Caddo A 805 WMA Launch

Simple kayak paddle map in Caddo, an early trip there. Caddo is closest place to try for those in the DFW area who want to experience paddling in a ‘real swamp’, something different from open lake or flatwater river paddles, something a bit more exotic. Finding that a swamp was so close to Dallas was a big surprise for me. Something clicked. In this section on Caddo trips there are several paddle routes and maps (A, B, C, etc.) for the Caddo area. This area includes Carter Lake, Clinton Lake, and the Big Cypress Bayou (which flows downstream into Caddo Lake itself). Most of the routes start at the 805 WMA launch, which is at the end of a dirt road off of Highway 43 coming out of Marshall Texas. And most are more complicated than the one above. A WMA Access permit is required to use the 805 launch site. This is a particularly good put-in because you are in the swamp right away. There is also a launch at Caddo Lake State Park but its two miles flatwater on the bayou before you enter the swamp (and two miles back). There are also launches at Johnson’s Ranch Marina and in the nearby Caddo Lake NWR (Starr Ranch).

The TPWD website has a number of easy, named, trails here, Carter’s Chute, Hell’s Half Acre, Turtle Shell, and several more. Those are good trails to start and there are signs to identify each route. My first few times at Caddo I paddled VERY carefully from sign to sign to sign so as not to get lost. The above route map is pretty easy, it launches at the 805 WMA put-in, goes around Carter Lake a bit, goes out Carter’s Chute just north of Goat Island till it reaches Clinton Lake, and tries to go into Back Lake (but the Salvinia was too bad). The TPWD and powerboat trails have markers but there are no signs if you go ‘off trail’. It is pretty easy to get lost in Caddo so it’s good to know the general north south east west framework of the place. Getting lost is no fun believe me.