George L. Smith State
Park - 06/19/09
We left home at 6 am and got to the park slightly before 9. This
was our second of six places to canoe in order to meet the "Park Paddlers Club"
requirements. We rented the canoe for 4 hours, which cost $15. I thought that was
longer than we would need, but it didn't work out that way. If you're going to
do this, the first thing you ought to do is go take a look at the map of the
lake/swamp on Google Maps. That will give you a birds eye view of what you're up
against. Then, you need to plan on taking the Red Trail which pretty much goes
up the middle of the lake/swamp. It is pretty well marked with red
reflectors on the trees...yes, there are trees in the lake...lots and lots of
trees. If there are two of you making an effort to watch for the reflectors,
you'll see enough of them to stay on the path. Just be aware that you're going
to zigzag a little. Now I decided we were going to
work our way around the west side of the "lake" following the Yellow Trail.
That one was marked in places, but not very well...at least not well enough for
us to pick it up. To make a long story short, we went a lot further than we
needed to, we got into some nearly impossibly dense areas, and we got lost. By
the time we got to the midway point, we had been paddling 3 hours. By staying on
the Red Trail, we made it back in an hour. This is a beautiful park with some
unique scenery, but trust me and stay on the Red Trail if you make this trip.
Check out a few pictures from our trip here.
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