Looking to kayak in New Bern, North Carolina? In our last post from the East Coast we launched from the opposite side of the Neuse River, away from town. However, if you're in downtown New Bern and feel the urge for a quick paddle just stroll over to Union Point Park. There's a boat ramp for bigger boats just around the corner, plenty of waterfront to enjoy, lots of parking, and a wooden dock to launch your kayak from.

   The Neuse River flows pretty slow here and without wind it's pretty glassy. Just up from the park is a nice little waterfront area called Skipjack Landing. There's a restaurant called Persimmons with a great outdoor seating area and gorgeous views of the river. Next-door/across the street is the Galley Marina & Store, a full service marina and grocery with all kinds of yummies and daily specials. The only negative for paddlers - the marina doesn't technically have a place to put in a kayak. You could probably unofficially launch from here without being bothered (we call it a rogue-launch:), but it's just as easy to launch from nearby Union Point Park.

   If you keep exploring you'll discover more of the town - beautiful architecture, moss covered oak trees, great historic buildings like the amazing Tryon Palace, quaint bed & breakfasts - we love the Hanna House, and a tasty little delicatessen - the Pollock Street Delicatessen. New Bern is super-ultra-totally-amazingly-quaint…and more importantly, close to the water with access to Union Point Park and a gorgeous paddle on the river.
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

   I took a quick trip to North Carolina back in September - with my kayak in the carry-on of course - and with only a few days to explore. If you haven't been to North Carolina, I like to think of it as a combination of Missouri (where I'm originally from) and Florida (where my wife's from). Woods, beaches, country-folk, a few big cities, farms, and most importantly, lots of paddle-able water. 
   Captain wifey's family lives near the town of New Bern. It's located at the end of the Neuse River, right where the river meets up with the Trent River and they both empty into the Pamlico Sound (which eventually leads to the Atlantic ocean). New Bern's a charming little town - we actually got married here - call it a truce between the Midwest & South Florida.

   Our first order of business was to get our kayak in the water. We launched on the very end of the Neuse River from the Bridgeton Boating Area ramp on wildlife road - across the water from New Bern and just off US highway 17. It has a well-maintained dock/boat ramp/parking-lot. The dock was a little high (as usual) for launching a kayak, but we made it work (as usual). The river here was slow moving if moving at all - we paddled up and downriver against no noticeable current.

   It's been awhile since I paddled on the East Coast. In photographer language this means I took way too many pictures. Every stick in the mud looks gorgeous. The textures are so different from my usual paddles here in the Northwest…I tried my best not to take too many pictures but failed…I got home with lots of pictures of sticks & mud (many I deleted).

   We saw plenty of crankies and a few bald eagles on our paddle - which we are super used to seeing in the NW - "Oh look honey, another bald eagle". We also had a very interesting fish jumping sequence where we were surrounded by a large school of decent size fish, all jumping out of the water at the same time for some reason (expect to see video soon on our video page).

   All & all, a nice little paddle on the amazing Neuse river. A little research revels that the Neuse is the longest river that is entirely in the state of North Carolina. It was once inhabited by (and named after) a Native American tribe called the Neusiok. Many other tribes once lived in this area of North Carolina too, including the Secotan, Weapomeoc, Coree, & the Tuscarora. The river begins North of Raleigh, near Falls Lake. It is about 275 miles long (with about 200 paddle-able miles below the lake and out to the Pamlico Sound), with the widest parts near the end at New Bern.
   The river has seen better days as far as water quality goes - it turns out that factories and farms dumping who knows what into the river over the years is complicating things. Be sure to check out what the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation is doing to help protect this American waterway.

   So, now it's time to pop the big question…not that question - remember, wifey and I already tied-the-knot here in New Bern a few years ago! Is there a longer Neuse River paddle in our future? Maybe all 200 miles? We hope so. Until then I will paddle vicariously through the many links I have provided below…

   ~Paul, Amber, Anna   ETC

For more info, check these please…do it.
1. A great video from Source to Sea, a retired? blogger who paddled the whole thing - it took him 9 days!
2. Sierra Club Trails post with info about Neuse River put-ins.
3. An informative (yet dated) brochure on Neuse River Recreation Area campground.
4. An interactive user-created Google Neuse River paddle map…this thing is sweet.
5. Another paddle map used by the paddler from #1 on this list.
6. The Neuse River section from the Source to Sea website.
7. Boating in North Carolina official stuff.
8. Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation

   {Maybe}. Dash Point State Park might be a good place to camp on a multi-day paddle - it depends on your gear and how peaceful you want it. We visited the state park recently, not to be confused with Dash Point Park, located just south of this place (Dash Point Park has an L-shaped fishing pier…and is actually on Dash Point). The state park is on the Puget Sound, about 6 miles north of Tacoma and 20 miles south of Seattle, located in Federal Way. We visited in the winter and the place was empty. It's a pretty hilly park, heavily wooded, with a nice beach, lots of hiking trails, and a campground. A Discover Pass is required to park a vehicle.
   A cool thing about the park for folks in the South Sound - there is sand on the beach (instead of the usual NW rocks)! People actually swim here in the summer. Now, let's get this straight - I don't recommend swimming the usually-40-ish-degree Puget Sound. However, people swim here. A minor slope extends out a few thousand feet into the water here making it super shallow. When the sun warms the shallow water it must make it bearable to take the plunge…or NW people are a little kooky and will swim in any temperature of water (one of these statements is correct:).

   Alright, settle down people. Back to winter hiking and the possibility of one day kayak camping on an amazing paddle from Olympia to Seattle…or wherever your plans take you. From the online reviews of the park (which can or can't be trusted…I haven't decided), it seems like the state park can get pretty busy in the warmer months. The question is, will you want to deal with car-camper-party-folks after a long day of paddling? Probably not. With that said, they do have discounted water trail campsites available. It's nice to know it's here if you really needed it on a trek north or south. 

   The hiking trails in the park connect to a somewhat larger network that seems pretty popular with mountain bikers. I would be careful hiking on the mountain bike trails - it's a collision waiting to happen! At low tide it is possible to walk down the beach to actual Dash Point and Dash Point Park/the fishing pier. 
   A reason why it might-not be a OK place to camp on a multi-day paddle - the campground is a good distance from the water…and up a hill…only ok if you have a cart or an inflatable situation like us:) It really depends on your gear.

   On our visit we walked from the state park parking lot to the beach (it was close). We then hiked all over the place, including hiking out of the park on other trails that put us in a nice residential area (neighborhood pics below) and up what is apparently called "Heart Attack Hill". P.S. Our wives always get mad when we hike on trails without mapping it out first and then end up in residential areas…it has surprisingly happened quite a few times…but who's counting? 
   We left King county and entered it again, went off trail for a few minutes (our wives usually hate this too) and finally got back to where we started. It was nice to get out in the winter. The actual state park has around 11 miles of hiking trails and is just under 400 acres in size.

   So, Dash Point State Park is great for hiking and swimming, OK for camping, but you'd probably want to scope it out for kayak camping before you include it in you plans. They do take reservations in the summer months which is nice. There's a few links below to get you started, enjoy!
      ~Paul, Micah, John    ETC

Camping info from the state park website here.
Map of the park and campground here.
General info about the park (for camping) from www.stateparks.com
A nice little article about the park from NW Tripfinder.

   Lately we've been exploring some of the many parks scattered along the coast of Washington's Puget Sound. We like to visit them in the offseason (it's winter around here), mainly because they're usually free of crowds & traffic. It also helps us out for the upcoming summer - we know where to go, where to park, where to launch a kayak. Also, when I can, I like to see future paddle trips from the land first,  it's helps orient things when I'm on the water.
   When we get home from a day out, I eventually download all of the pictures from the adventure, delete the blurry ones, edit, delete, import, export,  move to this app, move to that one, upload, and download. Once I have the pictures organized in article format, I start researching where we've been. That's right. With most park visits: I research after we get home.
   Now, not all trips are like this - paddling & sailing trips are way different. We check the tides, check the currents, check the weather, check all kinds of stuff. With park visits it's sometimes nice going in ready to hike, ready to learn, ready to take pictures, ready to get lost, but not exactly knowing what's going on.

     With this in mind we set out for the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Located just off I-5 between Tacoma and Olympia Washington, the refuge is a protected estuary formed by the freshwater of the Nisqually River & McAlister Creek emptying out and meeting the saltwater of the Puget Sound. The Nisqually Delta is biologically diverse - animals all over the place - and is heavily influenced by the tide. I could tell this from the map - the refuge is a giant green spot. 
   From paddling the Skagit & Stillaguamish river deltas I could kinda imagine what it would be like. You can see the refuge in the map below. Just follow the signs off of I-5 to get there, the 'A' on this map is a boat ramp (discover pass required), adjacent to the reserve, suitable for launching a kayak and paddling up McAlister Creek (most of the actual refuge is off limits to boats).

   When you arrive at the refuge there is a $3 parking fee and lots of spots (I'm sure it gets crowded on the weekends in the summer). There is a nice visitor center & restrooms. There are a few trail choices - about the most you can go is the 4 mile roundtrip boardwalk trail, it's sort of an out and back.
   Since the tide is in and out a couple times per day, the Washington Fish & Wildlife department worked to build the boardwalk that takes you out to the far reaches of the refuge. Informational boards are around to give you an idea of what exactly is going on with the thousands of migrating birds, various mammals, amphibians, and reptiles that live and/or frequent the area.

   From a paddlers point of view, most of the area is off limits to boats (that includes kayaks). The picture below of a couple canoeing is from McAlister Creek - located adjacent to the refuge. A nearby boat ramp gives great access to the creek. Personally, I'd wait until waterfowl hunting season is over to paddle around here just to be safe…or at least wear some orange? The season in WA usually happens October-ish to February-ish. Here's a link with more info.

   That about covers the facts, what did I uncover post-visit about the history of the place? Well, let's start out with a shout-out to the Nisqually Tribe who have lived & fished salmon on the Nisqually River for…wait for it…thousands of years. (the river starts miles away on the south side of Mt. Rainier, otherwise known as Volcano Rainier). Just step back and think about that for a minute. Thousands of years.
   Enter the white man in the mid 18oos and a treaty that was eventually signed between them and the Nisqually tribe. Actually, we are pretty sure that Chief Leschi (Leschi neighborhood of Seattle anyone?) of the Nisqually didn't, or at least didn't want to, sign this treaty - called the Medicine Creek Treaty (P.S. Medicine Creek is now called McAlister Creek - the one in the picture above with the canoeing couple). 
   At any rate, the tribe was relocated and the white man obviously settled. There's also now a military base on part of the tribal land. I think we can, if anything, at least know and respect this history while playing/walking/taking pictures/kayaking/hunting on the Nisqually.

   That's a wrap! We highly recommend checking out the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Take a lunch - there are plenty of tables for a break. Take a zoom lens for your camera & binoculars too. Word on the creek is there are snowy owls there right now!
   Check the tides before you go if you want to see the mudflats (mudflats sometimes = better birding). If you want to kayak near the reserve, use the boat ramp adjacent to the park (the map at the beginning of this post). When you're there, imagine the thousands of years that people have lived on this delta & river…amazing stuff. Oh ya, if you see one, don't kiss the poisonous newts.
   ~Paul & Amber    ETC