Georgia Wilderness Society
Adventures on the Ogeechee and Ebenezer
February 21-22, 2022
Basil & I have been wanting to paddle the Sipsey Fork River, west of Birmingham, for quite some time. We posted a trip for Feb. 21-22, 2022, but low water, then a flood on the appointed day caused us to change the trip to Georgia's Ogeechee River and Ebenezer Creek.
Irene & I met Basil at GA 301, near Millen. After running shuttle with Basil, we launched at 301 for a 7 mile paddle down to Macedonia Road. The river was what we've come to expect from coastal plain rivers. Occasional trees growing in the river. No strainers that caused a portage. The water was at 1175 cfs/6.7' on the Rocky Ford gauge, which was high enough to hide what few sandbars there are on this stretch. This was planned as a paddle-camping trip, but Basil wanted to paddle a short stretch of the Ogeechee, then some of Ebenezer Creek in the afternoon, so that's what we did. This 7 mile trip took us about 2.3 hours. At this level, there were still areas of dry land, about 2'-3' above water level.
After the Ogeechee paddle, we paddled Ebenezer from the public landing at Tommy Long Road, upstream about 45 minutes. An outfitter happened to be at the put-in, and told us that people tend to lose the main channel and get lost if they paddle farther upstream than that. Since it was getting late in the day and we still had not made camping arrangements, we turned around when the creek channel began to disappear into the woods. The Springfield gauge was 33 cfs and 5.1', which was on the high side according to the outfitter and some locals we talked to.
After getting off the creek, we checked out the nearby Jerusalem Lutheran Church, built 1768, and the oldest continuous-worshipping Lutheran church in America. A landing on the Savannah River is nearby, at the confluence with Ebenezer Creek. Unfortunately, the landing is private, with "No trespassing" signs. That prevented us from using it as a take-out the next day.
Irene and I ended up getting a motel room for the night and the 3 of us ate Mexican for supper.
Next morning, we put-in again at Tommy Long Road, and paddled downstream to the river. It took us just over an hour to the river, and the creek was very pretty I thought. We saw a few houses along the way. The creek was spreading out into the trees, which I thought made it prettier and inviting to go off-trail and weave in and out among the trees. The Savannah River was high and I think that was the cause of the creek being so high, as the river backed up into the creek. Once back at the landing, we all headed home. Ebenezer Creek was the highlight of the trip for me.
The Sipsey Fork, a national Wild and Scenic River, is still on our bucket list, so stay tuned.
