Texas Parks and Wildlife representatives along with officials with the City of Brownwood and the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony at Fabis Primitive Park on Thursday, March 12, marking the launch of the Pecan Bayou Paddling Trail as the 63rd official Texas Paddling Trail and the westernmost trail in the expanding system.
Shelly Plante, TPWD Nature Tourism Manager explained that the addition of the Pecan Bayou Paddling Trail has been in the works for several years.
“We have been working on this since 2010. It is the northernmost trail in an ever expanding program. To get one toward the panhandle for us is really great, because we have had so many in central Texas and the coastal area for a long time,” explained Plante.
With its calm and easily navigable waters, the Pecan Bayou is a great place for beginner paddlers, according to Plante.
“I love the loop trails because they don’t require a shuttle. They are great for beginners because they can go as far as they want and come back. It’s a really good entry level paddle that anyone can do. I love having those types of trails because that is really the purpose of the program (to introduce newcomers to paddling),” Plante stated. “People are intimidated by water and things they don’t know. They want to experience it, so this gives them an opportunity for that.”
After the ribbon cutting, local volunteer and Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce member Debbie Morelock was presented with a commemorative paddle marking the event and affectionately naming her “Queen of the Pecan Bayou,” as thanks for her dedication and assistance in working the past four years to help get the Pecan Bayou named as a Texas Paddling Trail. Morelock often takes their guests at the Star of Texas Bed and Breakfast down the bayou by canoe. She has a great love for this natural treasure and wanted to help make this waterway recognized by the state as one of the best paddling destinations. Morelock stated that she is already getting calls to rent her canoe and that another local man is working to develop a larger number of rentals of canoes and kayaks.
Morelock and her husband Don, owners of the Star of Texas Bed and Breakfast which is near the park and bayou, assisted several people paddling in kayaks and a canoe after the ceremony.
According to Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ray Tipton, they hope Brownwood tourism will increase with the awareness of an additional recreational opportunity, and the quality of life for local citizens will be affected through the naming of the Pecan Bayou as a paddling trail by TPWD.
The Texas Paddling Trails program helps promote habitat conservation through sustainable economic development, while providing additional recreational opportunities to the public. More Americans paddle (canoe, kayak or raft) than play soccer, making it one of the fastest-growing nature tourism experiences.
Paddlers can access the Pecan Bayou trail in Fabis Primitive Park and paddle either a 3.2 mile- loop upriver and back from the park or do a 4-mile loop downriver to the dam and back. The slow-moving body of water is filled by rainfall and from overflow from Lake Brownwood. Float time is one to three hours, depending on the water level, winds and flow rates.
The trail incorporates a peaceful stretch of wildlife-rich Pecan Bayou that flows through a mature pecan orchard composed of numerous pecan trees more than 100 years old. Birders will enjoy spotting eastern bluebirds, several species of owls, herons, egrets and woodpeckers year-round, as well as and such winter species as brown creeper, northern pintails, blue-winged teal and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.
Anglers can cast for large and small mouth bass, catfish, crappie and bream. Small lures, such as jigs, spinner baits and plastic worms rigged on light line, are recommended.
For more information on the Pecan Bayou Paddling Trail,
