Saluda River from Hunt’s Bridge to Farr’s Bridge

I’ve been wanting to get on the water as much as possible. Greg Springsteen had told me about a new outfitter group that rents kayaks and runs a shuttles on a specific section of the Saluda River. This just so happens to be a section of the Saluda that I’ve never run, but has been on my radar for a long time. This would be my chance to fill in a gap on that river. I decided to take advantage of Greg’s suggestion and the services provided by Dacusville Outdoors over the Memorial Day weekend, and so far I’ve done three more trips on that stretch since then. It has quickly become one of my favorite paddling venues.

I have paddled from Saluda Lake up to Farr’s Bridge many times. Many years ago Bob Donnan and I ran a stretch of the Saluda from Freeman’s Bridge down to Hunt’s Bridge on the South Saluda River. However, the section from Hunt’s Bridge down to Farr’s Bridge has eluded me…until now.

Eddie Rosser, aka Outdoors Eddie, has been running a shuttle service from Farr’s Bridge up to Hunt’s Bridge. Eddie rents kayaks and has a nice property with a beach right at the remains of the old Farr’s Bridge. Eddie has been very accommodating and laid back, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every trip I’ve done with him. The only other option for running this section would be to add another three miles down to either Motor Boat Landing (for an even heftier fee without as much parking) or on down to the public lake landing on the Pickens County side.

The put-in isn’t the greatest. There is some parking along Hunt’s Bridge Road if you wanted to run your own shuttle, but river access is down a narrow path for a launch under the bridge. I was grateful for Eddie’s assistance in getting my boat down to the river. The access is sandy and steep, and even my kayak wheels would not have made it easier.

As for the river itself, you couldn’t ask for a more laid back peaceful float. There is a good current for most of this stretch, but no real obstacles other than a few down limbs to negotiate. It reminds me a lot of the Edisto River, minus the swamps and cypress trees. There are even a few canopied sections that offer shady relief from the heat and few beaches where you can pull out along the way.

The take-out at Eddie’s is excellent. He has a great beach area with picnic tables where you can just park and hang out if you don’t want to float the river. What I really like is that he lets me drive my truck down to load my boat at the ending, making the trek super simple for a solo paddler.

I’m going to save my detailed trip report for the latest paddling trip I’ve taken. The first one, as mentioned, was the Friday before Memorial Day. In the van with me on the shuttle was a woman and her pre-teen daughters. For some reason they seemed wary of me, so I kept my distance. I had the river to myself.

The second trip I made was with my banjo comrade Caleb Rollins. I had mentioned kayaking to him one Tuesday while playing Bluegrass at Fireforge Craft Beer and he said he’d take me up on my offer. We had a great trip, very much like my previous one. As much as I like solo paddling, it’s more fun to have company.

My third trip was also a solo trek. It was blasted hot, but I needed to get on the water. We haven’t had decent rain in ages, so the water level in the river keeps dropping but it’s navigable. I had a portable spray bottle/fan to keep me cool.

Now onto this latest trip…

It was a Second Saturday. More importantly, it was the second Saturday in July, and time for the 16th Annual Edisto River Rope Swing and Beer Commercial Float with Lowcountry Unfiltered. Just one problem – all of our fellow Lowcountry paddlers were unavailable, as were the Upcountry contingent. Only Matt and I were available. We decided to do something closer to home than the Edisto, so I recommended this stretch of the Saluda. I was able to convince photographer Perry Weinberg to join use, so the three of us, plus Matt’s beagle Lucy, would be commemorating this annual event, albeit in the Upcountry on a river other than the Edisto.

We met up at Dacusville Outdoors and had Eddie shuttle us up to Hunt’s Bridge. I was a bit worried about the water levels since we still hadn’t gotten any significant rain. Eddie said that with the heat the power plant at the dam was running more water, further reducing the levels. Matt’s boat is heavy and Perry has a beautiful wooden boat that I didn’t want to see scrubbing the bottom.

When we arrived at the bridge another party was unloading boats. Eddie said that this had become an unofficial launch point. I credit him with popularizing this stretch. We got our gear moved under the bridge and ready to set off.

Right next the bank water levels were a bit dicey, but out in the middle it was no problem. There was a good current, but we decided to explore upstream a bit. My first trip out here I had attempted to paddle upstream but ran into a blockage. On this trip we were able to paddle under a fallen tree and get through.

The section above Hunt’s Bridge is really quite lovely. The east bank is shaded with a heavy growth of bamboo.

Initially we planned to paddle up to McElhaney Shoals, but decided that was a bit far for an upstream paddle. We reached a deep bend in the river and decided that would be a good place to turn around. Shoal Creek enters the Saluda from the west. We hung out for a bit to admire the view.

The road had paralleled the river until this bend turned sharply away. At the bend where Shoals Creek enters were the remains of a platform and stairs someone had built, with access to the road. I believe this is where Bob and I took out on our 2008 trip. It looks like it would make an excellent official launch point, certainly easier than the scramble under the bridge. Someone would just need to clear the deadfall downstream.

As I was writing this I decided to check the spot in Google Maps. Street View shows that there are Posted signs along the road for this spot, so it’s off-limits for now.

Paddling back with the current was certainly easier. We made it back to Hunt’s Bridge in very little time. Just below the bridge was a kudzu covered structure that look almost like a castle this was the abutment for the old bridge.

Things seem to happen in the bends on this river. About a half mile below Hunt’s Bridge was another deep bend. This one was overshadowed by a heavily eroded bluff on the east bank. Tree roots were exposed and it looked like the tall trees above, though healthy now, might soon be taking a tumble into the river.

Matt spotted a sheet of metal in the water. On the other side was what appeared to be the suspension springs and axle from some sort of vehicle. The sheet of metal must have been part of the body. No telling how old it was or what type of vehicle it might have been.

A bit further down we came to another structure that had intrigued me. This looked like a stone platform, but may have been the foundations for something larger.

When I first encountered this on a previous trip I wondered if it could have been another old bridge abutment. However, when I checked my old maps I didn’t see any roads crossing the river here. Matt thought that it might be the remains of an old mill. Robert Mills’ 1825 map of the area indicates that Bradley Mill was somewhere in this are, but it’s hard to say if this was that particular mill.

However, using the Georeferencer on the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection website, it looks like Bradley Mill was actually at Farr’s Bridge.

One thing I do know. The difference in water level between this trip and my June 9th trip is striking. You can see this difference in this photo of the structure from that trip.

Continued on a leisurely paddle, pausing briefly to check out the old water gauging station.

Armstrong Creek enters the Saluda from the Greenville County side. On the upstream side of the confluence sits a house on stilts that appeared to be abandoned. Perry got out to explore and found a sign saying that it had surveillance cameras. The best deterrence, however, turned out to be a nest of yellow jackets under the stairs. Sadly, Perry got a couple of stings before escaping.

We passed several nice beaches that looked like good lunch stops. Eddie had said that the best place was a beach just past where the river does a three-way split. I had seen a motor boat pulled up there on my last paddle, so I knew it was a popular spot. When we got there we had it to ourselves, so Matt set up The Most Photographed Stove in South Carolina™ and we started grilling brats.

I strung my hammock under a limb to relax and Perry took this photo of me…

…right before it collapsed. The hammock started ripping and finally gave up the ghost. I’d had this thing since college days and it’s been with me on many camping and kayaking trips. I hate to see it go. But, it’s over 40 years old and I’m probably 100 pounds heavier. All good things, and so forth. I might put it back into my “Oh Shit Kit” to use as an emergency fishing net.

Even without a hammock this was the perfect spot to hang out and have lunch.

While we were enjoying our lunch a group of four kayakers – two solos and a tandem – paddled by. We had plenty of bratwurst left over and it would just end up in the river, so we invited them to join us. They took us up on it. Mark and Hannah were from the Rock Hill/Charlotte area, and their two friends (whose names I don’t remember) were originally from South Africa, but had move to this area. Not long after they joined us another group of three paddlers, Zach, Josh, and Ellen, pulled up. All of these folks turned out to be great companions and we enjoying hanging out in the water and just chatting.

We were having a great time and could have stayed there all day. However, we did need to get on down the river. Our new friends paddled along with us. We chatted about music, previous paddling trips, and all sorts of things.

The closer you get to Farr’s Bridge the more the river becomes lake-like. Sadly, that also means the current doesn’t propel you along as much. Even so, there were still some very shady areas along this stretch.

Soon enough we reached Farr’s Bridge and our take-out.

Josh, Zach, and Ellen continued on down past Eddie’s place. Their take-out was further down on Saluda Lake at the Pickens County public access. The other paddlers were in rental boats from Dacusville Outdoors, so they pulled out with us. Even though we couldn’t do our traditional Edisto River Rope Swing and Beer Commercial Float, it was still a great day on the water and we made new friends.

This entire stretch of river is roughly six miles. I can’t believe I’ve neglected this stretch for all of the years that I’ve lived here. It’s a short distance from home. It’s a nice peaceful float, and with Dacusville Outdoors providing the shuttle service and river access it makes for a wonderful quick getaway. I can’t recommend this part of the Saluda or Dacusville Outdoors enough. It’s a great experience.