Neches River, Big Slough, Hwy 21 Launch, down

Neches River, Big Slough Wilderness, Hwy 21 Launch, down

Kayak paddle route trail map, Neches River, Big Slough Wilderness, Highway 21 Launch, going down, www.SawdustRiver.com

Kayak route trail map on the Neches River, starting at Highway 21 and going downstream to the Big Slough Wilderness area in Davy Crockett National Forest. There is no ramp here, just a couple sandy entries down to the water, so it’s not a big public motorboat site. Nice winter paddle, good scenery, and although the route is just an out and back it does have an objective, which is to get to the Big Slough Wilderness area. There the river braids a bit and there are multiple channels to explore, particularly if the water is a bit higher. A problem is that the north launch (Hwy 21) and the south launch (CR 1155/CR 2829) are both about 10 miles from the Wilderness. And no matter which is picked, one of the legs has to be against the current. I had read online that it might be possible to launch at the end of 511T, which branches off Forest Road 511, but that road was blocked by a locked gate and posted private land signs. And the forest service Neches Bluff Campground just to the north on 511 is up high and not close to the river. Which means the Hwy 21 crossing. But the river is beautiful throughout, so all good. This was about a five hour trip, 18-ish miles total down and back, with the downstream Neches River at SH7 at 500 cfs and the upstream Neches River at SH294 at 390 cfs, which isn’t bad. Google maps labels a spot along the river as “The Whirl”. This seems to be a tight, squared off, cornered section that I suppose could be pretty dramatic in high water, but today was no big deal. I took a break at this spot and hiked maybe fifty yards west to see a nearby lake shown on the map (picture below). Big Slough, which is a channel to the west of the river, feeds into the lake, and if the water level was right a loop paddle back around to the Neches might be doable. Saw lots of pigs.