January 20 - Saluda River - Greenwood to Murray

Since one of our objectives on this blog is to create a source of information for other paddlers, we are trying to be somewhat adventurous and find routes for which there isn’t much info available. We found one of those routes right in our own backyard.
The amount of information on the Saluda River run from Lake Greenwood to Lake Murray is almost non-existent. We did find a few nuggets of info here and there, but even those sources only covered the first 8 miles. So here you go, folks: a (fairly) comprehensive account of the Saluda River from the Lake Greenwood dam down to Hwy 395 at the mouth of Lake Murray.

We put in at a “fishing access” point just below the Lake Greenwood dam at the intersection of Hwy 34 and the Saluda River. There are actually access points on both sides of the bridge, but beware, because both put-ins have unique challenges. The access on the Newberry side is nice and flat, but you have to carry the boat for about 200 yards down to the water. The Greenwood county access has a nice paved path to the water, but it is a steep and windy descent. We would recommend the Newberry side. There is parking for both access points.

Once you hit the water, you will immediately go under the Hwy 34 bridge. Soon after we went under the bridge, we counted 9 different Great Blue Herons within about 30 seconds that were fishing just downstream of Hwy 34. Almost immediately, we passed under the pedestrian bridge linking a private neighborhood and hunting preserve on either side of the river.

The water was fast moving and we quickly found ourselves at the Hwy 39 bridge, which is about 8 miles downstream. If you are looking for a short trip, (we think) you can take out here, but would not recommend it. The bank is steep and there doesn’t appear to be any parking. This is really just a throw-in, so our advice is to extend your trip and keep paddling.
The next take out was at Hwy 121, which we estimated to be about 19 miles from the put-in. There is a parking area there and a boat ramp. It looked like a perfectly good take-out, but due to some hard headedness, that was not our final destination.
We kept paddling and paddling and paddling and paddling and paddling (it really did start to feel that long). This is actually a nice stretch of the river between Hwy 121 and Hwy 395. The scenery changes as the river starts to feel more like a swamp. Unfortunately, a swamp also means sloooooowwwwww water. After zipping through the first 19 miles, we earned our supper on the last 7. When we finally pulled into the landing at Hwy 395, we were done.

The landing at Hwy 395 (Kempson Bridge Road) is fantastic. There is plenty of paved parking, a boat ramp, a dock and a pier. The shuttle from put-in to take-out was 27 minutes. (Hint: Use Deadfall Road. It is a great shortcut)

Overall, this is a fantastic piece of water. We would highly recommend serious paddlers go out and do the entire thing. It took us about 5 hours of paddling plus a 15 minute lunch break. For those less serious paddlers, we would recommend you start at the Lake Greenwood dam (Hwy 34) and take out at Hwy 121. If you want to see the rest, save it for another day. And we would suggest that you check the water level before you go out there. We haven’t seen it at any other levels, but would suspect that lower water levels could make for a less fun day. We were somewhat nervous about running into one rocky shoal after another, but the water level (3,350 cfs) was sufficient to keep all but the largest rocks safely under water.

Oh, and did we mention???…go and look at www.canoeingforkids.org if you haven’t already. This is a great nonprofit in Lexington, SC that exposes children from all walks of life to the challenge, joy, and serenity the great outdoors and our local rivers provide.

Take a look at our route by clicking here.

Name: Saluda River - 1/20/2014
Activity type: Canoe
Description: Buzzards Roost (Hwy 34) to Kempson Bridge (Hwy 395)
Total distance: 41.98 km (26.1 mi)
Total time: 5:16:17
Moving time: 4:57:12
Average speed: 7.96 km/h (4.9 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 8.47 km/h (5.3 mi/h)
Max speed: 12.89 km/h (8.0 mi/h)
Average pace: 7:32 min/km (12:07 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 7:05 min/km (11:24 min/mi)