Greater Alamance Creek to Saxapahaw Lake

Greater Alamance Creek, a major tributary of the Haw River in Alamance County, has a great deal of historical significance. At one time, the creek served as a significant trading path for both indigenous people and early settlers. During the War Between the States, the junction of the creek with the Haw River was an important crossing for the Underground Railroad.

Today, a trip down the creek offers the paddler a remote setting with lots of birds and wildlife. There is even a greater variety and abundance of birds and wildlife to see by continuing downriver to Saxapahaw Lake.

Fee: $45 per single kayak, $60 per tandem canoe or tandem kayak,
$20 per person with your own boat.

Owl Prowl

Big Alamance Creek, upriver of its confluence with the Haw River, and the river itself, upriver of the dams at Altamahaw, Saxapahaw and Bynum, NC, are great places to search for and watch birds and wildlife, especially in the early evening hours. The banks are heavily forested along the shoreline, creating ideal habitat for barred owls, one of the largest of owls. It isn’t always easy to see barred owls at night, but it is very easy to hear them as they call to each other. Male and female barred owls have different and distinctive calls, so it’s easy to identify them, even when you can’t see them. Their loud, sometimes hysterical sounding hoots, along with the slapping of beaver tails, make paddling at night an uncommon adventure.

Fee: $35 per person with the canoe/kayak provided, $30 per person with your own boat.

Paddle Brunch

Weekends are for recharging the mind, body and spirit. What better way to do that than to eat a nutritious meal of locally-grown food prepared by folks who know how to make it delicious, then exercise the body and renew the spirit while paddling on the Haw River?
The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co. has partnered with the Saxapahaw General Store and the Pittsboro Roadhouse to offer a relaxing brunch followed by a river trip. Getting in touch with our natural surroundings will be the focus of this 2.5 hour paddle.

Fee: $55 per person with the canoe/kayak provided, $50 per person with your own boat.
*The fee includes brunch with beverage.

Home School Education Trips

Whether your child’s interest is environmental science, biology, geography, history, economics or math, the Haw River is an ideal place to develop new knowledge and apply information gained from independent study to real-life situations.
Expedition-based education from The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co. requires students to research a topic of personal interest and then make a presentation on what they learned during an outdoor, recreational expedition lasting from a few hours to several days.

Below is a detailed description of our expedition-based education for home-schoolers.

Homeschool expedition based education

Paddle Dinner: Brewery Style

Want to have some fun, perhaps pick up a new skill and enjoy meeting new friends? What better way to top off a relaxing afternoon in nature than to share a wonderful meal with fellow paddlers? The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co. has partnered with The Eddy Pub in Saxapahaw & the Carolina Brewery in Pittsboro to offer a unique experience, a Paddle Dinner with NC crafted beer. The river trip, enjoyed by paddlers of all skill levels, is a 2-3 hour scenic canoe and/or kayak trip with a naturalist. Immediately after the trip, guests sit down to a dinner with local NC beers. If you would like to meet new paddling friends, break bread together and enjoy a few beers, this is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and evening.

Fee: $85 per person with the canoe/kayak provided, $80 per person with your own boat.
*The fee includes a dinner with beer pairings.

Paddle Dinner: Wine Maker’s Dinner

Known for its importance as a refuge for animals and plants, and for the well being of humans that are nature deprived, the Haw River Valley is also an important agricultural region in the Piedmont of North Carolina. In recent years, grapes have begun taking the place of tobacco as a crop. The unique soils and climate of the Valley are proving to be a world-class region for growing grapes, and a number of award-winning artisan wineries and vineyards are located near the Haw River.

Recognizing the health benefits of wine and getting outdoors on the river, The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Company has partnered with Reverence Farm and the Grove Vineyard & Winery to offer a unique experience, a Wine Maker’s Paddle Dinner. The river trip, enjoyed by paddlers of all skill levels, is a 2-3 hour scenic canoe and/or kayak trip with a naturalist. Following the trip, guests sit down to a dinner with wine.

Fee: $75 per person with the canoe/kayak provided, $70 per person with your own boat.
*The fee includes a dinner with wine.

Paddle & Patio Party

A variation on our popular paddle dinner. Enjoy a leisurely two to three hour paddle on the Upper Haw River. This afternoon guided river trip ends with a visit to Grove Vineyards & Winery, where guests sit back and enjoy a Patio Pizza Party with a dinner consisting of pizza, salad and a beverage of your choice. A relaxing afternoon on the water followed by a memorable winery experience is a wonderful way to spend a day.

Fee: $60 per person with the canoe/kayak provided, $55 per person with your own boat.
*The fee includes the pizza dinner and a glass of wine or beverage of your choice.

Picnic & Paddle

Spirit Island in the Haw River is located just downriver from a dam and powerhouse
that in the early part of the twentieth century supplied electricity to a textile mill in
Swepsonville, NC. Today, the Island is remote, wild, peaceful and a wonderful place to
escape the stresses of an urban lifestyle.
We begin this canoe and/or kayak trip with a picnic lunch on Spirit Island. Following
lunch, our paddle will take us downriver to Saxapahaw. Because of the remote nature
of this stretch of river, birds and wildlife are easily seen. Volcanic rock outcrops along
the shoreline show evidence of an interesting geologic past.

Fee: $35 per person with the canoe/kayak provided.

* For an additional charge, lunch can be provided by the Saxapahaw General Store.  In addition to $3.00 per boat and the price of the picnic lunch, we will place your order, pick it up and have it ready for you to take on the trip.  See the menu below for what is available.

 Boxed Lunch by Saxapahaw General Store

for Haw River Canoe and Kayak Paddles

 *Sandwich, Side Salad or Potato Salad,

and Cookie or Organic Apple: $14

*Sandwich, Kettle Chips, and Big Cookie

(chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin) or Organic Apple: $12

*Add Bottled Water: $1.00

Sandwiches

(GF bread available by request):

Chicken Salad: on Croissant with Lettuce, Tomato, and Red Onion

Grilled Chicken: on scratch Foccacia with Provolone, Lemon-Garlic Aioli, Lettuce, Tomato, and Cucumber

Turkey Club: Turkey, Bacon, Cheddar, Dijon, Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato on scratch Sourdough

Roast Vegetable: Roasted tomatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, onions, olive tapenade, spinach and goat cheese on multigrain bread.

Portabella Wrap: Portabellas, provolone, caramelized onions, romaine lettuce, lemon-garlic aioli, wrapped.

Private: Poker Paddle Fundraising for Non-profits

Non-profit organizations always have a need to raise money to support their programs. Since we at The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Company believe that you cannot expect people to care about nature unless they feel some connection with it, we are offering a way for non-profit organizations to raise funds while getting out on the river to have fun paddling.

We will place five 5-gallon buckets, in plain view, along an easy stretch of the Haw River. In each bucket will be a deck of cards. Each deck will have a distinctive design. Within a bucket, each card in the deck will be in a separate, sealed envelope. Poker Paddle participants will paddle to each bucket, withdraw one envelope from each bucket and return to the registration table. At that point, each envelope will be opened and the participant will know her/his poker hand.

The non-profit organization will determine the entrance fee and provide winning prizes.

Fee: In addition to the non-profit entrance fee, there is a self-guided trip fee of $25 per person for those needing a canoe or kayak. There is no additional fee for individuals bringing a personal canoe or kayak to participate in the fundraising event.

Polar Bear Paddle

There is no better way to start the New Year off right then to get out on the river and enjoy what nature has to offer. It seems that at this time of year, most of us are making resolutions about how we want to make improvements in our lives. So, start the year off right doing what you love to do — paddling.

This annual tradition is always held the first Saturday in January, and is for those with a boat, paddling gear and the necessary clothing for cold weather paddling.

Fee: There is no trip fee, though registration is required.