Category Archives: Blueway

Troupville River Camp on Valdosta City Council agenda 2019-12-05

On the Valdosta City Council agenda for 5:30 PM this Thursday is:

7.b. Consideration of a request from the WWALS Watershed Coalition for a Letter of Support for the Troupville River Camp.

[2019-10-31--center-of-wlrwt]
Troupville River Camp at the center of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), leading from the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers upstream in Georgia, down the Withlacoochee River to Florida and the Suwannee River, with its own River Camps.

If I understand correctly, the Mayor plans to discuss this item with Council, and then write and send a letter of support. Anyone who wants to attend to support this action by Valdosta, please come. I may stand up afterwards in Citizens to Be Heard to thank them.

At 5:30 PM, Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, I will Continue reading →

Pictures: Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River cleanup and paddle 2019-11-16

A gate, a tire, and bags of trash cleaned up at Nankin Boat Ramp, on the Withlacoochee River, and at Four Freedoms Trail, on our November 16, 2019 Withlacoochee River cleanup and paddle. Plus plenty of shoals, a sunken boat, a creek, McIntyre Spring, cypress knees, and skinned shins, all ending up at the old railroad trestle.

[Three in a row]
Three in a row

Our destination was the old railroad trestle, just past which is the takeout onto the Four Freedoms Trail in Madison County, Florida.

[We made it]
We made it

Parallel trash retrieval missions for a gate and for a tire at Nankin Boat Ramp, under the bridge for Clyattville-Nankin Road. Continue reading →

Final Finishers, WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Thanks to Bret Wagenhorst, here are pictures of the last four boats to finish in WWALS Boomerang 2019. Come on down to Boomerang2020, and before that we have a cleanup on the Withlacoochee, a Light Parade at Banks Lake, and of course the Eighth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race, among many other outings and events.

Conn and Trudy Cole of Barwick, Brooks County, Georgia, were in the first and only Canoe.

[2:19:28 Conn and Trudy Cole]
2:19:28 Conn and Trudy Cole

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman of unincorporated Lowndes County, GA, says he wasn’t trying to win anything, which is good, because Continue reading →

Sponsors up and down I-75 on Water Trail Brochures

Update 2021-05-02: WWALS has printed 10,000 z-fold brochures for each of two water trails, through a generous grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR). Plus Georgia Beer Company is a new sponsor, adding to a long list of cities, counties, tourist councils, and development authorities that have assisted with money or letters or resolutions of support. The images here are updated to what we printed. Contact us to get printed copies of these brochures: they’re free to individuals or to groups that will distribute them to the public.

[ARWT front and back, WLRWT mapside]
ARWT front and back, WLRWT mapside

There’s still room for sponsor logos on these proofs of brochures ready to print 10,000 copies of each to distribute in Georgia and Florida on I-75 and elsewhere. This will be is the third edition of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) brochure, and the first-ever Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) brochure.

You can join this opportunity for only $500 per sponsor to help defray the cash match for the grant, online, or contact us. Or maybe you’d like to contribute to our water trail signs.

WWALS is currently updating all our online water trail maps and web pages. You can help:
https://forms.gle/qXkPr7eCK51P4X4u7

There are also many other ways you can participate in the activities and advocacy of WWALS:
https://wwals.net/donations/

Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

See: https://wwals.net/maps/alapaha-water-trail/

The two previous ARWT brochure editions, 10,000 copies each, lasted about four years. This one has Continue reading →

Troupville River Camp, center of Little and Withlacoochee River Water Trail 2019-10-31

Here’s the narrative we sent Thursday in the WWALS pre-application to the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program (GOSP) (many more details are on the WWALS website):

A Troupville River Camp will attract paddling and fishing enthusiasts of all ages. The property is located at the Confluence of the Little River with the Withlacoochee River, off of I-75 and GA 133 just west of Valdosta, the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin. Proposed amenities include air-conditioned bathrooms, hot and cold running water, five screened sleeping platforms, picnic tables and benches, outdoor fire pits, and paddle boat racks for canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards, with river access near the Confluence.

[Paddlers departing in the Confluence Viewscape]
Paddlers departing in the Confluence Viewscape

The location is historic, where Troupville was the former Lowndes County seat before Valdosta, from 1833 to 1860. The property has been privately owned since then and is now available for purchase for this purpose.


Map of Troupville, GA adapted from C.S. Morgan, in Ray City History Blog, 9 February 2014, Map of Old Troupville, GA with Notes on the Residents.
jsq note: the scale of the streets on this map is too large; few of them extended onto the subject property;
thanks for clarification by Wiregrass Region Digital History Project (WRDHP).

The Land Between the Rivers has Continue reading →

Cindy Leighton with Paddle Georgia on the Withlacoochee River –Herald-Leader 2019-08-28

The story begins, “When Cindy Leighton set out on the 2019 Paddle Georgia trip on June 15, putting her kayak into the waters of the Little River, she was taking part in something Paddle Georgia hasn’t done before — heading to Florida.”

WWALS member Cindy Leighton sent us images of this story by Sherri Butler, Herald-Leader, Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia, Section B Feature Front, August 28, 2019, Paddle Georgia crosses the line for a river journey spotlighting lue springs of Florida, which goes beyond Paddle Georgia into Water Trails and River Camps.

[Front page]
Front page

On the feature front page, Continue reading →

Winners: WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Update 2019-11-13: Pictures of the Final Finishers.

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

Hahira, Georgia, October 30, 2019 — Twice the paddlers this year participated in the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang Paddle Race into Florida and back to Georgia. That’s two dozen paddlers and about fifty people last Saturday at State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

[Winner: russell-mcbride-crop]
Winner: Russell McBride

“Paddlers from 3 to 69 years old included five parent-child tandems, and three solo children. All were led by overall winner and first male paddler Russell McBride, of Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, in a solo kayak, and first female paddler Jennifer James of Waldo, Alachua County, Florida, on a stand up paddle board,” reported Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie.

[MVI_1263-russell-mcbride-old-bridge-closeup] [MVI_1263-jennifer-james]

Winning in categories were Continue reading →

Pictures: WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Update 219-10-30: The winners.

We’ll announce the winners soon. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang.

[Around the bend, 30.63533, -83.30991]
Around the bend, 30.6353300, -83.3099100

Special thanks to Hamilton County, Florida, Commissioner Beth Burnam for welcoming all the paddlers to Florida. Continue reading →

Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River, Cleanup and Paddle 2019-11-16

Update 2019-11-22: Some pictures.

Join us to clean up trash at Nankin Boat Ramp in Lowndes County, Georgia. Bring a boat and join us paddling down the Withlacoochee River, continuing cleanuing up. We will stop at second-magnitude McIntyre Spring in Brooks County, Georgia, which should be flowing fine about now. Thanks to special permission from Madison County, Florida, we will take a few vehicles down to the river at the end of the Four Freedoms Trail to collect an abandoned canoe and other items, and we will take out there.

When: Gather 9:00 AM, launch 10 AM, Saturday, November 16, 2019

Put In: Nankin Boat Ramp, 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.675192, -83.394143

Take Out: Four Freedoms Trail, NE Peppermint Trail, Pinetta, FL, Madison County.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup, especially this one.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

[Upstream, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451]
Photo: John S Quarterman, Upstream under the abandoned railroad trestle, at the end of Four Freedoms Trail, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451

Continue reading →

Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River, Madison County, Florida 2019-10-17

Here’s the Withlacoochee River from the only public access near State Line Shoals: the Madison County, Florida, Four Freedoms Trail. It’s on the former right of way of the Valdosta Railway, formerly Valdosta Southern Railway (VSO), formerly Georgia and Florida Railroad, built in the late 19th century as Florida Midland and Georgia Railroad. The same Valdosta Railway is still in use from Valdosta to Clyattville, Lowndes County, Georgia.

[RR Trestle, 2019:10:17 15:59:24, 30.6294432, -83.3186451]
RR Trestle, 2019:10:17 15:59:24, 30.6294432, -83.3186451

You can paddle down the river to the Four Freedoms Trail from Nankin Boat Ramp, about six miles, past McIntyre Spring.

Or upstream about four miles from State Line Ramp, although that could be challenging right now with the Withlacoochee River this low.

All these points are on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). Continue reading →