Little River Day Cruise

Trip Overview

Me and my boyfriend The Captain chose this as an easy fun paddle, easy logistics too with this being a well established run. Our friend Nate came with in his bright blue kayak. We rode in our big green canoe. Decided to leave our dog at home since he has been dealing with knee issues, plus it was a hot day. :-(

We had all three already driven to River Johns Outfitters and paid the $15 to park our car and self-shuttle. I dont like paying money to park, but actually this was a pretty fun place just to explore. There's restrooms, a general store if you need anything, plenty of shade, and a creek to wade in while you wait for your pick up! A Cross Fit group of probably 50 people where camping that weekend at River John's, and we enjoyed some people watching while preparing our shuttle.

Next, we drove to Perry's Dam for the start of our paddle. Perry's Dam has a large parking lot right off the highway. You can type it in the GPS and it will take you right there! Some folks were playing in the water and fishing by the dam. The put-in was easy-peasy, and as soon as we hit the water we were struck by what a beautiful place this was. The Little River is crystal clear. Dozens of brown trout and colored speckled trout can be seen dancing below. We also saw several kingfishers, blue heron, and green heron. Butterflies danced around the surviving wildflowers. We are in late summer, and the leaves at just now barely starting to fall off their branches and leaves colorful confetti on the water.

The water was low, about 92 CFS, which wasnt ideal. The canoe did just fine and we only got stuck on the ground floor twice. Our buddy Nate had more trouble grounding in his kayak than in our canoe, surprisingly. We had some very easy rapids, and only one that required any kind of maneuvering. Nate also forgot to bring more than just one bottle of water. A couple hours in, he made the hilarious remark:, "So hey, that seltzer water you guys brought...is that, like, water?" Lol. We gave him some.

The trip from Peerys Dam to River Johns took about 4 1/2 hours. If the water was higher would probably have taken 3 hours. Its easy and fun for any age. I wouldnt recommend using a tube, because your butt would scrape the bottom. This is a beautiful stretch of river and I'll be back- this time with a fishing pole!