Trinity River, Highway 287 Ramp, Corsicana

Kayak paddle route map launching onto the Trinity River from the Highway 287 boat ramp. There aren’t a lot of public launches onto the Trinity; this one is east of Corsicana TX near the Richland-Chambers Reservoir and Richland Creek WMA. The route went upstream against the current (Trinity River at Trinidad about 950 cfs) to a wide powerline cut, then returns with the current back to the launch. Flow rates on the Trinity can vary quite a bit so it’s good to pay attention. For this trip the up time was about three hours, the return time was about two hours, which says something about the current flow. For comparison, if up is an hour, and back is an hour, it’s flatwater, no current either way. If up is an hour and back is three seconds it’s a waterfall. This trip was somewhere in between. In any event it was certainly a nice December paddle with some trees still green and some that had lost their leaves. The river here has steep banks of sand, a few gravel bars, and lots of willow trees–pretty but not too much variation. I saw a bald eagle, an otter, alligator gar, and a couple beavers, not bad. Nice day for a paddle on the Trinity south of Dallas!