Trip Report - Lynches River

Date : February 20-21, 2010

Data : See log sheet , filed separately .

Details : We left the Lynches River County Park at around noon on Saturday , after running shuttle and leaving all of our vehicles with River Rats Outfitters at the lower take-out location . Barry Frick was extremely helpful with information . We had (7) boaters : Bruce , David , Robbie & Catherine in kayaks ; Kyle , Rembert & Ernie in canoes . The weather on both days was excellent , sunny & clear , maybe a little cool . Water level was high , so there was a lot of flooding through the Cyprus & Gum swamp , but only strainers were towards the end of our trip . The current was swift , and so it took very little paddling effort to get along quite nicely . And the natural fall is approximately a foot per mile . This section was relatively wide and very easy to navigate . We found a nice camping spot about a mile below Highway 52 bridge , and on the opposite side of the river from the ... prison ! Except for the shotgun hunters behind us , the all-night trains , and the hoot owls , it was very peaceful . We encountered all kinds of wildlife , including : A snake riding a branch down-river , a swimming beaver ( numerous lodges ) , hawk with squirrel attached , geese , ducks & woodpeckers . Kyle saw an otter while fishing from his solo canoe . Bruce got to see a wild turkey land in a creek , flushed down from roosting ( by canoe ahead ) , and then immediately (4) deer ran by within a boat length of where he had pulled-up next to the bank to watch the turkey . It was a wild weekend !

I would highly recommend this stretch of Lynches River for an easy overnighter , though public access is very limited . There are many small side trip opportunities along the way , and also several very tall bluffs ( 50 or 60 feet high ) . The friendly folks at River Rats Outfitters can handle rentals , group camping , shuttles , anything . Also , the Lynches River County Park has a cool nature center , and a fun swinging walkway that is suspended 40 feet over the Cyprus swamp .

Submitted by : Bruce Monson