Are getting scarce and hard to come by in my neck of the woods. Residential development and regulations are mainly to blame. The remaining local places are either swamp/backwaters or on the big river with much pleasure boat and barge traffic, big winds, and jungle banks. Otherwise I have to pick small creeks and sreams with significant current and pay an outfitter $20-25 for shuttle service. Just did a short overnight at my fav local lake (which a large part of it is in Nat Forrest) and it was still very difficult to find a secluded cove. The place has filled up with big fancy lake houses. With careful map study I found a 200 yd stretch of Nat Forrest shoreline without having to paddle 10-15 miles of flatwater. Ok but not as secluded as I’d like. Plus access is a problem. All the private boat launches charge 10-15 bucks a day just to park and launch. This time I put in at a launch run by the Forrest Service and the charge was $10/day. Got back the next morning, only gone around 16-18 hrs, and they left a note hitting me up for another $10. I left them a note outlining my arrival and departure times and told them to pound sand. All the access is catered to motorized craft and all the available camping is for air conditioned travel trailers. Im missing the days when you parked on a forest road and launched for free and camped anywhere you could find a level spot. Sorry just had to rant.
