Join The River Party: ATXcursions
Recreational Use Of The Crystal Clear San Marcos River In Texas Opens Up Fun-Filled Tours Of River Tubing & Brewery Visits
“We pretty much make sure everyone is happy and supplied,” explains Dashall Collins, general manager of ATXcursions, a tour company that does float trips, brewery tours, and custom tours - like boating, go-karting, and things like that. ATXcursions takes care of all the logistics to make sure that locals, tourists, and global travelers all have a fun time floating down the San Marcos River near Austin, TX.
“A lot of people ask if this is a touristy thing to do and I say ‘no, people that live in Texas actually do this,” Collins explains. They take about 40 people per bus trip down to San Marcos and provide floats, coolers, ice, and just about anything else one needs to have a good time on the river. The guides come along for the trip and “I like to refer to us as a fun guides, not a tour guides,” says Collins, “we do all the little things to make sure the customer has no stress. If you need your cooler tied to the float, if you need help getting out of a tree, even if you just need a high five - we are there.”
Collins also says he likes to help people appreciate the beauty of the San Marcos River. The San Marcos River is an extraordinary river - archaeologists think that it is the oldest continually inhabited area of the North America - dating back to 19,000 years ago. The river comes from the San Marcos springs in the middle of town. The water is always 72 degrees and crystal clear. According to Gregg Eckhardt, an environmental scientist in the area, in Southwest Texas there is a “4,000 year old cave painting” of “the earliest map of Texas.” It depicts the springs as sacred geography and the map was used as a pilgrimage guide. “This is the creation site of the Coahuiltecan Indian tribes,” Eckhardt writes.
Fast forward a few thousand years and it laid in various European hands and American owners, eventually acquired by the Rogers family in 1926. From then on it was made into a theme park called Aquarena Springs, similar in function to the Weeki Wachee Mermaids in Florida. It had a submarine theatre, something that was an engineering marvel in the 1950s. They had dancers and even had a wedding ceremony underwater.
Another interesting tidbit is they used to have a chili festival in the 1970s that had two interesting rules: all chili must be made from scratch at site and women were not allowed to enter the contest. Women had their own contest in Luckenbach and called it “Hell Hath No Fury Like A Women’s Chili Society.” Eckhardt writes, “from a barstool in Sisterdale, Hondo Crouch told me the exclusion of women wasn’t really about sexism - it was simply because the men knew their chili was bad.”
Another odd ‘only in Texas’ thing from the Aquarena spring days is Ralph, the swimming pig. According to Texas State University Archives “The show started with Raplh’s famous “swine dive” into the water. After his big dive, Ralph would then swim after a performer carrying a bottle filled with milk.” There were actually many “Ralph’s,” as by the time they were 8 months old, the pigs couldn’t swim anymore.
In the mid-1990s the theme park closed down due to the land being bought by Texas State University and the aim to conserve the area. Granted, not all people were happy with the tourist attraction being on what used to be sacred ground, even from the beginnings of the theme park, though most were disappointed to see it go. In 1984 Texas naturalist Del Weniger, “Seated in this theater at the mouth of the spring, how can one help but wonder if there is any most unlikely corner of the biosphere humans will not invade and desecrate to their own whims.” The University must have felt similar in a way and dismantled the theme park. Now it is used for conservation and recreation.
All that is to say the beauty of the area has not gone unnoticed for 1000s of years in Texas. Currently, with ATXcursions and places like that, the river is used for recreation in a sustainable way - one that all sorts of people come to see. “We get businesses, friends, small groups and large groups that come on our tours,” explains Collins. One group he remembers quite well - a group of about 30 rugby players from England. “They were big guys and drank more beer than we have ever seen brought on a float trip,” Collins chuckles, “they were loud and rowdy and having a great time. However the minute I said ‘listen up,’ they got instantly quiet and attentive and listened perfectly. I thought, ‘Oh this is what it means to be raised with manners.’”
The current incarnation of recreation on the river, float trips, swimming, having fun while not adding to pollutants in the river, is both something to appreciate and be thankful for. Collins says, “sometimes when I am a guide down the river and I look up at the trees I think ‘man, I get to do this for a job!’”
Andrew Malo
A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Education, Andrew has taught for the past decade in Chicago, New Mexico, and Japan. He enjoys tinkering with trucks and motorcycles, woodworking, reading and computer programming.
Make Sure To Stay At:
La Hacienda RV Resort, which is located 3 miles from Lake Travis. Enjoy fishing, skiing and sailing only a few minutes away from the public boat ramp or play golf all year round at one of our area courses.