Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.
| # | Point | Type | Lat, Lon | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dry Creek Road crossing Dry Creek Road | Bridge crossing | 29.73044, -100.02671 | km 29.1. The uppermost crossing on this sheet, 6 m off the centreline, just below the Dry Creek junction. |
| 2 | State Highway 55 crossing above Barksdale TX 55 north | Bridge crossing | 29.72213, -100.03352 | km 31.0. TX 55 runs the whole canyon and crosses here, 0.13 km off the centreline. |
| 3 | USGS 0818999010 - Nueces River near Barksdale Flow and stage for the canyon float | USGS gauge | 29.71883, -100.03958 | km 31.8. The gauge for the upper Nueces, 7 m off the centreline. Roster coordinate, confirmed against the USGS site service. |
| 4 | Smith Road crossing Smith Road | Bridge crossing | 29.69905, -100.03092 | km 34.6. County-road low-water crossing, 6 m off the centreline. |
| 5 | McDonald Crossing Ray McDonald Ranch Road | Bridge crossing | 29.69368, -100.02578 | km 35.7. OSM names the road rather than the crossing; USGS runs a stage station here and calls it McDonald Crossing, which is the name used on this sheet. |
| 6 | Los Rios Campground Camp Wood | Campsite | 29.66753, -100.02332 | km 39.3. Riverside campground at Camp Wood, 98 m off the channel. |
| 7 | River Road crossing at Camp Wood River Road | Bridge crossing | 29.66676, -100.02875 | km 39.9. The town crossing at Camp Wood, 10 m off the centreline and the busiest access on the upper river. |
| 8 | State Highway 55 crossing below Camp Wood TX 55 south | Bridge crossing | 29.63548, -100.00654 | km 44.3. TX 55's lower crossing, 97 m off the centreline, above Arnold Crossing. |
| 9 | The Dam Store Store at Arnold Crossing | Point of interest | 29.62076, -100.00849 | km 46.6. The store at the Arnold Crossing road, 0.26 km off the river. Tagged in OSM as a shop without a type, so it is listed as it is rather than called a tackle shop. |
| 10 | Cooksey Park Uvalde County Camping Uvalde County | Campsite | 29.62013, -100.00864 | km 46.6. County camping on the bank immediately above the dam, 0.2 km off the channel. |
| 11 | Arnold Crossing Dam Low dam at the Arnold Crossing road | Dam / hazard | 29.61884, -100.01019 | km 46.6. A low dam mapped 7 m off the centreline at Arnold Crossing. A hard stop for anything floating down. |
| 12 | Big Oak River Camp Below Arnold Crossing | Campsite | 29.60503, -100.00258 | km 48.8. Named riverside camp 0.38 km off the channel on the Montell reach. |
| 13 | County Road 416 crossing CR 416 | Bridge crossing | 29.54969, -99.99525 | km 56.5. Low-water crossing on the Montell reach, 38 m off the centreline. |
| 14 | County Road 414 crossing CR 414 | Bridge crossing | 29.52648, -100.01827 | km 60.7. Low-water crossing, 21 m off the centreline. OSM carries the span as two adjoining ways; condensed to one pin. |
| 15 | County Road 408 crossing CR 408 | Bridge crossing | 29.44321, -99.99369 | km 73.9. Low-water crossing on the long reach below Montell, 21 m off the centreline. |
| 16 | Nineteen Mile Crossing Named low-water crossing | Bridge crossing | 29.39836, -100.00041 | km 80.2. A named crossing; OSM maps the bridge without a name and carries the name on a place node 0.14 km away, so this pin is the bridge. |
| 17 | Haby Crossing Named low-water crossing - lowest on this sheet | Bridge crossing | 29.32838, -99.94779 | km 94.9. The last crossing above Uvalde and the downstream limit of this sheet. Same mapping as Nineteen Mile: the name is on a place node 41 m away, the pin is the bridge. |
Gauge: USGS 0818999010 — Nueces Rv nr Barksdale, TX. Live flow on the web page.
Species: Channel Catfish, Guadalupe Bass, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Redbreast Sunfish, Rio Grande Cichlid
Regulations: tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing
Emergency: call 911 and give the number of the nearest point on this map plus its coordinates.
Barksdale low-water crossing on Highway 55 - the reference gauge site and the usual upper put-in.
Camp Wood river crossings - several county-road crossings giving streambed access through the canyon.
Chalk Bluff Park near Uvalde - private park with river frontage, camping and dependable pools.
Highway 55 crossings between Barksdale and Uvalde - roadside streambed access at moderate flow.
Montell and County Road 414 crossing - mid-canyon access point used for short kayak floats.
Uvalde city reaches - the bottom of the clear water before the river runs onto the plain.
Garner State Park on the nearby Frio - alternate public water when the Nueces is too low to float.
Spring: best flows of the year and the most dependable window for floating the canyon reaches.
Summer: low and warm, wade the pools early, and expect to walk between them in a dry year.
Fall: rain rebuilds the river and Guadalupe bass feed hard with almost no angling pressure.
Winter: clear and cold, fishable but slow, and low flows make long stretches unfloatable.