I would love to tour the Southland...

[MarkBC]

...In a traveling minstrel show...
But since I'm not nearly as musical as Steely Dan ...I plan to do it in my new kayak, assisted by my truck/camper.

I've posted this "plan" before, I know... But the difference is that now I actually have a watercraft and I've bought several guidebooks, so it's practically a done deal.

Since my kayak is inflatable, I could carry it in my little Hyundai Accent -- at 1/3 of the gas-cost of driving my truck/camper. But camping with the camper -- compared to in a little tent with my car -- is not only more comfortable...the extra comfort makes it much more likely that I'll linger in a great spot. And it makes sitting out bad weather easier -- or feasible at all.

Besides the states covered by the guides I've bought so far, I'll likely head up the eastern seaboard a ways -- maybe as far as Virginia.

For minimum humidity and bugs, spring or fall are my choices (and even winter in the warmest areas), but I already have a plan for this spring, so I plan to do this trip in the fall of this year.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hi there, thought you had motives for the roll up boat.
Check out Guadalupe River around New Braunfels.
Also used to have a lot of fun floating on a river at the town of San Marcos. Been a while so can’t say any more.

I’m jealous!

Russ

 

[larryqp]

Check out the Buffalo river in Arkansas, the Current River in Missouri, great trips

 

[smlobx]

The Florida Keys are a great place to yak. We paddled from Key Largo to Key West a couple of years ago over a 10 day period but had expedition kayaks .

The Outer Banks in NC are also a great place to explore.

If you make it up to Virginia, Smith Mt. Lake is also a great place. PM me if you do....

 

[Advmoto18]

The Panhandle of FLA has some great paddling rivers/estuaries. Mostly day trips, but, some beach camping is available.

The Everglades NP has canoe/kayak trails you could spend months exploring the backwater country...albeit December/January is best. BUGS own you about any other time of year. Overnight permits are required to stay on the Chickees in the back country. Plan far ahead of time. I've fished Hells Bay numerous times and should be a planned paddling or camping stop (on a Chickee) for any paddling trip in ENP.

Hells Bay Canoe Trail

And here.

The Wilderness Waterway is suppose to be epic from what I've read.

Have fun! A great trip to be had around the Gulf of Mexico! (If you look closely you will still some of the adverse affects of the Deepwater Horizon disaster along the coastlines of FL, AL and MS)

 

[Foy]

I may have previously mentioned some of the following:

Paddle trails on the lower Roanoke River near Jamesville, NC: Includes camping platforms in a number of locations. See maps of these and other routes on the Roanoke and other waters at www.roanokeriverpartners.org
Merchant's Millpond State Park: A 700 acre millpond within a 3,500 acre swamp and state park. Camping platforms for paddle-in (3) and 5 backpack-in campsites, in addition to a conventional campground.
Goose Creek State Park: On the Pamlico River a few miles from Washington, NC (aka "Little Washington" to the locals). Primitive tent campsites and paddle access to the River and tributary tidal creeks.
Pettigrew State Park: Near Plymouth and Columbia, NC. Located on a large freshwater pocosin lake.
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge: Near Columbia, NC. Access to the blackwater Scuppernong River.
Carolina Beach State Park: Near Carolina Beach, NC. Located on the lower Cape Fear River. Short distance road access to Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher. River and sound access to the ocean via Snow's Cut (in the Intracoastal Waterway).
In Virginia
First Landings State Park; Located in the urban environment of Virginia Beach, but representing a 3,000 acre largely undeveloped park. Extensive foot and cycling trails, much water access to sheltered waters along Broad Bay and Long Creek (emptying into Chesapeake Bay via Lynnhaven Inlet) and beach access on the Bay itself directly from the campground).
Kiptopeake State Park: Located on the southern end of the Delmarva Peninsula just at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Bay and tidal creek access via the old ferry docks with WWI-era concrete ships as breakwaters.
Assateague Island National Seashore: Located about 60 miles north of Kiptopeake SP at the VA-MD state line. Extensive protected water paddling, beach access by 4WD (with permits).

Enjoy the planning and give us a holler if you head to NC and VA. We're at our place on the Bay in Va Beach a lot in the Fall.

Foy

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks for the input so far, guys -- I appreciate it!

Here are some more of my thoughts and background about this planned trip...mainly because it's fun for me to think about and look forward to!

I've now been through the SouthEast on two road trips (in my car) -- in fall 2015 and spring 2018, as well as two more visits (also boatless) to Okefenokee NWR/Swamp as part of a fly-to visit to a friend in Georgia. And I think it's every bit as fascinating now as on my first trip. Why? Maybe because it's so different than my usual territory of the high desert. I like "different" -- both outdoors and culturally.

I expect that the vast majority of my paddling will be day-trips...maybe just a few hours -- little will be overnight-by-boat. I hope to do some overnight, though. On my first visit to Okefenokee, when I learned that there were camping platforms scattered out in the swamp, that sounded sooo cool. I want to do that or similar at least a little. My inflatable kayak has little gear-storage space below deck, so it's not really ideal for multi-night camping. A friend with a similar inflatable tells me that the craft is so stable (it's quite wide) that he can lash gear (e.g., camping gear) to the deck without fear of capsizing. And I've seen videos of people paddling with mounds of gear on their kayak decks -- and going OK. Maybe...

When it gets to be spring (which in Central Oregon isn't for real until May) I'll start getting familiar with my boat on the water. I want to be good at maneuvering and proficient at paddling -- before I need to out-paddle gators and water moccasins.

 

[DavidGraves]

Lake Drumond lies within the Great Dismal Swamp but is accessible via a drainage canal......built by George Washington.

By all means try to get in there although you may want to hitch a ride/tow in 5 miles of the access canal.

Any healthy cypress swamp will be a wonderful place to visit but you know this if you have been to the Okeefenokee.

Enjoy !

 

[LuckyDan]

If you’re still checking this, I see you have a Florida guide. If you get into Centralish Florida, I’ve done a project or two on the Ocala National Forest. The Forest has four wilderness areas. I have a little familiarity with the Juniper Prairie Wilderness. To start with, it has little similarity to any juniper prairie around Bend. Second, it has at least one paddle trail through it, I’m fairly sure it starts at a place called Juniper Run. As always, here is the place that should know about it and their others, they do have others:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/ocala

Didn’t notice your launch time, but If you end up on the Panhandle, I did some work on Hurricane Michael relief. Florida From just east of Tallahassee west to about Valparaiso basically got ran through the blender. Certainly more that I’m not familiar with too. Point is there may be a bit of outdoorsy stuff that may still be in a state of disarray if you’re thinking sooner than later. For the fed stuff, all four National Forests, the forth being the Caribbean, are under the National Forests in Florida Umbrella:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/florida/

It may pay to call ahead, so to speak.

Take care and as always good luck.

 

[MarkBC]

If you’re still checking this...

Thanks, Dan, I appreciate the info. I may contact you directly for details...
I'm still checking this, and will be for several more months. I'm planning this as a fall trip -- starting in September...ish.