Registration opportunities winding down for Fall Float on Flint

ALBANY — Only a few days remain to register for Georgia River Network’s Paddle Georgia Fall Float on the Flint, a two-day, 36-mile canoe and kayak journey on the Flint River set for Oct. 4-6. The registration deadline is Sept. 27. Interested parties can learn more and register at https://garivers.org/fall-float-on-the-flint/.

The journey runs from Newton to near Bainbridge and takes in some of the Flint’s most scenic portions in southwest Georgia. Soaring limestone bluffs front the route while breathtakingly cold blue hole springs spill into the river.

“This is our 11th year running this route each fall,” Paddle Georgia Coordinator Joe Cook said. “It’s a crowd favorite so we keep coming back year after year. It’s arguably one of the prettiest paddle routes in the state.”

The trip is much more than just a paddle trip, organizers say. It includes camping at Rocky Bend Flint River Retreat in Newton, catered meals, nightly guest speakers and on-river education opportunities, as well as opportunities to become certified as a Georgia Adopt-A-Stream citizen water monitor.

Steve Golladay, a biologist with the Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway, will lead participants on a freshwater mussel “hunt” and speak to the group on the evening of Oct. 4, while Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers will discuss the riverkeeper’s efforts to protect the Flint on Oct. 5. The group also will visit Jones Center property and long-leaf pine habitat as they make their way down river.

Registration fees range from $185 to $355 and include campsite, shuttle and guide services, event T-shirt or other Georgia River Network merchandise, river maps/guides and six catered meals.

The trip is suitable for novice paddlers as well as experienced paddlers. Over the years, paddlers have ranged in age from 4 to 84, with many families participating.

Fall Float on the Flint is an offshoot of Georgia River Network’s annual Paddle Georgia event, a seven-day voyage that takes place on a different river each summer. Since its inception in 2005, GRN’s Paddle Georgia trips have introduced more than 7,000 people to Georgia’s rivers and raised more than $800,000 for river protection projects.

Georgia River Network is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to protect and connect people with Georgia’s rivers. Those interested in participating can get more information at the Paddle Georgia website at http://www.garivers.org/paddle-georgia or by contacting Cook at (706) 409-0128 or [email protected].

Special Photo: Georgia River Network