Duck River Warner Bridge to Halls Mill

Estimated Length:  7.6 Miles

Date: Oct. 9, 2011

Weather:  Sunny and in the 70’s

Time on River: 3 and 1/2 hours

River Conditions: Class I

Distance from Nashville: 45 minutes

Close By: Chapel Hill, Henry Horton State Park and Cedar Rock Lodge

Put-In:  Warner Bridge                         

Take-Out: Halls Mill

Overview:

I wish the weather would stay just like this and we could skip winter all together. It was beautiful today. This stretch of river surprised us with its majestic bluffs, great rock formation and a waterfall!!!

We put-in just down stream from Warner Bridge. As we got out of the car we spotted a  dog that was stranded on a log jammed up against the bridge pylon. After a serious discussion of how to rescue the animal without tipping us into the river or getting bit by the dog, Lex and I managed to lift him into our canoe and back over to shore. The poor thing was freezing. It looked like it had spent the night with half its body in the river. He did have a collar and was well feed so we knew he had a home close by. Later when we came back to get our car he was nowhere to be seen and must have gone home for some dinner.

The staff at Cedar Rock Lodge have a great since of humor. We ran into some of their buddies as we started our trip down the river.

As usual we had the river to ourselves. We did have to portage at one spot where a tree had blocked the river. This section of the river does have some extremes, at places is was very broad which we had to paddle thru with muscle but then it would  narrow and test our canoeing skills.

The gem of the trip was the waterfall. We did run into a father and son fishing at this location. What a great place to have lunch. The pictures speak for themselves.

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.