568%3A-97.37546%3A10%3A&a=0&MAP.x=195&MAP.y=306

Take 35 W South from FW or 67 South from Dallas. Go east on 67 to Cleburne. Turn South on 174 till you cross the Brazos. It's at the Southwest end of State Highway 174 bridge crossing the Brazos on the left hand or South side of 174. Non-commercial; no fees required (in 1998, anyway). I'll typically leave Plano at about 7:00 AM and this is about a 2 hour drive for me...perhaps on 1 1/2 for most of the DFW area. Meet at the shore area near the ramp.

We launch from Kimball Bend Park, which is access point C on the first link above. (Park is on north side of bridge, ramp is on south side.) We'll ride North up-river in the morning and return to the launch site for lunch. Bring gas, drinks, lunch and snacks as I don't know of anywhere on the water for food.

Try the Glen Rose station (#18)

http://www.brazos.org/links/usgs.htm

Float Report

http://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu/text/wxascii/rivercond/FGUS44.KFWD

http://www.weather.com/weather/cities/us_tx_hillsboro.html

Lake Whitney State Park

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/lakewhit/lakewhit.htm

http://www.brazos.org/

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