Guadalupe River, TX

The upper river, in the Texas Hill Country, is a smaller, faster stream with limestone banks and shaded by pecan and bald cypress trees. It is formed by two main tributary forks, the North Fork and South Fork Guadalupe Rivers.The upper Guadalupe is popular as a tubing destination where recreational users often float down the river on inflated tire inner tubes during the spring and summer months. East of Boerne, on the border of Kendall County and Comal County, the river flows through Guadalupe River State Park, one of the more popular tubing areas along the river.

The lower river begins at the outlet of Canyon Lake, near New Braunfels. The section between Canyon Dam and New Braunfels is the most heavily used in terms of recreation. It is a popular destination for whitewater rafters, canoeists, kayakers and tubing. When the water is flowing at less than 1,000 cu ft/s (28 m³/s) there could be hundreds if not thousands of tubes on this stretch of the river. At flows greater than 1,000 cu ft/s (28 m³/s), there should be very few tubes on the water. Flows greater than 1,000 cu ft/s (28 m³/s) and less than 2,500 cu ft/s (71 m³/s) are ideal for rafting and paddling. The flow varies according to the seasons, and by the amount of rainfall the area has received. It is joined by the Comal River in New Braunfels and the San Marcos River about two miles (3 km) west of Gonzales. The Guadalupe below the San Marcos River is part of the course for the Texas Water Safari.

The San Antonio River flows into the Guadalupe River just north of Tivoli. Ahead of the entry into the San Antonio Bay estuary, the river forms adelta and splits into two distributaries referred respectively as the North and South Guadalupe Rivers. Each distributaries flows into the San Antonio Bay estuary at Guadalupe Bay.