Kayaking the Black River, NC

 

• Date Kayaked:  July 16, 2022
• Total miles Tracked: 7.4 miles
• Type of paddle: flat river
• Conveniences: None
• Best Features:  Three Sisters Swamp
• Worst Features:  Public landings are few and far apart. 
• Wildlife spotted: S-s-snakes! (Only a couple, actually)
• Vegetation:  Cypress 
• Associated Website:  None
• Primary Author:  James

The Black River and the Three Sisters Swamp has been something Cheryl and I have wanted to paddle for a few years now. The Three Sisters Swamp is one of the ecological wonders of North Carolina, a pristine wilderness of ancient bald cypress trees that have never been logged. Many trees are more than 1000 years old, some have been verified to be over 2000 years old, and it's likely that older trees exist. Old cypress trees often have hollow cores, making it difficult to pin down their true age. Since motorboats can't navigate through the shallow waters of the swamp, the only way to see this unspoiled landscape is via canoe or kayak. 

The remote nature of the swamp that protects it is also the biggest challenge to paddling it.  We've launched a few times from Hunt's Bluff Wildlife Boat Ramp, roughly 3 miles downstream from the swamp. If you're willing to paddle against the current, you can reach the edge of the Three Sister's swamp in a few hours and at least explore the lower portion. 

If you don't mind paddling upstream several miles, you can reach this tree!

But, if you want to experience the full swamp, you'll need to launch from upstream and follow the current. On Google Maps, this looked like a daunting challenge to do without a guide.  While much of the Black River can be kayaked year-round, low water might make portions of the swamp impassible. The swamp is also dense with cypress, and, while you could possibly stick to the main channel and make your way through without getting lost, exploring the thickest, most interesting parts of the swamp would be like exploring a labyrinth. 

Watch out for aquatic minotaurs. 

Fortunately, Cheryl is part of a paddling group on Facebook and a local named Mitch volunteered to lead a group of paddlers through the swamp. We gladly joined this expedition. We launched from Henry's landing, a private kayak ramp that charges a small fee to park and launch. We left cars downriver at another private ramp, Newby's landing. 

Near the landing the river is broad and open. 

The paddle itself was very easy. You're moving with the current, and except for navigating a few tight spots through the trees, the route Mitch led us through was free of snags or debris that might have blocked our path if we'd tried to find our way through on our own. 

Perhaps because we were part of a large group, we didn't see much wildlife other than a few snakes. We also took surprisingly few photographs considering how beautiful the terrain was. If there's a downside to paddling with a group, it's that you can't wedge your kayak into a tree to stop for a few minutes to take photos without blocking the paddlers behind you or losing sight of the paddlers in front of you. The advantage of a large group on a paddle like this is that you can be a little less paranoid. If you were paddling this on your own and something went wrong, it's not a situation where a park ranger can come to your rescue. 

Even a harmless water snake might give you a heart attack if it drops into your boat.

In all, we were on the water a little over four hours, covering just over seven miles. Our photos don't do it justice, but this is easily one of the best paddle trips we've ever tackled. 

Lunch break. Watch out for ticks! 

What we did in 2022 - A Look Back

 James and I have realized that we did not publish that many posts this past year.  We've been planning some new adventures for 2023 and we have a few posts from 2022 to catch up on, but that doesn't mean we haven't been out exploring!  We had numerous opportunities to bike, hike and kayak this past year - many of our miles were on some of our close to home trails, and some others we traveled we've already reviewed on Bikes, Boots and Boats.  We also have explored some shorter trails that aren't enough to warrant a whole post.  So I thought I'd share some photos of where we did trek this past year.  

In January we started the year off doing some biking and some hiking along some game lands trails around Jordan Lake.  

This area should be full of herons when we return in the spring! (it was not)

Following an old railroad bed.  

We returned to the game lands in the spring and were wowed by the lushness of green and the wildflowers.

Follow the Yellow Wildflower Road!

We did a lot of walking on the Riverwalk here in town.  Some evenings we are surrounded by a herd of deer.  We get excited when the train rolls through during our walks too.

Rainy Riverwalk reflections

In the spring we met up with our friends Hope and Danny in Greenville, SC and rode the Swamp Rabbit trail on Saturday and the Thermal Belt Rail Trail in Spindale, NC on Sunday.  We always enjoy sharing the trails with them!

Swamp Rabbit Trail:  Heading towards Traveler's Rest   

Posing at the Gold Mine on the Thermal Belt

For contrast in weather, Hope and Danny came to town in July and we showed off our "home trail" of the American Tobacco Trail.  It was so hot that day!  But we had a great time riding together.

I really think we are about to melt in this picture!

Speaking of the American Tobacco Trail.  We ride there a lot!  Here are some random shots from the year:  

You know we weren't going to make a post without a snake!  Juvenile rat snake chilling on the trail

We'd been watching the construction of the beaver dam for a while.  We were so excited to see them!  Of course, we didn't have the camera with the zoom on it, so the phone camera did what it could.

Two beavers on the log!  Sadly, a couple of months later the Army Corps of Engineers destroyed the dam.

Many sunset (and some sunrise) rides to this part of the trail.  We've seen beavers and muskrats here too.

Our yearly photo of our reflection in an ornament from one of the festively decorated trees

We also spend a many a weekend riding on the Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh.

Summer flowers at Anderson Point Park

Stunning fall color on this damp ride

And beautiful cosmos planted along the trail.  Taken the same damp fall ride too...such a contrast in color.

Trying to get that perfect selfie

More biking with Hope and Danny!  We re-cycled the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort, SC when we were in the area for our yearly Pledge the Pink Breast Cancer walk.

The evening sun was shining perfectly through the windows of this abandoned cannery

On our way back from Nashville, we spent a whole day driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I think we stopped at every single overlook.  We also spent time hiking too.

More biking!  We returned to High Bridge State Park in Farmville, VA for another ranger led sunset ride. We rolled into 2022 with the same ride on New Year's Eve and had a lot of fun.  On this later summer trip, we stopped and rode a small section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail in South Boston, VA.  Watch for a post about that ride soon.  

Sunset from the bridge

We took the ferry to Shackleford Banks off of Beaufort, NC and saw some wild horses.  There will be an upcoming post about kayaking with the horses.

It wasn't all wheels and feet!  We had some wonderful kayak outings.  Some paddles were just me and James, and for some other paddles we were joined by his sisters, brother-in-law and niece.    

The water was a bit shallow this summer at Falls Lake

And another chance to paddle on Lake Moultrie in South Carolina.  Such a beautiful spot!  

Reflections

Snack Break

We returned to the lake after dinner for a sunset paddle.  Such beauty.

Whew!  That doesn't include the places we went that we'll tell you about in some future posts.  So stay tuned for that post about the Tobacco Heritage Trail and the kayak with horses.  Oh, and there's a hike to the Green Swamp where we finally found some Venus fly traps, a non-flooded ride on the Danville, VA greenway, and a spectacular group paddle on the Black River in eastern NC to look forward to.  Until then, we'll leave you here with this heron contemplating lunch.