Neches River, CR 1225 Launch, Alderbranch, up
Kayak paddle route trail map on the Neches river, starting at CR 1225 just to the east of Alderbranch, TX. The little road to the bridge here is great, basically one lane through the pines, down, down, down to the river. There is no boat ramp at the bridge, just a sandy drop, but pretty easy. This trip goes upstream to the point where I had turned around on an earlier trip that launched at Highway 84. Other than that the turnaround could be anywhere. Trip distance was about 19 miles round trip total and took five-ish hours; half-hour longer going up than back. The more northern sections of the Neches like this are pretty loggy and can be a bit of work; the sections to the south widen up a bit and tend to have fewer obstructions. The (upstream) Neches Rv nr Neches read about 160 cfs and the (downstream) Neches Rv at SH294 read about 385 cfs. The sides of the river here are private and in some sections logged and lined with the bones of old fallen trees. Not as nice as where the river boundary is national forest, but interesting nonetheless. Saw some burly beavers; they tend to dump out of their holes into the water just as you pass by.
Above: The 1225 bridge and launch point on the Neches River in the early morning light.
Above: Some sections of the river are really nice.
Above: But there is quite a bit of tangle as well.
Above: Up and over, takes a bit of time.
Above: More loggy puzzles to solve.
Above: Ahhh…
Above: Some sections were kind of bare, like this.
Above: Looking upstream from the 1225 bridge. And artwork.