Yeah, that is the trouble with most stuff in the southeast. That and the Piedmont rivers are often dirty looking from the clay. Rivers like the Yadkin and Catawba have river trails but they're just not very pretty.The rivers that I once overnight paddled have all become very well used with outfitters and lots of private property signs. Public land like the Big South Fork of the Cumberland have become increasingly popular and crowded.
An FYI on Black and Red in Mississippi: I paddled both two decades ago, and they're wonderful blackwater streams. I was considering taking my son down there for a trip last year, and when I spoke to one of the outfitters, he told me that catalytic converter theft had gotten so bad at the access points (and even at his business) that he couldn't guarantee the safety of vehicles anymore.Does Mississippi count as southeast? There's a 90-mile, scenic and wild river there with flowing water and many campable sand bars. Well, not a river, I guess, since it is called Black Creek. We did a 5-day trip there back in 2016. We made our trip in early March when the trees were just starting to bud out, and saw no other people on 4 of the 5 days, meeting a lone fisherman the other day. While in the area we made two day trips on Red Creek, which we thought had even better potential for camping than Black Creek. Contact CT member Will Derness if you want more details--he inventoried and rated campable sites on both creeks.
Black Creek is in a remote area, it flows many miles through DeSoto National Forest so leaving vehicles unattended could be risky. However campsites abound on the white sand bars on the inside of bends.An FYI on Black and Red in Mississippi: I paddled both two decades ago, and they're wonderful blackwater streams. I was considering taking my son down there for a trip last year, and when I spoke to one of the outfitters, he told me that catalytic converter theft had gotten so bad at the access points (and even at his business) that he couldn't guarantee the safety of vehicles anymore.