Llano River — Llano to Castell: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 417 cfs the Llano River is sitting in the middle of the 80 cfs–1,500 cfs range for this reach, with 337 cfs of margin to the nearer edge — the most forgiving part of the window on the numbers alone.

Over the last 24 hours it has gone from 324 cfs to 417 cfs, 29% up. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 320 cfs and 460 cfs, 30% lower at the end of the week than the start. The last day and the week as a whole point opposite ways, which usually means a recent rain bump on top of a longer falling trend — worth a second look at the chart before you commit to the drive.

Llano River at Llano to Castell is a 14-mile Class II run in Texas — bouncy wave trains and the occasional small rapid. Most paddlers put in at Llano (Robinson City Park) and take out at Castell crossing, a trip that runs about 7 hours at a relaxed pace.

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 80–1,500 cfs (a conservative estimate — see our methodology). Much below that and the Llano River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 08151500 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable March–October. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.