Frio River

About the River

The Frio flows out of the Edwards Plateau in the Texas Hill Country and past Concan, in Uvalde County, where clear, spring-influenced water and towering bald cypress have made it a longtime summer destination. The best-documented stretch runs from the FM 1050 bridge, at the edge of Garner State Park, down to the SH 127 bridge at Concan, a run that includes nearly three miles of the park's own river frontage.

American Whitewater rates this twelve-mile run Class II-III, with several named features along the way: a low-head dam inside Garner State Park forms the park's popular swimming pool, while a second low-head dam further downstream, near Comanche Crossing, is known to become dangerous above roughly 1,500 cfs and should be portaged at high water. Below that, the river passes named rapids and play features locals call The Chute, Comanche Crossing, and the S-Turn, before The Falls, a runnable three-and-a-half-foot drop, and the take-out at Concan. At low water, the same stretch is popular with swimmers and tubers rather than paddlers.

The Frio can swing from a torrent to nearly nothing: in June 2022, the USGS gauge at Concan measured zero flow during a severe drought, with the riverbed reduced to scattered puddles, a reminder that late-summer trips should always be checked against current conditions rather than assumed. Numerous low-water crossings along the run can also become hazardous after heavy rain, so treat any high-water reading with caution.