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Wow - Columbia!

Submitted by stoneswivel on September 13, 2006 - 8:51am.

Last night at 7PM, I got asked to come to Columbia SC today to put out some "fires" at my company's office there. Of course, before I packed my bag, I threw my Capella on top of the truck. Being brand new to the area, I was wondering if I could get some advice on what a good 1-2 day paddle would be. Chances are, I'll only have Sat PM - Sun PM available, though I may be able to break free for the odd afternoon trip. Ideally, there'd be a good place to camp on the longer trip. Suggestions? Thanks.

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Columbia Paddling

Submitted by Mike Boone on September 14, 2006 - 9:51am.

I see nobody has answered you. I'm one of the minority of club paddlers who doesn't live in Columbia, but I'll try to give you some ideas. Hopefully the locals can fill in the holes in my response.

If you want to paddle close to the city, I can think of these options:

  • Day trip: Saluda River between Lake Murray and the city (you'll need to keep track of the dam releases which turn the river into whitewater...anyone have a link to when this happens?)
  • Day trip: Broad River. This is a beautiful river that I've paddled out of the city, so I don't know exactly where you can paddling near Columbia, but hopefully someone can post.
  • Congaree River: there are a couple places in town you can paddle between. Anyone else with more info?
  • Day trip: Cedar Creek in the Congaree National Park. That link has a map and trip details. If you follow the creek all the way to the Congaree river you could make it an overnight trip. The Cedar Creek can be narrow with lots of deadfalls, so a long kayak like yours might be tough to manuever.
  • Lake Murray: probably too busy with powerboats to be much fun.

I did a little surfing and found this link with more info on Columbia rivers.

If you have time to wander further from Columbia, you could try the North/South forks of the Edisto, the main stem of the Edisto, or the Sparkleberry Swamp. You'd want a map and a GPS for the swamp.

We just had a lot of rain yesterday, so keep an eye on the water levels. Be safe and have fun!

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