South Fork Catawba River Advanced Exploration Paddle

Type of Event: Paddling Difficulty Rating: Advanced Time on the water: Will vary (its our first trip down this stretch) Estimated Distance: 5.5 miles Shuttle Required: Yes Driving Time: 1 hour from Charlotte (estimated) I would not expect to find a place to pull out and eat ... so bring snacks and lots of water and we will plan for a bigger meal once we get to the take out The Catawba Lands Conservancy just opened up a kayak/canoe access in the town of Spencer Mountain, NC. It's located in a little park on an island in the South Fork of the Catawba. its about 5.5 miles down stream in McAdenville. The following links give info: http://www.catawbalands.org/pubfiles/SMRA_factsheet.pdf http://www.catawbalands.org/articles/Gazette_Paddlers.pdf The access is marked on the paddling put in locator map on our website. you can see pictures in an album at: http://picasaweb.google.com/p007bp.hox/SouthForkCatawbaSpencerMtnToMc... The access is a set of wooden stairs with a wood launching rail to guide the boats to the water. It's a steep climb and you should have some line available to help work your boat down. A Conservancy member reports that there were about 8 small steps on the river to be encountered and one long stretch of rapids. All Class I. The take out is brutal. Bring pack animals, bring a draft team. The water is about 5' deep off the end of a small pier and there is no beach along the bank. Once you get off the water you've got about 30 yards of STEEP hill to climb. Once up the hill, you'll find a nice, amble parking area. This river route is definitely a one way journey so a shuttle will be needed. This trip is planned by Ted teddflor@gmail.com