Spa Creek / Truxtun Park in Maryland

Trip Overview

We took a day trip to the waters surrounding her alma mater to do some exploring on a beautiful day. Our launch point was at Truxtun Park in the Eastport section of Annapolis; it was a bit further from the Bay itself than we wanted, but it gave us an opportunity to explore the Academy by water, as well as marvel at the cornucopia of very expensive watercraft that abound in the area as well as experience downtown Annapolis (DTA for Academy-goers).

The launch point has a little beach that's perfect for launching. We paddled up Spa Creek towards the Bay, passing through Annapolis; this is a busy area with everything from dinghies to 100 foot long ocean-going yachts plying the waters, so it's best to either stay completely out of the channel or know the rules of the road.

Once we exited the mouth of Spa Creek we paddled through Annapolis Harbor and turned ESE down Sycamore and Horn Points before turning due east towards the towers on Greenbury Point. We had a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge the entire time and the choppy waters were fun to paddle without making us feel too unstable.

The waves provided some easy surfing back west before we turned up the Severn River, paddling along the eastern shore, which also had a lot of large and small traffic, but provided a great view of the Naval Academy along the western shore. We turned at the Severn River Bridge and paddled along the Naval Academy seawall, taking a detour up College Creek to Hubbard Hall, the Naval Academy crew boathouse.

At Farragut Field we turned back towards Spa Creek, briefly paddling into downtown Annapolis, where throngs of people sat at outdoor restaurants and clustered around the Alex Haley Monument. Our paddle to the launch point took us back along the crowded shoreline to Truxtun Park.

Accommodations:

The Truxtun Park launch site has parking, bathroom facilities and both a dock and beach to launch from.

Fees:

No

Directions:

The launch point is located at 38.968475 -76.498539.
To download a GPS file or GoogleEarth file for the trip, go to www.brkayak.com.

Resources:

Chart: Chesapeake Bay Severn and Magothy Rivers 12282_1