Tag Archives: Sasser Landing

A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup 2026-08-29

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Gather at Sasser Landing, caravan to private land to put in, paddle down half a mile to Devil Shoal, then upstream towards GA 135 and back.

Help clear passage through deadfalls, leaving habitat. You can pick up trash, photograph, pull sawed limbs aside, or just paddle.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, August 29, 2026

Put In: Sasser Landing. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river, in Hamilton County.

GPS: 30.599562, -83.069828

[A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup, Meet at Sasser Landing, Saturday, August 28, 2026]
A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup, Meet at Sasser Landing, Saturday, August 28, 2026

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Pictures: Alapahoochee River Cleanup 2026-05-30

Update 2026-08-01: A Devil of an Alapahoochee Cleanup 2026-08-29.

We started at Sasser Landing on the Alapaha River and paddled up the Alapahoochee River, chainsawing passage through several deadfalls, 0.86 river miles up to Devil Shoal, on this May 30, 2026, WWALS river outing.

[Pictures: Alapahoochee River Cleanup, Turket Creek Waterfall, Passage Chainsawed from Sasser Landing up to Devil Shoal 2026-05-30]
Pictures: Alapahoochee River Cleanup, Turket Creek Waterfall, Passage Chainsawed from Sasser Landing up to Devil Shoal 2026-05-30

There was no way to even walk up past Devil Shoal anymore, after Hurricane Helene and numerous other storms. So we turned back, also to get ahead of the predicted thunderstorm.

Of course we stopped at Turket Creek Waterfall, where some dipped in the river and others hiked up the bank.

As we neared Sasser Landing again, our expedition leader Kyle “Bird” Chamberlain summed it up, “We did as much as we could, as long as we could.”

We’ll be back at a later date, to start higher up the Alapahoochee, when the water level gets appropriate again.

Here are some video snippets:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2099033114344650/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZscx7QopwX/

https://youtu.be/hMuKMrxxLDk Continue reading →

Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13

We’ll paddle through a couple of shoals, known as Jennings Defeat: have a tow rope on your boat. There are a few small waterfalls along this stretch from Georgia into Florida.

The takeout is near the confluence of the Alapahoochee & Alapaha Rivers so you have the opportunity to paddle up to Turkett Creek Waterfall before leaving. It’s a real treat!

This 10.36 mile paddle is not recommended for beginners due to deadfall in the river to weave through and lack of level ground to get out of your kayak; there are high banks along this section.

Beware that the last time we did this stretch as a WWALS outing, two people ended up getting married.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2:30 PM, Saturday, June 13, 2026

Put In: Statenville Boat Ramp, 206 GA 94 West, Statenville, GA 31648, right bank, west of river, north of highway bridge, in Echols County.

GPS: 30.704437, -83.03468

[Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13, Jennings Defeat Shoals, Turket Creek Waterfall]
Statenville to Sasser Landing, Alapaha River 2026-06-13, Jennings Defeat Shoals, Turket Creek Waterfall

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Alapahoochee River Cleanup 2026-05-30

Update 2026-06-17: Pictures: Alapahoochee River Cleanup 2026-05-30.

Update 2026-05-28: Changed put-in to Sasser Landing and start time to 10 AM.

Join us for a river cleanup including many deadfalls (we will have chainsaws), some interesting creeks, an old steel bridge, some rapids, and Turket Creek Waterfall.

There are too many deadfalls to get them all, so we’re going to start at Sasser Landing on the Alapaha River and paddle up the Alapahoochee River. When we decide we’re done we can float downstream with the current. Plus, no shuttle.

If the water remains really low, be sure to have a rope on the front of your boat for dragging it across sandbars and shoals.

When: Gather 10 AM, launch 10:30 AM, end 5 PM, Saturday, May 30, 2026

Put In: Sasser Landing. Left bank, east of river, north of CR 150. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to the Alapaha River in Hamilton County.

GPS: 30.599562, -83.069828

[Alapahoochee River Cleanup, Deadfalls and Rapids 2026-05-30, Devil Shoal, Turket Creek WaterFall]
Alapahoochee River Cleanup, Deadfalls and Rapids 2026-05-30, Devil Shoal, Turket Creek WaterFall

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Pictures: Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13

It was fun, the Sasser Landing Cleanup on the Alapaha River 2024-07-13. We also went to Jannings Bluff Landing and the Dead River Sink, all by land.

[Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink]
Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink

Thanks to Dennis J. Price for leading this expedition in Hamilton County, Florida.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter. Continue reading →

Pictures: Alapahoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-07-21

The Alapahoochee River Cleanup was jam-packed, all right, but not exactly how we expected:

There was almost none of the usual trash, but eight of us found something unexpected in the river.

[Alapahoochee River, Chainsaw cleanup 2024-07-21, Snake in hollow log, Dead gator under log]
Alapahoochee River, Chainsaw cleanup 2024-07-21, Snake in hollow log, Dead gator under log

Shawn O’Connor and Quen Metzler and I sawed through the first deadfall in several places. At the last cut, Shawn found a snake in the hollow log. We never did see what kind.

Bird Chamberlain, leading this outing, had already fallen in at the first deadfall. He was in the water pulling sawed logs out of the way.

Shawn said to Bird, that log’s stuck on a sandbar, see if you can pull it over.

Bird pulled, and it wasn’t a sandbar.

A dead gator floated up.

Not knowing the gator was dead, Bird apparently walked on water back to his boat. “I don’t want to play anymore,” he said.

Here are some video snippets: Continue reading →

Sasser Landing Alapaha River Cleanup, 2024-07-13

Update 2025-01-18: Pictures: Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13.

A river cleanup on land, at Sasser Landing, Jannings Bluff Landing, and the Dead River Sink parking lot.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, July 13, 2024

Put In: Sasser Landing, From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river, in Hamilton County, FLorida.

GPS: 30.599562, -83.069828

[On-land Cleanup, Sasser Landing, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Hamilton County, FL]
On-land Cleanup, Sasser Landing, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Hamilton County, FL

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Alapahoochee River Cleanup, 2024-07-21

Update 2024-07-22: Pictures: Alapahoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-07-21.

Join us for a river cleanup including many deadfalls, some interesting creeks, an old steel bridge, some rapids, and Turket Creek Waterfall.

Most paddlers will paddle and collect trash, and some of us will have chainsaws.

This is a relatively strenuous paddle, so it is not recommended for beginners. It’s only 2.83 river miles, but it’s jam-packed.

Thanks to Bird Chamberlain, who lives nearby, for leading this outing.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Sunday, July 21, 2024

Put In: GA 135 Alapahoochee Landing, Between Jennings, Florida, and Statenville, Georgia, in Echols County, 3/4 mile upstream of the GA-FL line and west of Pear Tree Lane, north side of road, left (west) bank.

GPS: 30.62845, -83.0893

[Alapahoochee River, Cleanup 2024-07-21, GA 135 to, Sasser Landing]
Alapahoochee River, Cleanup 2024-07-21, GA 135 to, Sasser Landing

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WWALS Wins Rivers Alive Adopt-A-Stream cleanup award second year running 2023-04-27

Update 2023-05-19: Fixed boat ramp attribution: Nankin, not Sasser.

Thanks to Georgia Rivers Alive for giving WWALS the 2022 Adopt-A-Stream Award for cleanups. This is the second year running WWALS has won this award.

[Nankin Boat Ramp 2022-12-17, Statenville Boat Ramp 2023-01-07, Adopt-A-Stream Award 2023-04-27]
Adopt-A-Stream Award 2023-04-27
Photos: WWALS, at Nankin Boat Ramp 2022-12-17 and Statenville Boat Ramp 2023-01-07

While we appreciate the award, we’d much rather not have trash to clean up. There is some progress on that. The worst trash offender, Valdosta, has now Continue reading →

Pictures: Statenville & Sasser Cleanup, Alapaha River 2023-01-07

We took advantage of a rapidly warming winter day to clean up two Alapaha River Water Trail boat ramps Statenville in Georgia, and Sasser in Florida.

Thanks to Echols County, Georgia, Bailiff Bill Rogers and four probationers for cleaning up before we even got to Statenville Boat Ramp, and for disposing of the trash. We moved along pretty quickly.

Two of our number stayed behind to boat downstream a bit from Statenville and bring trash back up.

[Statenville, Sasser, trash, banners 2023-01-07]
Statenville, Sasser, trash, banners 2023-01-07

The rest of us went on down to Sasser Landing, near Jennings, Florida. I asked a Hamilton County Deputy where we could take that trash, and he said in the dumpster at the jail in Jasper.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped clean up, to Will Hart for leading this outing, to Amy Meyers, Suzy Hall, and Russell Allen McBride for pictures, and to Bobby McKenzie for hauling the Sasser trash to the jail. Russell remarked that most of the Sasser trash was from illegal dumping.

I noted that the Alapaha River was in general much cleaner than the Withlacoochee, and lacking the obvious signatures of Valdosta trash: for example we found no Zacadoo’s in the Alapaha. Continue reading →