The Green River, Our Kentucky Stand By!
We have
canoed the Green River for over 15 years and it is our “go to” river for taking
beginners and for having a good time. There are not many rivers in Kentucky
that you can canoe year round. Over the years we find more and more people
have discovered it as well. We went the
first weekend of November this year, which ended up being an incredibly warm
weekend with the autumn colors still present.
Most of the rock bluffs are usually hidden by the vegetation. At this time, with most of the leaves on the
ground and the cliffs visible, the views were more multidimensional.
From
Dennison Ferry (just past mile marker 205) to Houchin Ferry (just before mile
marker 186), a distance of 19 miles, the Green River flows through Mammoth Cave
National Park. Canoeing is entirely within
the National Park boundaries. Before
starting the trip we picked up a Back Country Use Permit and map at the Mammoth
Cave Visitor Center. The permit allows us to camp wherever we want
along the river. The map is more helpful
than a few other maps that we downloaded.
Putting in at Dennison Ferry is steep
but they have placed a couple of canoe ramps to help lower the canoe down to
the river. Once by the river the
concrete pad gives easy entry into the canoe.
We didn’t put in until 12:00 because of the long shuttle to Houchins
Ferry. The river in this section is slow
with just a few ripples to let us know that “Yes, it actually is moving.” Even though the water levels were low at this
time of the year, we didn’t scrape bottom very often and were impressed that
the river was very clean and we could see down to the pebbly bottom. We were in Mammoth Cave National Park, so as
expected, we floated past several caves.
We took a break at Green River Ferry boat
ramp, and visited the port-o-potties, took a short hike to Echo Spring and
watched the ferry handling a constant traffic of cars. It could only manage 3 cars at once.
Once we left
the Green River Ferry boat ramp (a little before the 197 mile marker), we felt
a bit rushed to make it to a good campsite.
The banks are generally steep so the best camping is usually found on
islands and sand bars. Once leaving the
ferry, we were on a constant vigilance to find a camping spot. For three miles,
there was really nothing possible for camping.
We took the first possible campsite we found on Sand Cave Island, 1/3
mile past Mile Marker 194. At the point
of the island there is an enormous log jam that is bigger than a house reaching
high into the sky. We pitched our tents
and even finished eating before nightfall.
The next
morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast that included sightings of a Bald Eagle
with two immatures near a nesting area.
Starting the day with the fog clinging low to the river, we followed the
Bald Eagles down the river. We need to
say that along the river there is plenty of wildlife. Two 8 point bucks on different sides of the
river just lazily looked at us, while the does were moving through the bush to
stay hidden. One doe we saw was crossing
the river in front of us, swimming with her two ears visible sticking up
looking like ducks swimming. Turkey made
their presence known, as well as pileated woodpeckers and kingfishers. It was difficult to get close to the wood ducks,
but we kept scaring them up. We forgot
to mention the many mussel shells we saw on the islands and at the bottom of
the river. The Green River is home to
more species of freshwater mussels than any other river in North America. The live mussels and their shells are
protected! Collecting is strictly
prohibited.
We canoed
down the river only a mile and “discovered” Sand Cave on the left. It is right after Turnhole Spring. I don’t think we could have canoed further
the previous day to reach Sand Cave, but this is really THE ideal place for
camping. Deep sand, smothered in leaves,
under a large overhang of a cave. A
spring sits in a crevice under the overhang.
We are already making plans to take our grandkids back to camp
here. Canoeing this part of the river
feels like there is no current at all.
It is easy to canoe upstream. We
passed Boardcut Island which would also make a good camping spot.
Lunch
was at Crump Island and we noted its possibilities for camping. By early afternoon we had reached Houchin
Ferry. It was an easy 4 hour float. There is a campground there with
port-a-potties, picnic tables and fire rings.
The Green
River is peaceful and navigable throughout the year for all levels of paddling
expertise. It offers an easy get-away
providing beautiful scenery, frequent wildlife sightings, caves to explore and
an all-around positive opportunity for getting your ‘nature’ fix. Come canoe the Green!
