Overnight Lodging – Gee Farm
We spent the night at the Gee Family farm in Trout, WV, the farm is beautiful and Bonnie & Ben Gee were great hosts. Jackson, the Gee family dog even liked Rasta and Bahama. It was peaceful and relaxing on the farm. In a couple weeks the Poor Farm Music Festival is being held a few miles from the Gee Farm, this is a up start music festival with a good line up, as I headed out from the Gee farm I drove past the farm were the event is being held, they were putting the finishing touches on the stage, hopefully I will be able to get back to the festival and back to the Gee farm.
Jeff had to return to his real job as a realtor with Country Road Realty in Lewisburg (if you need any real estate in the Greenbrier Valley or Snowshoe area) give Jeff a call , so today it is just Rasta and Bahama on the tour.
First stop – Greenbrier River/ Caldwell, WV
After a brief visit to downtown Lewisburg, I stopped by Wild River Coffee and talked with Melvin about paddleboarding in the area, Melvin is a rep for a couple paddleboard companies and enjoys paddleboarding, and he is opening a new bike/paddleboard shop in Lewisburg soon. We headed out Route 60 towards Caldwell to the Greenbrier River, just a couple miles from Lewisburg, there is a small section of the Greenbrier River that pools up and with the right water you can get a short paddle in, today the water was right, about 70 degrees and only moving at about 2mph. The water was fairly clear, the launch is right off of Route 60 before the bridge, it is a nice launch with plenty of parking. We headed out for out next stop, The Greenbrier Resort, no they do not have a paddleboard lake, but they have something almost as good “Iced Peach Tea with simple syrup.” As were arrived at the entrance gate you can only imagine the look from the gate attendant when a jeep with two paddleboards arrived to The Greenbrier, he said we have lot of things to do at the Greenbrier but surfing is not one of the activities we offer, yet, I explained that the boards were paddleboards and that I was heading to Lake Moomaw and that I just need to stop in for my iced peach tea fix, we talked about paddleboarding and I heading to the parking lot. I stopped in for a quick visit to the kitchen store for peach tea bags for home, and then to the lower level to Drapers Café get what I really had stopped in for, two iced peach teas with simple syrup and a couple slices of orange. This iced tea is the best…well worth the quick diversion from our next stop Sherwood Lake.
Lewisburg Area information:
Launch site: Caldwell launch site on Greenbrier River, free
Paddleboard rental nearby or Bring Your Own Board: See Melvin at Wild River Coffee or BYOB
Nearby lodging: Lewisburg motels or go big and spend the night a Jim Justice’s Greenbrier Resort
Dining options: Food & Friends (causal) Café Del Sol (causal) The Greenbrier – The Forum (Italian – try the coal fired pizza) various fast food nearby in Lewisburg or White Sulfur Springs
“Other nearby area activities: Hiking and Mountain Biking – Greenbrier State Forest
Second stop – Sherwood Lake
I almost skipped Sherwood Lake on the tour, but thanks to my talk with Melvin, I decided to make a visit to Sherwood, this is a remote lake, but it has became my favorite small lake for paddleboarding, this lake is epic, today we were one of only a few people in the park, water was glass, the sky was blue with big clouds and it was still the only sound I could hear was a few birds and a camper chopping firewood. The water was a little brackish, 72 degrees, it was the calmest water of the tour, I launched at the boat ramp and headed out around the island to the main body of the lake and paddled in the direction of the dam, then around another island and back by the swim area and through a narrow canal under the walking bridge to the island, this little canal had a marsh area to the right and made for a interesting paddle. Sherwood Lake is a great place to paddle even being a small lake, the lake is a US Forest Service Lake. I will be back during the fall to do a fall foliage paddle session. We loaded up and headed to our next stop Lake Moomaw.
Sherwood Lake Area Information:
Launch site: Boat launch area near swimming area, $3 fee
Paddleboard rental nearby or Bring Your Own Board: BYOB – bring your own board
Nearby lodging: Camping at Sherwood Lake Recreation Area
Dining options: Plan on bring your own food
Other nearby area activities: Hiking, Mountain Biking, Fishing
Third stop – Lake Moomaw
Once I got back into cell service I called a friend from my days at The Homestead Resort, Mike Peery to see if he could get away from work to try a paddleboard session, he was able to get away and we planned to meet a the Fortney Branch Boat Launch, we arrived at the launch before Mike, so Rasta and Bahama did a little swim before we headed out on the paddleboard session. This was Mike’s first paddleboard experience, I gave Mike a brief instructional clinic and we headed out, Mike learned the basics quickly (paddleboarding is easy to learn, the key is getting the basic skills and instruction before heading out on your own). We paddled out the cove to the main body of the lake, the lake has a couple islands to explore, and a nice cove that leads up to the dam . The lake was clear and 72 degrees, the fall drawn down was in progress, so the water level was down about 15’, the coves were calm and glassy, there was slight breeze on the main body of the lake, but the water was still fairly calm, a couple boats from a Friday morning bass fishing tournament. Moomaw is a great lake for camping, they have three camping areas, some are even waterfront, this makes for a nice paddleboard weekend or mid week getaway, there are plenty of areas to explore on the paddleboard around the lake, a couple of my favorite areas are some of the coves that still have standing trees from when the lake was built and the Bolar Flats area, this area normally has plenty of wildlife to view along the shore. Lake Moomaw is a US Forest Service Lake. We loaded up and headed for our next stop Douthat State Park.
Lake Moomaw Area information:
Launch sites: The US Forest Service maintains three launch sites on the lake, Fortney Branch, Cole’s Point and Bolar Flats, $3 fee
Paddleboard rental nearby: BYOB – bring your own board
Nearby lodging: Camping at one of three camping areas in the area
Dining options: bring your own or nearby by in Covington or Hot Springs (15 minutes away)
Other nearby area activities: Mountain Biking, Fishing and Hiking
Third stop – Douthat State Park
We arrived at Douthat Lake late in afternoon; the lake is located about two miles from the entrance gate to the park. I started my paddle session from the boat launch area; this is a great launch site, easy launch, restrooms onsite and plenty of parking. I headed down the right side of the lake, the water was a little cloudy and the visibility was about three feet, the water was calm with very little wind reaching the lake surface, the water temperature was 72 degrees. I paddled past the swimming area, by the lakefront restaurant and on past the dam/spillway area; the lake had quite a few kayakers and a few other small rowboats out enjoying the beautiful afternoon sun. I paddled back up the lake by the waterfront campground and loaded up and headed to the next stop the New River near Radford, Virginia. Douthat is nice state park, they have plenty of recreation options and cabin & camping options for a weekend or midweek getaway in the mountains of Virginia. Douthat Lake is good location to learn to paddleboard with the being small lake, very little wind reaching the lake surface and no other boats except kayaks, canoes and rowboats allowed on the lake.
Douthat Area information:
Launch site: Boat launch area, $3 fee
Paddleboard rental nearby: BYOB – bring your own board (maybe paddleboard rental next year at beach concession)
Nearby lodging: Cabins at the park, camping at the park and motels in nearby Clifton Forge/Covington (10 minutes)
Dining options: Lakefront restaurant at the park, or family restaurants/fast food in Clifton Forge
Other nearby area activities: Mountain Biking, Fishing and Hiking at park
Forth stop – New River near Radford, Virginia
As we exited I – 81, just before the I- 81 bridge, the New River came into view, the road continues along the river past the public access and boat launch area which is located just below the Claytor Lake dam and the area that The Little River and The New River merge, this area is popular with fisherman and river ponds up from below the dam until the I – 81 bridge, it is about 1.5 miles of flat water which works out for a quick paddle session on the New, (since we missed the New at Hinton, West Virginia due to water releases). As I am unloading the paddleboard the sun is setting just above the dam, I head out along the shoreline towards the area where the New and Little River merge, I get a nice view of the sunset before it sets behind the mountains. The water is cloudy, very little visibility and about 70 degrees, the launch had a lot of debris and mud from the heavy rains earlier in the week, this was a quick easy opportunity to paddle the New. Normally the water continues would have been much better. I load up and head to Claytor Lake for the evening.
Radford Area information:
Launch site: Public access & boat launch area below I – 81 bridge, free
Paddleboard rental nearby: BYOB – bring your own board
Nearby lodging: Radford motels & hotels
Dining options: Sportsman Snack Bar near launch, in Radford (5 minutes away) Sal’s (Pizza & Pasta), Taco Inn (Mexican)
Other nearby area activities: Fishing, Hiking, Mountain Biking