Kayaking Brices Creek from Perrytown Rd to Creekside Park

   For Craven County paddlers, anglers, and boaters, Brices Creek is a very popular Eastern North Carolina destination. It's close location to the historic and touristy town of New Bern and both the Trent and Neuse Rivers lure experienced and first time paddlers alike. There's multiple places to launch - we decided this time not to use the popular launch right next to Merchant's Grocery/Gas Station - and instead put-in at the nearby NCWRC site off of Perrytown road. There's lots of parking here and a nice little boat ramp (pictured below).

   The cool thing about launching from Perrytown is that your trip starts off a little wild - not too many houses. We lazily paddled downriver (an upriver route is possible too). It doesn't take long before you start floating by the mostly residential part of the creek. Early summer means wild roses for days!

   It won't take long and you'll reach the dock at Creekside Park. We did a little pit-stop to refill water and let the fur-ball stretch her legs:)  It's a sweet little dock/pier/park - we didn't even know it was here until now - boom!

  We continued on and passed by a partially sunken ship. Spoiler alert: no gold aboard this little guy.

   We spent about an hour and a half on the water before we turned back. We made it from our Perrytown boat ramp past Creekside park and almost to Merchant's (that would be a great place to stop for lunch before the return trip). We were super happy to launch where we did, it was a busy weekend and there was hardly anyone there. Don't forget - other launch sites include the launch by Merchant's Grocery (they offer kayak rentals as well), and further down after the creek meets up with the Trent River at Lawson Creek Park. Lawson is a very popular fishing boat launch - paddlers be careful of the boat traffic. If you're close to New Bern and are seeking a little adventure - you definitely want to give this a try!
    ~Paul, Amber, Fur-ball      ETC

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