San Marcos River, Texas
The San Marcos River rises from the San Marcos Springs, the location of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment (formerly Aquarena Springs), in San Marcos, Texas. The springs are home to several threatened or endangered species, including the Texas blind salamander, fountain darter, and Texas wild rice. The river is a popular recreational area, and is frequented for tubing, canoeing, swimming, and fishing. The San Marcos River is considered to be one of the most biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems known in the Southwestern United States. Consequently, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have designated the San Marcos Springs and Spring Lake critical habitat, so some parts of the river are privatized. Critical habitat refers to a particular geographical area that contains all of the physical, chemical and biological attributes needed for the continued success of an endangered plant or animal and that may require special efforts for their management and protection.
Guadalupe River, Texas
The Guadalupe River runs from Kerr County, Texas, to San Antonio Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, with an average temperature of 63.95 degrees. It is a popular destination for rafting, fly fishing, and canoeing. Larger cities along it include Kerrville, New Braunfels, Seguin, Gonzales, Cuero, and Victoria. It has several dams along its length, the most notable of which, Canyon Dam, forms Canyon Lake northwest of New Braunfels. Every year Trout Unlimited and Texas Parks and Wildlife stock thousands of rainbow trout at the tailwaters of the Canyon Lake dam. Most of the fish can hold through the summer but is fished from November-April. This is the most southern trout fishery in America.
Lower Mountain Fork, Oklahoma
Below Broken Bow dam and lake, the 18.8 miles of the Lower Mountain Fork is described as the "consistently flowing and best whitewater stream" in Oklahoma. Class I and II rapids are found in the upper part of this section and paddlers must navigate waterfalls with a four feet drop. Bald cypress trees line and, in some places, grow in the river. The cool waters issuing below Broken Bow dam provide year-round habitat and fishing for rainbow and brown trout which are stocked regularly throughout the year. In 2008, a 17-pound-4-ounce brown trout was caught by an angler in the Mountain Fork.
