3. Farm Road 3351 to Rebecca Creek Crossing

The Upper Guadalupe is a relatively beginner-friendly stretch of river popular with canoeists and recreational kayakers looking to paddle in a more secluded setting, free of the wall-to-wall tubers and private homes that adorn the Lower Guadalupe.  Except in runoff events, during which the river can be very silty, it is usually fed by spring flow and thus runs clean.  Except during extreme droughts, the Upper Guadalupe generally maintains a reasonable base flow. The Upper Guad does not have a lot of gradient, so there are only a handful of named rapids on this entire 25-mile stretch of river.  Rapids are typically short and are separated by pools sometimes miles long.  Thus, whitewater boaters tend to avoid the Upper Guad unless it is flowing thousands of cfs, and they tend to prefer the stretch below U.S. 281, because it has the largest rapids (including Mueller Falls and Rust Falls) and the least flat water. With the exception of the afore-mentioned falls, most of the rapids are basic Class I-II rock gardens with little consequence. The most popular day trips are from Bergheim (FM 3351) to Guadalupe River State Park (7.8 miles) and from Nichol's Landing to Rebecca Creek Rd. (9.8 miles, often shortened to 6 miles by putting in at U.S. 281.)  The latter stretch has been designated a Texas Paddling Trail by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. For more information, see Texas Whitewater, 2nd Edition. Distances and gradient measured using GIS tools in 2015.