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Day 5
Magnolia Swamp Stomp
The day begins at the aptly named Benjamin Hawkins Bridge over the Flint—named for the man who represented the U.S. government in dealing with the Native Americans of the area from 1796 until 1816. You may find this stretch of river much the way Hawkins found it in the early 1800s—wild and untamed.
Only an occasional intrusion of man serves as a reminder of the modern world—a house here, a fish camp there, a powerline, a railroad. This dearth of signs of “civilization” is due to the fact that for almost the full 17-mile length of the day’s paddle, the river is flanked by the massive Magnolia Swamp—a low-lying land covered in hardwood forest whose roots sit in water for much of the year.
At mile three, the river takes on the characteristics of a true Coastal Plain river, switching back on itself like a frightened snake and forming a series of unique cut offs in which a stretch of nearly two miles of the main channel can be by-passed in high water.
Remnants of the old river in the form of oxbow lakes dot the map on either flank of the main channel, and again in the day’s final mile, you’ll see where the river has cut a new, straighter course, eliminating an older, longer route to its destination.
Sandbars line the inside bends of just about every turn of the river, making for great resting and play spots. Tributary creeks provide access to intimate, quiet excursions into the heart of the nearby swamp, and on occasion you’ll pass by undercut banks exposing kaolin and clay deposits.
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