Contentnea Creek Section 4

Trip Overview

We paddled Section 4 of Contentnea Creek (as described on Paul Ferguson's book). It is beautiful, remote, scenic, and not an easy paddle. The river was slightly below the minimum (2.38 at Lucama). The minimum is a good guide. Good parts: Clear water, sandy bottom most of the way Lots of large fish visible - gar, catfish, bass, others Saw turtles and a muskrat swimming in the water Lots of birds including an owl flying closeby Lots of deer trying to sleep along the banks no houses, only 2 people Not so good parts: Lots of downed trees, especially in the first couple miles. We hauled the boats over at least 29 logs, including at least 3 that required us to go up the bank. This does not count the MANY times we got out to go over sand bars or logs right at the water line or the many logs 6-12" above the water. Slick banks at times with mud The put-in required a 6' drop down to the water (not too bad if you have a rope on your boat) It was a good thing this is summer, we were wet to our waist all day.