page_title: San Marcos River
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: San Marcos River / Course
caption_attribution_description: The (now former) Rio Vista Dam in San Marcos, Texas.
context_page_description: The San Marcos River rises from the San Marcos Springs, the location of 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.
context_section_description: The river begins at San Marcos Springs, rising from the Edwards Aquifer into Spring Lake.  Access to much of the headwaters is restricted because of the delicate ecosystem and numerous rare species.  The upper river flows through Texas State University and San Marcos, and is a popular recreational area.  It is joined by the Blanco River after four miles, passes through Luling and Palmetto State Park. Near Gonzales it flows into the Guadalupe River after a total of 75 miles (121 km).  This course is the first section of the Texas Water Safari.
caption: The old Rio Vista Dam, now demolished. The area was transformed into three rapids, making it a very popular recreational area
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK DX4530 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "230", "Image YResolution": "230", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "506", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2624", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4233", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/700", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:05:18 14:12:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:05:18 14:12:04", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "19/2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "9/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "8", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2580", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1932", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2320", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "120", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}