Retro51

I've been looking for lakes where you can also go up or down a river. I also found this (Big Slough Canoe Trail, part of the Davey Crockett Forest), but would like to hear a report or review. Especially about put-in locations, whether you need someone to pick you up, etc. It is part of the Neches River (or Nueces River), which sounds like a nice kayak trip, but much longer and a pick-up would need to be arranged.

DayTripper

I can't directly address the points you bring up, but I can provide some related information.

Richard M. Donovan wrote a delightful book entitled Paddling the Wild Neches (copyright 2006, Texas A & M University Press). It has been called the Neches River equivalent to John Graves's Goodbye to a River. In order to bring attention to the Neches (the Nueces is in south Texas) in an attempt to keep it from being dammed, Donovan put in the river outside Jacksonville and paddled 200 miles downstream to a takeout in Martin Dies State Park.

Part of his trip took him through the Big Slough Wilderness Area between Crockett and Nacogdoches, and he allots 3 pages to its description. I think that would be an interesting trip, as Donovan indicates there has been no logging in that area since 1968, and one area between the slough and the river has never been logged.

I'll bore you here with a quote from the book:

"The eight-mile loop of river and slough is a famous canoe trail. Most paddlers prefer to travel the circuit clockwise. The easiest place to launch is Scurlock's Camp, one-fourth of a mile from the end of Forest Road 517. From that starting point, one paddles downriver and returns to the launch site via the slough. I have been told that the slough has become choked with logs and is no longer canoeable except in times of high water; very unfortunate, if true."

Again, these are Donovan's words, not mine, and they were written at least 3 years ago, and his actual trip occured in 2001, I believe.

Happy paddling!

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DayTripper