What is your local day paddle?

[Jatfomike]

I live in a neighborhood on the North side of the city of Dayton, Ohio. The neighborhood is actually nestled in between the Stillwater and Great Miami River(GMR). I consider the Stillwater my "home" river as I spend the majority of my time on it paddling/fishing. It has a lot more "green space" on it as opposed to the GMR and far less crowded....in fact, its rare to encounter anyone at all on it. The first photo is looking upstream from the GMR to the confluence of the Stillwater/GMR. The second photo is a shot up the Stillwater.....the third photo is up the GMR from the confluence with a pedestrian/bike bridge connecting a couple of parks. Also on the right, but hidden by bushes is a "primitive campsite" for paddlers/bikers/hikers passing thru Dayton either on the rivers or the "Buckeye Trail". The last two photos are taken at the confluence of the Mad River/GMR about 1 mile downstream from the Stillwater/GMR Confluence. The Mad runs a little faster and has a whitewater play area upstream about 2 miles. We will sometimes launch just above the play area and float thru it and then paddle downstream to the confluence and take out at the fountains. We sometimes stage a car there to run back to the put in or if solo, sometimes lock a bicycle up there.....Load the canoe onto one of the lockable canoe racks in the park and peddle up the bike trail, grab the car, run back downtown and grab the canoe and head home. Also just downstream from the fountains are two more whitewater play areas on the GMR.

Mike

 

[TimG]

I live on (well, about two blocks away) Schroon Lake...day paddles are either down the south Schroon River, or from the lake to the North Schroon River, or even a quick ten minute drive to Paradox Lake...all nice paddles within a few minutes of home.

Such a great area! Lots of options within a short drive.

 

[TimG]

Here, at the foot of the Green Mountains of Vermont, we’ve got the Winooski River two miles down the road for dinner cruise sand bar weenie roasts,
Waterbury Reservoir 14 miles down the road for day paddles, dinner cruises or overnights
Or half an hour to the Mad River for some class III hijinks.

 

[Woodpuppy]

Wow, an actual book! Rather than a “device”! I’m impressed

 

[TimG]

Wow, an actual book! Rather than a “device”! I’m impressed

She sits in that chair in the middle of the canoe and reads while we paddle. Apparently Anne of Green Gables is more exciting than class I. She doesn’t pull her nose out until at least class II. She’s a good kid.

 

[Erica]

That is a nifty little chair she's got. TimG, where did you get that little chair? If you don't mind...

All these beautiful northern locations...makes me miss the north. At least in the summer.

We have a pond not 20 feet from the front door. It is very small, but is good for practicing, trying out new boats, or just when you gotta get on the water:



The go-to place for real actual canoeing would be Fisheating Creek. If we have one photo of the creek, we must have a million, but can I find one now? in the last week? So here is a random photo from google:



Sometimes the water is too low in the creek. Same for the Peace River, which is about an hour away. Arbuckle Creek is less than an hour. Lots of small lakes.

Best of all, you can paddle all year long. Gotta keep an eye on water levels though. They go up really fast and drain just as fast. All the water-absorbing buffer areas around the rivers have gone to cattle ranching and other agricultural uses.

 

[TimG]

That is a nifty little chair she's got. TimG, where did you get that little chair? If you don't mind...

Erica,
It’s called The Maine Lounger by Byer of Maine. I liked my friend’s so I found one on eBay. Relatively light, pulls apart into two pieces and packs flat but too awkward for long portages and requires a little extra cushion. I keep a foam z-rest seat with it that packs in between the two sections. I’ve upgraded to a Big Agnes Skyline folding chair for real tripping, but the Byer is hard to beat as a removable center seat in the boat.

 

[clemency]

Erica,
It’s called The Maine Lounger by Byer of Maine. I liked my friend’s so I found one on eBay. Relatively light, pulls apart into two pieces and packs flat but too awkward for long portages and requires a little extra cushion. I keep a foam z-rest seat with it that packs in between the two sections. I’ve upgraded to a Big Agnes Skyline folding chair for real tripping, but the Byer is hard to beat as a removable center seat in the boat.

Cool. Had a couple of those years ago, but they eventually fell apart. Didn't know what to call them so I could never find replacements. Thanks!

 

[Boatman53]

Not hard to make those chairs, I made a few back in the ‘80’s. I didn’t look at the link yet but I made the backs with canvas.
Jim

 

[lowangle al]

Here are a few pics from yesterday on Meadow Lake, my home lake in Pa. Although it wasn’t my first day out, it was my first in a w/c boat. The real beginning of my paddling season.

 

[coldfeet]

Great Swamp, Patterson, NY - less than a mile from my house.

Trailblazer, been to the Great Swamp
App 6 times over the past few years. Off route 22. I think it’s the best paddle within 75 miles from NYC. Wish that huge blowdown right by the 22 road was cleared out.
Other than that there are a few paddles near here on Long Island.

 

[coldfeet]

Oops, I somehow sent a duplicate message. Sorry. Please delete one if you wish.

 

[Boatman53]

Ah, the Great Swamp. The playground of my youth. Spent many hours/days there. Long before they closed the road that went through it. I think it was less the 15 years after it was closed, although they did nothing, you almost couldn’t tell a road existed at all.
As a fund raiser for one of our high school canoe trips to the BWCA my friends and I planter 3000 pine trees on property right next to the swamp. Now 50 years later I wonder what they look like.
Jim

 

[TrailBlaser]

I start put-in at the Green Chimney's school and paddle from there. The problem is that put-in is only open to the public on weekends. I heard that you can sometimes get permission from them to go in during the week if you get dropped off and don't leave a vehicle parked there, but I have never tried that myself.

 

[TrailBlaser]

Ah, the Great Swamp. The playground of my youth. Spent many hours/days there. Long before they closed the road that went through it. I think it was less the 15 years after it was closed, although they did nothing, you almost couldn’t tell a road existed at all.
As a fund raiser for one of our high school canoe trips to the BWCA my friends and I planter 3000 pine trees on property right next to the swamp. Now 50 years later I wonder what they look like.
Jim

I'll have to keep an eye out for that next time I go.

 

[Kayak_Ken]

Moved to the Ocala National Forest about 3 years ago. Silver River, Juniper Springs, Ocklawaha River and Alexander Springs are less than 30 miles from my house.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Moved to the Ocala National Forest about 3 years ago. Silver River, Juniper Springs, Ocklawaha River and Alexander Springs are less than 30 miles from my house.

Jealous, Ken. That's a paddling paradise and one of my favorite all-time areas. Have you ever paddled with the Marion County Aquaholics paddling club?

 

[Keeled Over]

All of you have better local paddles then me - I can be on Irondequoit Bay in Rochester NY in 5 mins, but a much better destination is Hemlock Lake (water supply for Rochester) in about 45 mins.

No homes or buildings of any kind of course and it always reminds me of a Scandinavian Fjord.

Of course, I can't find any pictures on my phone.

 

[WinterWarlock]

All of you have better local paddles then me - I can be on Irondequoit Bay in Rochester NY in 5 mins, but a much better destination is Hemlock Lake (water supply for Rochester) in about 45 mins.

No homes or buildings of any kind of course and it always reminds me of a Scandinavian Fjord.

Of course, I can't find any pictures on my phone.

I used to live in Brighton and would paddle both of those…as well as Canadice. Hemlock can get pretty windy in the afternoons but it is a beautiful spot.

 

[Larry650]

Kiwanis Park, Tempe, Az. Just a city park with an 11 acre pond, but it is 1 mile from my driveway. Thinking about coming up with wheels so I can tow the canoe with my bicycle.
This picture was taken in the middle of December