By Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Yadkin River Headwaters
Western Civilization has long sought to define the Source of Rivers. You’ve no doubt heard of the search for the Source of the Nile, or the Source of the Amazon. These were massive, multi year endeavors that often left explorers in financial ruin, that is, if they were lucky enough to escape the adventure with their life. It wasn’t until recently that I understood why these quests were worth it. To be able to identify the source is to say that you have mapped the complete basin; every stream or rivulet. And in the age before satellites and Google Maps, having a map is considered a measure of control over a wild area. While there are many springs and water channels that contribute to the flow of a river, the official source is the spring that is the furthest from its mouth to the ocean. That may seem arbitrary. I’ve been to the Source of the Yadkin River and may have felt that there must be more robust springs that could be considered worthy of the title “The Source.” But to know the source is to show that you know the whole territory.
Douglas Right wrote in 1927 about the source in and earlier chronicling of a “Voyage Down the Yadkin-Great Peedee River.”
“The Yadkin River has its source on the summit of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Blowing Rock. A drop of water, falling as rain into the rivulet that issues from the spring in Green Park, courses with the ever-enlarging waters of the Yadkin and Great Peedee rivers into the Atlantic Ocean.”
And Floyd Rogers wrote 54 years later in “Yadkin Passage”
“I have nothing against the Green Park Inn at Blowing Rock It’s a fine old hotel, and I'm told the beds are comfortable and the food palatable, but I wish they hadn't built a parking lot over the Yadkin River” and “In one of its dining rooms, the Green Park has old photographs showing the hotel and a fancy little springhouse nearby that protected the Yadkin Spring. Now, where the spring was, there is a gravel parking lot and a rusting grate over a catch basin.
When it rains, runoff from the parking lot collects in the catch basin and mingles with the spring water. A culvert carries the water to the edge of the parking lot and dumps it down the hillside, which is littered with beer cans and dead brush.”
Both of these accounts are incorrect.
Source of the Yadkin River near Blackberry, NC.
The Source of the Yadkin bubbles up from a modest little spring on private property about 2.5 miles Northeast of where the Green Park Inn has once stood, and will be rebuilt. According to the United States Geological Survey, USGS, the spring beside Huckleberry Road is higher and further from Bottle Channel and the Winyah Bay entrance, just outside Georgetown South Carolina; around 450 miles away. This Summer, a crew from Yadkin Riverkeeper, led by Nicole Eastman and myself, is paddling as much of the Yadkin section of this basin as we can. We will raise interest and funds as we highlight stories and issues along the way.
Our planned journey down the Yadkin River will follow Rogers’ account 44 years ago (1982) and Rights’ travels around a Hundred years ago (1925, ’26, and ’27). As much as there are obvious differences in transportation, agriculture, and use of the Yadkin, the similarities in the Yadkin Basin are also notable. Names, albeit detached from their origin, remain. Rocks and creeks Identified by Daniel Boone still shape the flow of water to the Atlantic. It is these similarities and differences over a hundred years from the first telling of this journey that merit some exploration.
A great debt is owed to the Rogers expedition. When he and the Pate family (Bob, Linda, Micheal and Helen) paddled down the river some people still regarded the Yadkin as a better place to get rid of garbage than the local landfill. This team brought needed attention to the Yadkin at a time when the NC Legislature was interested in promoting natural places. A few years after their trip the Yadkin was made into a State Paddle Trail. In a recent conversation with Michael Pate, he pointed out a number of accesses that were developed as a result of the new found interest. And with that, people took to the water to explore the banks, waters and fishes of the Yadkin once again. As a community of environmentally conscientious paddlers developed, they started looking to share what they have found and protect it for future generations. Many of those people were directly involved with the formation of Yadkin Riverkeeper of which both Nicole and I are employed. Much as the accounts of Right informed the trip of Rogers, now our travels are influenced by them both. Just like a river has its source, their efforts are our source.
Nicole Eastman’s work as Yadkin Riverkeeper involves understanding the water quality of the Yadkin River. Through these articles she will bring a greater understanding of successes and challenges of a healthy river to readers. And my work as Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator focuses on sharing the river. In our travels I plan to show readers a view of the river and its community that I have come to appreciate in my travels through the valley. Together we will paddle roughly 15 days following the Yadkin through communities as we journey downstream. Along the way there may be opportunities for you, the reader, to join us or help sponsor the effort to bring attention to the Yadkin and the Yadkin Riverkeeper organization. Look for stories and news on the The Long Paddle on the Yadkin River State Trail | Facebook. Check with yadkinriverkeeper.com to find out where you can join along, or sponsor the Long Paddle here.