If you received the gift of a canoe, kayak or paddleboard this holiday season, you’re in luck. Georgia River Network (GRN) has dialed up the perfect test paddle for your new ride: a two-day paddle/camping adventure on south Georgia’s Satilla River set for April 2-3.
Registration for the event opens online Dec. 30 at http://www.garivers.org/paddle_georgia/springonthesatilla.html.
The statewide river advocacy group is hosting Paddle Georgia–Spring on the Satilla along with local watershed group, Satilla Riverkeeper, to raise awareness about this meandering Coastal Plain river and to raise funds to help protect it. The event will also highlight Satilla Riverkeeper’s efforts to establish a paddling trail on the river.
Over the course of two days, participants will cover 17 miles of the Satilla’s winding course through lowland swamps and floodplain forests while camping at a rustic private getaway overlooking the river in the Camden County community of White Oak.
“While north Georgia is still in the doldrums of winter in early April, the Satilla will be coming to life,” said Paddle Georgia Coordinator Joe Cook. “This is a great opportunity to experience a true Deep South river at an ideal time of the year.”
The trip is more than just a paddle trip. Event organizers plan catered breakfast and dinners at the riverside campsite along with sack lunches for the river. Interpretive programs on local cultural history, opportunities to become a certified Georgia Adopt-A-Stream citizen water monitor as well as games and other activities will also be offered.
“Those of us who live near it know how beautiful this blackwater river is,” said Ashby Nix Worley, Satilla Riverkeeper. “This is an opportunity to introduce a new audience to our river’s charms.”
Registration fees are $110-$225 per person and include all meals for the weekend, tent campsite, shuttles to the river and all education programs. Organizers are planning for around 100 paddlers and expect a broad range of ages.
“Typically, our Paddle Georgia events attract lots of families,” Cook said. “We’ve had paddlers as young as 4 and as old as 84.”
For those without their own boats, canoe and kayak rentals will be offered through event sponsor, Southeast Adventure Outfitters in St. Simons.
Spring on the Satilla is a new event in GRN’s Paddle Georgia program. The organization will hold Paddle Georgia 2016 June 18-24 on the Conasauga and Oostanaula rivers in northwest Georgia and Fall Float on the Flint, a three-day adventure on the southwest Georgia’s Flint River Oct. 8-10.
Since the first Paddle Georgia in 2005, the organization has led more than 3,800 paddlers on week-long adventures on more than a dozen Georgia rivers, raising more than $280,000 for river protection in Georgia.
Proceeds from Spring on the Satilla will support GRN and Satilla Riverkeeper.
Georgia River Network is a statewide organization working to ensure a clean water legacy by engaging and empowering Georgians to protect, restore and enjoy our rivers from the mountains to the coast.
Satilla Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the river while educating citizens to help ensure a Satilla River that is fishable, swimmable and drinkable for all to enjoy.
– Submitted