March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Organize your paddling trips here, or find out about upcoming trips you may want to join
Stan
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March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Stan » Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:54 am

This new 4.5 mile water trail is in the Bell Slough Wildlife Management Area. This is a flatwater trip. No current but quite a bit of maneuvering as we follow the winding trail through the trees.

We will meet at 9 AM at the Palarm Creek parking lot. Travel east on Grassy Lake Road which is off of Highway 365 just south of Mayflower. (A brown Arkansas Game & Fish sign is at the intersection.) Go under I-40 & turn right at the stop sign. Cross Palarm Creek and immediately turn left into the parking lot. We will then caravan to Grassy Lake. (The put-in is reached by traveling farther down Grassy Lake Road. At each intersection, bear left. After about a mile turn left at the large green Arkansas Game & Fish sign. Travel about 0.7 mile more to the large put-in parking lot. Shortly before the parking lot a road comes in from the left. Ignore that road & continue straight ahead.)

Margaret Bartelt (AKA “Stan”)

jwcava
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:43 am

Would like to join this trip. Can you give a rough estimate of time it will take? I am a new member and looking forward to meeting other members. Jerry Cavaneau

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by sig » Sat Mar 08, 2014 5:18 pm

Jerry, I'm not sure what Stan's plans are for the March 22 trip but I'll throw out that Mitch and I paddled the loop at Grassy Lake today and it took about two hours.
Bryan Signorelli

Stan
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Stan » Sat Mar 08, 2014 8:21 pm

This will be a leisurely paddle. The group will probably be on the water by 10 AM. We'll take a short side trip to see a heron rookery and depending on the water level a side trip to an open water area where I recently saw hundreds of ducks feeding. We'll have lunch and work our way around the water trail loop past beaver lodges & some magnificent old cypress. I plan to be back at the put-in/take-out around 2 PM. Paddlers can opt to stay & poke around the wetland or head back early following the water trail markers.

My main goal is to get paddlers acquainted with this new water trail. Since there is no shuttle, a paddler can go solo or with a group. It can be a quick trip or an all day exploratory. I spend quite a bit of time at Grassy & usually go solo. 45 minutes after I leave my house in west Little Rock, I can be on the water and not see a soul all day. I have identified several dozen different bird species (and my birding skills are minimal), watched 7 beaver snoozing on top of their flooded lodge, heard baby beaver mewing in their lodge, watched 3 otters playing & have seen some huge, old turtles. This is a terrific wildlife viewing area & it is close to Little Rock & Conway.

"Stan"

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:04 pm

Stan and Sig, Thanks so much for the information. Looking forward to the trip on the 22nd.

Stan
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Stan » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:27 am

bump

Stan
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Stan » Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:10 pm

This is a draft of the information sign that will be posted in a few weeks at the water trail access. I am planning to paddle the Grassy Lake Loop and the Bell Slough Spur. "Stan"
Attachments
Grassy Lake Sign.jpg

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Paddlin Joneses » Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:25 am

'Stan', Grassy Lake sounds like a great paddle. I'd like to join the trip. I'll be in Heber Springs this weekend, so it'll be an easy hour's drive down to Mayflower.

Aaron Jones
9zero1-6zero4-133zero
Sherri & Aaron Jones

Key to successful tandem kayaking: "Get in. Sit down. Shut up. Paddle. Further discussion is not necessary." To which he replies, "Yes, dear."

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Mar 22, 2014 11:01 pm

This was a super trip. Many thanks again to "Stan," who was a great guide. The nesting herons were especially interesting. Never knew they nested so high!

Stan
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Stan » Sun Mar 23, 2014 7:17 am

Trip Report: 16 people in 15 canoes & kayaks paddled the Grassy Lake Water Trail Saturday. The sun came out and we had fantastic weather. We checked out the heron rookery as well as several beaver lodges. Half way through the trip the group split up. Some wanted a very leisurely paddle while others wanted to move more quickly. The water trail signs (and no shuttle) allowed participants to paddle the trail at their own pace. Chris Newberry ran sweep :clap: and made sure everyone got back to the parking lot.

"Stan" (AKA Margaret Bartelt)

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by Paddlin Joneses » Fri Mar 28, 2014 8:43 am

Many thanks to "Stan" (lead) and Chris (sweep) for the great (first time) paddle on Grassy Lake. The "lake" wasn't what I expected...pleasantly surprising, it was more like a cypress swamp, similar to some of the sections of the Wolf River in Memphis. Margaret and Chris did an excellent job keeping 15 boats moving along at a decent pace. The side trip to the heron rookery was a nice bonus to the whole experience. I'd love to paddle Grassy Lake again either at sunrise or late evening. The water trail is well marked, but paying attention to the next trail marker is a must. Without a current to float you in the right direction, it would be easy to get off trail where all of the cypress trees begin to look alike. The put-in is one of the best I've experienced...large gravel parking area with a gravel drive right next to the channel leading out to the lake. I'm looking forward to paddling the lake again soon.

Aaron Jones
Attachments
DSC_3947.jpg
DSC_3989.jpg
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Sherri & Aaron Jones

Key to successful tandem kayaking: "Get in. Sit down. Shut up. Paddle. Further discussion is not necessary." To which he replies, "Yes, dear."

jwcava
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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:29 am

Aaron, many thanks for posting the wonderful photos!! (and for tailing us to make sure we made it back to the takeout) Would much like to visit Grassy Lake again. If anyone is going and wants company, post it. I will do the same.
Jerry Cavaneau

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Mar 29, 2014 8:30 am

Whoops, Chris ran the sweep - and thanks to him!

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jrsteffes » Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:14 pm

The photo of the sign for the water trail says that it's drained in the spring. Any ideas if this is still floatable, thinking about checking it out Sunday.

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Re: March 22 - Grassy Lake Water Trail

Post by jwcava » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:48 am

Unfortunately, have not had time to get back, but I bet "Stan" knows.

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