CCA Protests Closing of Takeouts on Gunpowder and Cedar Creek
Nobody who has been paddling more than a few years can help noticing how, bit by bit, access to our favorite streams is being diminished. CCA tries to keep up to date on these happenings and where possible press back. In May, members mobilized to protest two restrictions, one of several years' standing, the other a recent nasty surprise.
Lower Gunpowder Falls Jones Road Takeout
The Baltimore Canoe & Kayak Club's Tony Allred alerted us to newly assertive officials issuing a trespass warning to boaters taking out at the whitewater end of this popular Class III run below that city's Loch Raven Dam.
Tony summarized the history: Gunpowder State Park started closing the Jones Road access in 2014 from Memorial Day to Labor Day (inclusive) because of trash accumulations along the river. They did this again every year from then until 2023. In September 2023, the Park did not reopen the access as they had every year since 2014 and announced that it would be closed permanently. There had been a "smash and grab" problem at Jones Road before 2014, but they got the culprits, and paddlers in the know learned to park in the upper part of the lot, near the gates. The word is that the latest closing was due to "criminal activity" in the area.
Some Baltimore club members have written individual letters of protest to Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, and some CCA members have done the same. A letter officially from CCA has been discussed but not sent yet. Among the points that have been made by members of the clubs are these:
• The Jones Road closure severely impairs paddling of a renowned intermediate-level whitewater run, adding five miles of flatwater paddling to get to the only available alternative, taking out at Mariner Point Park.
• Park managers have not engaged meaningfully with stakeholders and have failed to communicate reasons for the closure, estimated length of closure, criteria for reopening areas, or any future plans.
• Simply closing a park area that has been occasionally abused by an unruly minority of park users is not the right solution.
Interested paddlers are hoping to arrange a meeting with appropriate DNR officials.
Cedar Creek Takeout
An early April CCA trip down Cedar Creek near Strasburg, VA, traveling there to enjoy a beautiful 10-mile paddle from Route 628, found that the traditional take-out at U.S. Route 11 had been cut off by a fence and gate. A nice paved parking lot (no cars parked there) had been added next to the creek; a large trailer had been installed by Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality, heretofore not a major player in the Commonwealth's river access controversies.