By Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
“In the spring of 1962, Yadkinville Explorer Post 655 made a 2-day, one-night voyage on the Yadkin River from Big Elkin creek to the Yadkin River Park at the Old 421 bridge. With Jack Farmer and a Mr. Cronin as our advisors, a dozen teen-aged Scouts paddled the placid river. On Saturday night a heavy rainfall raised the level of the river, so that our paddling was easier over the shoals at East Bend. The entire trip was unforgettable. On a later trip, I joined Bob Pate and his River-running family on a leg of the river downstream from the Donnaha bridge on NC 67 Highway. When I asked Bob for the best way to protect the river, he said to use it for recreation, so that more people could know what the Yadkin is and appreciate its beauty. Your long paddle is part of that tradition.
Best wishes on your journey.”
Andrew and Bambi Bond Mackie
Yadkin County Historical and Genealogical Society
Yadkinville, NC
Elkin sits on the junction of three North Carolina State Trails like a hotel concierge.. “Welcome to the Outdoors, would you like to hike, paddle, or explore American History? We can offer you this and much more…”
We stayed at Crater Park, which is the first spot on the Yadkin River State Trail that allows public camping. There are some more sites upstream that might allow overnight camping to the public in the near future and a few private campgrounds that could open soon. To camp at Crater, you should let the folks at the Heritage Center know that you are there. That’s about it.
We were hoping to sleep in this morning since we pushed to get to Elkin the evening before. The train conductor with his horn had other plans. We packed up and were mostly ready to go before we had scheduled a meet and greet. The highlight of the meet and greet was getting to talk to Michael Pate. He and his family were on the 1982 trip with Floyd Rodgers when he wrote about the “Yadkin Passages.” Michael has been so supportive in my preparations for the trip and has shared much about his and his father’s travels. To finally get to meet him and talk about paddling was something I will appreciate for a long time. But “time and tide waits for no man..” It was 12 o’clock and we had miles to make.
We had watched the water go from red to much clearer as we paddled the day before. This morning we noticed that the water was redder and higher than it was last night. We found out that the Corps of Engineers had twice released water and made our paddling faster and easier. Today we only had to keep the boats pointing downstream and paddle a comfortable pace. We got to our next stop in record time; Double Bluff Landing.
Double Bluff landing is a new park from the city of Jonesville with one of the nicest river accesses on the Yadkin River State Trail. Toby Butcher met us at the ramp to welcome us. He told us about the park and all of the plans for the future. Jonesville is lucky to have leaders that found the funds to provide such an impressive facility for its citizens and attract travelers to enjoy this outdoor nexus along with the Jonesville businesses.
Burch Station.
The confluence of the Yadkin and Mitchel river was a location where we thought that we had a permanent access. So much so that the NC Wildlife Resource Commission came in and built a great access. Then it was discovered that the land was not as secured as we thought. Yadkin Riverkeeper applied and received a grant to purchase the land then pass the ownership to Surry County Recreation to own and maintain. Surry County has done an outstanding job promoting this and other paddle opportunities in the county.
Yadkin Shores
Where Highway 601 crosses is an access called Yadkin Shores, or Crutchfield, or just 601(every access has at least three names). Recent efforts to clear the woods from widowmaker trees has made camping here safer. This is the second spot where camping is permitted on the river.
We got to camp and retired early amidst sporadic rain mixed with clear sky. Typical North Carolina afternoon.
Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper
We had a slower morning after our 30 mile paddle yesterday. We woke up at Crater Park and some folks walked over to a breakfast place in Elkin. I decided to jog over to Big Elkin Creek via the Overmountain Victory Trail.
The day before, we noticed the difference between the orange Elkin Creek and the browner Yadkin River at the confluence yesterday. Local residents and Friends of Big Elkin Creek have been advocating for the state to investigate the tobacco fields contributing to the significant sedimentation of the creek. After every rain, the creek turns a bright orange from the clay soil that is polluting this waterway. This morning, it still had an orange tint, but there were plenty of people enjoying the greenway along the creek.
Dagger please sponsor us!
We slowly packed up camp and prepared for a Meet and Greet. We had some familiar faces and new faces visit us for a send off. Michael Pate, one of the people who paddled the entire Yadkin-Pee Dee River with Douglas Right in 1982 joined us and shared stories from his journey.
After some donuts and warm wishes, we were back on the water. We noticed signs of industry along the way: loud humming noises, outfalls on the stream bank, and several sets of power lines. We enjoyed fun wave chains, cardinal flowers, and a vulture we mistook for an eagle perched high in a tree. As we passed the poultry plants upstream of Burch Station, I collected water quality data from outfalls or ditches that appeared to be transporting stormwater from the property upgradient into the Yadkin River. Throughout this trip I monitored dissolved oxygen, conductivity, temperature, pH, and turbidity. At first glance, everything seemed pretty typical for a freshwater river, but I’ll be sharing the data soon!
After a short 10 mile paddle, we arrived at our camp for the night, Yadkin Shore. We had a nice visit from some family members and my dogs before we took shelter in our tents during our nightly rain.