Low-Head Dam Near Hill of Life (Horne's Falls)

(More of a IV- below 1000 cfs and a IV+ above 2000 cfs.) A seven-foot dam near the Hill of Life is the most consequential feature on the run, creating a very retentive and potentially deadly hydraulic at higher flows (multiple thousands of cfs) and a piton hazard at lower flows.  There used to be a straightforward stair-step line over a chute at center left, but it eroded somewhat during the Halloween flood of 2013, so the dam is now more hazardous than it used to be.  Scouting or portaging is highly recommended.  The former stair-step line will still ender a playboat at higher flows, and missing the line (particularly to the right) can have dire consequences.  This dam, along with other Central Texas low-head dams, could be described at high water as a "Class III line with Class V consequences."  If you hit the line, it's straightforward, but you absolutely don't want to miss it.  The drop is not easily boat scoutable, and the chute is not apparent from the top.  Bank scout/portage on river left.

Austin firefighter Rob Horne is assumed to have drowned in the river right hydraulic at 3000-4000 cfs during the July 4, 2002 floods.

The Halloween 2013 flood also opened up a Class III-ish creek line at river left that has become wider with subsequent floods and is now runnable at most (reasonable) levels above about 400-500 cfs.  It requires a couple of tight turns around trees and a boof at the end to avoid a small recirculating ledge.