Some 130 people from across Georgia and the southeast will converge on the Satilla River this weekend for Paddle Georgia–Spring on the Satilla, a two-day canoe and kayak adventure sponsored by Georgia River Network and Satilla Riverkeeper.
The trip, billed as an educational adventure, will include a group of students from Camden County High School who received scholarships to participate in the journey. During the event, participants will learn about the river and the area’s cultural and natural history through on-river and evening programs.
Representatives from Georgia’s Adopt-A-Stream citizen water monitoring program will also be on the trip, training participants to become water monitors and collecting water samples to determine the health of the Satilla.
“This is much more than just a paddle trip,” said Paddle Georgia Coordinator Joe Cook. “Participants will leave with a greater understanding of the river, its critters and the people who live along it and depend upon it.”
Over the course of two days, paddlers will cover 17 miles of the Satilla’s winding course through lowland swamps and floodplain forests in Charlton and Camden counties while camping at a rustic private getaway overlooking the river in the White Oak community.
“Those of us who live near it know how beautiful this blackwater river is,” said Ashby Nix Worley, Satilla Riverkeeper. “This is an opportunity to introduce a new audience to our river’s charms.”
Spring on the Satilla is a new event in GRN’s Paddle Georgia program. The organization will hold Paddle Georgia 2016 June 18-24 on the Conasauga and Oostanaula rivers in northwest Georgia and Fall Float on the Flint, a three-day adventure on southwest Georgia’s Flint River Oct. 8-10.
Since the first Paddle Georgia in 2005, the organization has led more than 3,800 paddlers on week-long adventures on more than a dozen Georgia rivers, raising more than $280,000 for river protection in Georgia.
Proceeds from Spring on the Satilla will support GRN and Satilla Riverkeeper.
Georgia River Network is a statewide organization working to ensure a clean water legacy by engaging and empowering Georgians to protect, restore and enjoy our rivers from the mountains to the coast.
Satilla Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the river while educating citizens to help ensure a Satilla River that is fishable, swimmable and drinkable for all to enjoy.
