Harpeth River Hidden Lakes to HWY 249

           Last Saturday we met our friends and hit the Harpeth River for a great paddle. We started at the Hidden Lakes access point and canoed the 8.9 miles to HWY 249. There was not much traffic on this stretch of river and we only ran into 2 other boats the whole day. I don’t think the local outfitters make use of this part of the river.

            Lots of small riffles kept us on our toes and the water was running clear.  If the river was a couple inches shallower in some places we would have been dragging our canoe. So I would definitely paddle this section of river in the spring. We saw some Canadian Geese, a Heron, an otter, a deer and lots of turtles; not bad for one day. There were lots of gravel bars to pull over and take a break. We even found a feeder stream with a small waterfall.

            This section of river crosses I-40 twice but it is not too disruptive to the paddle. Also, the river does not run through that many residential areas, for the most part it feels like you are out in the county.  If you like solitude when paddling try this section of the Harpeth. 

Harpeth River Hwy 70 to Harris St Bridge

Put-In at Hwy 70

          Lex and I made it to the Harpeth River two weeks ago and it was a beautiful day to be on the river. We went to the Harpeth hoping to avoid all the crowds that seem to converge on this river during the summer and it was a success. The water was running fast and deep, no dragging the canoes this trip. This is another reason to paddle the Harpeth in the spring.

            This was the first time that we canoed this section of river, from Hwy 70 to The Narrows of the Harpeth. I had been concerned about the noise from the road traffic but I was surprised how little we actually heard from the cars. This was a great section of the Harpeth, the scenery was great and in a couple of places the rapids kept us on our toes.

Spring Run-Off

            We had Foggy Bottom Canoe Rental shuttle us for $15 and they were great. They came and picked us up within 10 minutes of us calling, so we could get back to our car which we had left at the put in at Hwy 70. With the water running so swiftly we were able to complete the xxx mile paddle from Hwy 70 to Harrison St. Bridge in 3 hours.  We would have completed the trip even in less time if the wind had not been gusting. 

           

Narrows on the Harpeth                            

Estimated Length: 5.3 Miles

Date: March 11, 2014

Weather: Sunny and in the 70's

Time on the River: 2 hours

River Condition: Class 1

Close by: Kingston Springs

Put-In: Harpeth River State Park

Take-Out: Harpeth River State Park

Six months after Lex’s quadruple heart bypass surgery we are back on the river! On Sept. 16 Lex had a scary but also a very successful operation.  We then spent all our time over the next 3 months on the recovery process. By the first of the year it was back to work. So now it was time to make sure our river skills had not left us. The most important skill….. could we get the canoe on top of our Expedition?  We did it!!!

Turtles enjoying the sun

            The first canoe trip of the year is always the Narrows at the Harpeth and it didn't disappoint us this year. The weather was great, no crowds and the water was flowing. You could not ask for a better day. Lots of turtles out enjoying the sun. We even saw some otters but they were way too quick for me to snap their picture.

            I can’t wait for the trees to start budding and flowers to bloom. I am looking forward to great paddling season!

Looking good for 6 months after heart surgery!