Crooked River State Park

Crooked River State Park - 07/09/09

This was our last "Park Paddlers Club" canoe trip. Crooked River State Park is down in the southeast corner of the state in St. Marys. This was the only park that doesn't rent canoes and I can't figure out why. There is an outfitter 10-15 minutes away and they'll rent you a very nice canoe for $45/day - Up the Creek Xpeditions / Outfitters. We had a truck to carry it from their location, so we didn't need it, but I believe they will shuttle the canoe to Crooked River for you for an additional charge.

The official trail for the "Park Paddlers Club" is the Cherry Point Trail (4.3 miles), but the tides did not cooperate with us. I asked if we could do one of the other 2 longer trails instead and they said that would be fine (which is typical with all of the Park clubs, they'll let you do more than required). The Park Ranger recommended that we do the 8.4 mile Grover Island trail. You can get a trail map at the park office and it is very helpful. Fold it to fit into a 1-quart freezer bag and it will stay nice and dry on your trip. The trails are well marked, although we did miss a marker or two somehow...no big deal though. We did the entire trip as the tide was going from low to high and I really didn't notice any tidal flow whatsoever. What I did notice was the impact of a stiff northwest to southeast wind. Paddling into it was slow and it also caused a chop to the water. Immediately to the east and south of Grover's island, the water was as smooth as a lake. There was some nice scenery and we also saw dolphins that come up into the area to fish. You can hear them blow as they surface, so they are easy to spot if you're quiet.

I'll defer to the experts on the impact of the tides, but it seemed like a non-issue today. Here's what they say:

Cherry Point Trail	4.3 miles	launch 90 minutes before low tide
Harriett's Bluff Trail	6.3 miles	launch 90 minutes before high tide
Grover Island Trail	8.4 miles	launch 2.5 hours before high tide

You can check tides here or they will check them for you in the park office.

Click here for a few photos from our Crooked River paddle.

Donnie
Mark

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