Carteret County is now kayak friendly from the White Oak River all the way to the Cedar Island Ferry.

The fourth and final map in the paddle trails series is now available in visitor centers, libraries, tourist and  paddle related businesses in Carteret County as well as from the Crystal Coast Canoe and Kayak Club, www.ccckc.org . And they are free to anyone who requests one.

Map four shows put-ins and take-outs for a series of paddles from Straits or Harkers Island on the mainland side of Core Banks to Cedar Island. Verbal descriptions, driving directions and distances are printed on the back of the map.

“Boaters have asked for this for a long time,” said Deborah Goodwin at the Cedar Island Driftwood Motel and Campground. “The potential is here for a fine tourist attraction. It is great that they are also FREE!”

The Crystal Coast Canoe and Kayak Club conceived the map series almost as the club formed six years ago. Tom Potter of the Adopt-a Trail program with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources encouraged the club to take on the project and assisted as they applied for funds to do the western Carteret map. Darrell McBane now manages the State Trails Program for the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation in the DENR.

When the state funding fell short of the actual printing cost for the first map, the club approached local outfitters, AB Kayaks in Beaufort, Island Rigs in Indian Beach, Barrier Island Kayaks in Swansboro, Boon Docks in Stella and the White Oak River Campground in Maysville contributed to help the effort.

          The first map covered the western part of Carteret County and included both east and west approaches to Bear Island along with the White Oak River as far north as Maysville. It also included a mapped trail to Catfish Lake in the Croatan.

          Map two covered Bogue Sound and the Newport River. The third map featured Morehead City, Beaufort and included Harkers Island and the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve.

The White Oak map was so popular that the original run of 10,000 copies was exhausted and the map had to be reprinted. This year the CCCKC has been awarded a grant from the Tourism Development Authority to be used to reprint the Morehead City, Beaufort, Harkers Island map.

This new Down East map is almost 18 by 24 inches and is printed on heavy, water resistant paper. It folds to four by nine inches which fits a pocket, nicely. It can also be laid out on the cowl of the boat for reference when paddling.  

The Down East map contains descriptions of nine different trails which, taken together, traverse the Core Banks region from west to east. The trails visit the towns of Straits, Marshallberg, Smyrna, and Williamston. They continue through Davis, Stacy, Sea Level, Atlantic and Cedar Island. Other paddles are described which explore creeks and bays along the way.

Each trail description advises paddlers of the skill level required as well as difficulty, distance and estimated time it will take. For all  trails potential difficulties and hazards are noted. All of the descriptions have notes about the flora and fauna to be experienced. There are occasional social/ political notes including the reminder that, “Although the water belongs to all of us, the property along the shore is often privately owned, and the owner’s rights should be honored.”

One feature of the maps that enhances their value is their great care taken to insure accuracy. Not only are there road directions to each put-in, but the distances and locations on the map were accurate and longitude and latitude lines along the margins can be used to plot locations. GPS coordinates are provided for all critical points.

          Al Behler was responsible for the coordination between the club and the various cooperating agencies.  Cal Bridgers edited the trail information and supplied and verified all the map data through eight different submissions and revisions. Bridgers did most of the text and even paddled some of the trails himself to verify the information.

Fred Bisbee of Smyrna chaired the last few map committees and secured the grant to publish the new down east map and to republish the White Oak and Morehead City maps.

Bisbee estimates that, “It takes about one thousand hours of volunteer labor to put each one of these maps together. First the committee identifies the proposed trails. Then each trail is paddled by a team of paddlers and the description written. The final map configuration is dependent on the trails chosen for inclusions by the members.

          “That is where the real work starts,” according Bridgers.  We don’t edit or verify by committee. That is just plain hard, time consuming work. It has to be done, and we do it.”

Behler echoes Bridgers but adds, “I do feel the final product well reflects all the work we put into it.”

          Behler and Bridgers put the map into digital form but the actual construction was done by the North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA). They are the state agency charged with providing geographic information services statewide.

          “This is our first map of this sort but we’ve completed more than 500 other projects for the state,” reports Jeff Brown, CGIA Director. Brown also saw the map through the printing at Commercial Printing Company in Raleigh. Ralph Moore of Commercial Printing explained, “We have one of the few folding machines which will handle a map this size done on 80 pound enamel text paper. And we did 15,250 of them! Took us eight days altogether, once we got digital files we could use. The folding was the thing that took the time.”

From start to finish CCCKC had the support and cooperation of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Designed to partner with citizen and state agencies. DENR makes extensive use of volunteer expertise in the community.

CCCKC has recently been awarded $2,000 grant by the Carteret County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) for reprinting maps.  The club handles the distribution, especially those out of the county and out of state.

“The benefit to North Carolina is very clear,” according to Brian Leavy, president of the CCCKC. “Kayakers bring money to this area.” According to Carol Lohr of the TDA,  “We average several mail requests a day for kayak information. The requests are turned-over the Crystal Coast Canoe and Kayak Club. We got a letter from Massachusetts thanking us for maps one and two, and requesting map three, Morehead/ Beaufort/Harkers Island, because they stay on the island when they visit. So the maps continue to be a marketing tool for Carteret County and are appreciated.”

Leavy adds, “The maps serve two groups: tourists and locals. For most paddlers the problem is not the water but where to put-in and where to take-out. Tourists want to know that they can have access to the water before they come. They can request out maps at www.ccckc.org”

Deborah Goodwin at the Cedar Island Driftwood Motel and Campground is very pleased with the map. “I have paddled the waters out here. The nice thing is that we have open waters as well as sheltered areas for windy-day paddles. The wind could change your plans but it won’t ruin your vacation.”

The free maps are available in Carteret County libraries, tourist information centers, the Chamber of Commerce, recreation departments and many area tourist related businesses. For more information on getting copies and other activities of the club, go to www.ccckc.org.