Duck River Haskins Chapel Road to Henry Horton State Park

Estimated Length:  8.6

Date: Oct. 1, 2011

Weather:  Sunny and in the 60’s

Time on River: 3 and 1/2 hours

River Conditions: Class I

Distance from Nashville:  45 Minutes

Close By: Henry Horton State Park

Overview:

Fall was definitely in the air as we started our paddle from Haskins Chapel Rd. to Henry Horton State Park. Even though the temperature was chilly the sun was out bright making for a beautiful blue sky.  The leaves have not yet turned but when they do I hope the colors will be vibrant, maybe in the next couple of weeks. I see another paddle trip in the near future.

No other boats were on the river the whole length of the trip. What a difference compared to 6 weeks ago when we made this trip. At that time there were plenty of other canoeists on the river.

The paddle from Haskins Chapel Road to Hopkins Bridge (about 3 miles)  has the most gorgeous bluffs on the Duck River. Every time I come through here it take my breath away.  The next section of river on down to Henry Horton has still has great bluffs but with lots more niches carved into them making some great rock formations. There are a lot of caves along here but all the land owners have signs asking people to stay out and no trespassing.

The only wildlife we saw this trip was a snake that had just found lunch, a small fish and one lone Heron which we followed most of the way down the river. Do Herons ever fly upstream?

Some friends came along who had never been on the Duck River. It may be a while before they return to the Harpeth .

Put-In:  The dirt road access is not the easiest to spot on Haskins Chapel road   It is located between 2 cement barricades and one of them has “keep out” spray painted on the side but once we found it, it was a straight shot to the river.

Take-Out: Henry Horton State Parks one of the easiest river access points along the Duck river.