Yadkin River Elkin to Donnaha Acces

Trip Overview

A group of us paddled around 30 miles over three days and two nights on the Yadkin River. We hooked up with Yadkin River Adventures in Rockford NC to help us with out shuttle and to use his property to camp on for one of the nights. The first day we shuttled from Rockford to Birch Station Access to paddle 12 miles back down to Rockford and the private access of Yadkin River Adventures. This section of the river is most flat with small sections of ripple water but had a nice flow and we did 12 miles in a little over 5 hours. We arrived back at Rockford to set up camp with our vehicles for the night. Day two we woke up and had breakfast at the Rockford General Store and shuttle our vehicles back up to the property at the outfitter. Be sure to stop in at the general store and have some of their sandwiches made on homemade rolls. Definitely worth the stop just if you are in the area. Day two we paddled down to Pilot Mountain State Park and camped at their kayak and canoe in only site on the river. It is just south of the Shoals Access on the right side of the river. The campsite was nice and clean and well taken care of but it was several feet off the river bank which meant we had to carry our gear to camp. There was a pad with fire ring, a picnic table and a trench toilet. It was July and that was pretty ripe. There was a pad for tent camping also but very little space for hammock camping. We ended up setting up the hammocks in the woods around the campsite. If this site was closer to the river this would be perfect. There is also a large island near here called Fishing Island which had a campsite on it. The site was supposedly closed down by the state park, and no longer legal to camp on. Day three we walked our kayaks up the river to paddle through the best part of Bean Shoals and the rock gardens and rapids around Fishing Island. This day was a short 8 miles down to Donnaha Access and was fairly flat with ripple water after you get through Bean Shoals. Once you get to Donnaha Access pay attention as there will be swimmers in the river on a hot summer day. The beach and the river access are both on the right side of the river near each other. As you paddle down look back when you get near the power lines overhead and you can see the peak of Pilot Mountain in the distance.