Estimated Length: 5.3
Date: April 9, 2017
Weather: Sunny
Time on River: 2 hour
Put-In: Narrows of the Harpeth
Closest City: Kingston Springs
Take-Out: Narrows of the Harpeth
Outfitter: Canoe Music City, Foggy Bottom, Tip-A-Canoe, Adventures on theHarpeth
Lex and I
started paddling about 6 years ago and it has been amazing to see the growth of this sport/activity in Middle TN. There are 4 big outfitters that I know of that service
this section of Harpeth and probably some smaller ones that I don’t know about. One of
the reasons for the growth of paddling is due to organizations
such as the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSAR) and the Harpeth River
Watershed Association (HRWA). Both associations have joined forces to create
the Harpeth River Blueway Project which has a mission ”to promote recreational
opportunities, safety and the preservation of natural cultural features along
the Harpeth River through the provision/kayak access sites and accompanying
signage”. If you go the following website: http://www.harpethriver.org/programs/recreation/ it will give you great information about current
and proposed recreational access points along the Harpeth. This is a great map to have on hand when
planning any trip down the Harpeth.
The weather
was beautiful for this paddle. There was a breeze which kept things cool but did make paddling a bit difficult
in places. The river was moving at a good clip which made up for having to
fight the headwinds. Vegetation along the river is starting to sprout making everything feel alive. The turtles where out in full force and I was able
to capture a few of them sunning.
My advice to
anyone wanting to take this paddle is get out early in the morning to beat the traffic
from the outfitters or make it a weekday trip.
