What is the paddling like? I see photos of rocky shoals. Do you have to portage them?Can I paddle out and back or is a shuttle needed?
Yes & No to your questions…
All of this is depending on the water level and the route you take through the shoals. You might have to get out of your boat depending on where you go. It is also possible to paddle down and then paddle back up and use the same take-out as put-in. I think most (I know for me it’s true) paddle from the main lot down to the lower take-out. You can leave a car at the lower take-out and drive back to the main lot but it is only about a 1-1.5 mile easy hike from the lower take-out to the main lot. That’s what I’ve done in the past.
Hope this helps string.
Are you you thinking about coming this way and paddle? If so, let me know, if I’m around and free I’ll join you.
Scott
Water is pretty low right now
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/sc/nwis/uv/?site_no=02146000&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00062,00065,72020
Plastic boat would be the ticket, I wouldn’t put the Malecite or Voyager in there.
Let me know if you get up this way. The spider lilies will be in bloom soon if they aren’t already.
We’re planning on Sunday, May 21.
Be there around 8:30 - 9am.
Dwight, the Spider Lillies are the main
reason for going then. I’ll make sure I have plenty of batteries for my digital camera.
Do you have any hints for getting there easily from G’ville? The park website takes you from I-77, and we’re thinking we can probably do I-85 to HWY 9.
May want to re-think your date…
– Last Updated: May-11-06 3:27 PM EST –
May 21st is the date of Lillyfest at the park. There will be people everywhere. You won't even be able to park in the main parking lot. They have to run shuttles all day because people have to park on the sides of the road just to get in the park. Also, if you do decide to go, the park does not open until 9:00 am.
Unless you want to paddle with every "Tom, Dick and Harry" I would advise against planning your trip that weekend. The state park uses ALL of their canoes all day and there are at least three other organizations that run trips down the river that day.
That being said, Lillyfest is a fun time. It's just crowded and there are a lot of people on the water. They usually have booths from different eco. organizations, a band, etc.
Also, I second what dwight said; You do not want to take anything other than a plastic watercraft.
Scott
Thanks for the warning. Maybe we’ll
beat the crowds if we get there at 8:30, and parking won’t be an issue.
We moved the trip to June 3.
We paddled there once and will never…
go back.
The spider lillys are absolutely beautiful, but I don’t understand how they grow in that gross water.
We decided to paddle upriver against the current, and we didn’t go a mile before we decided that the smell of the water was too much for us.
Between the Bowater Pulp mill’s dfischarge and all the discharge from the plants in Rock Hill that river absolutely sucks.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad paddle news, but just maybe some of the mills have cleaned up their acts, and and I hope for your sake they have.
cheers,
JackL
contact joemess
for good info on Lansford SP
Thanks Jack, I think.
Please correct me if I am wrong
I don’t want to turn anyone off if the river has been cleaned up.
I guess paddling the headwaters of the Catawba has ruined me!
Cheers,
JackL
Hey, anything downstream of Charlotte -
but the Celanese plant in Rock Hill is closed now. The lillies probably grow so well because of all the yuppoid yard fertilizer runoff.
Highway 9
is kind of a neat road, It would save you some miles and avoid going through Rock Hill on Hwy 5. Don’t know if it would be faster or not, I seldom go that way. Your restaurants would be the Front Porch at I77 (good Country cooking) the country Omlet next door to it for a good breakfast - get the country ham - the wagon wheel steak house at Hwy 21 and Catawba Fish Camp at Catawba River (closed on Sunday). in Buffaloe SC (just before Union), Odell’s (Midway Barbeque) will be closed, but Andy’s may be open.
Put the first scratches in the Jensen
there with Baldpaddler a few years back. There’s no getting downstream without getting out of your boat. Supposedly Duke Power is now doing timed releases from the dam at Lake Wiley. Timing it right might help. If you just want to see the spider lillies, you can walk out from the canal towpath in several spots and see plenty. Plus, if you’ve never walked the whole towpath, it’s a beautiful little hike down to the ford.
Hmm
You all know that the spider lily’s also grow in parts of the Saluda…, but June 3rd is national Trails day, and i will be working a big trail event.
There are also smatterings of them
all over the various rivers and swamps in Florida and Georgia
Cheers,
JackL
yeah
But the Saluda is a CLEAN river, well the parts I have played in are… But then again I don’t mind The Wateree and Sparkleberry swamp, both of which are filled by the Catawba.