Enjoy a late-spring outing with the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA) during a First Saturday Outing paddle on the beautiful Mayo River. Participants will float approximately six miles from Anglin Mill’s Mayo Beach to NC 770 near Stoneville, North Carolina.
Participants are asked to meet by 9:00 a.m. at Old Anglin Mill Road, downstream from Anglin Mill Bridge. During the outing, the group will float past portions of the Mayo River State Park. Coordinating the trip is Lucas Conkle, an avid paddler and river enthusiast.
“Beginning paddlers are invited to launch below Mayo Beach for a fairly easy float through mostly Class I waters,” said Conkle. “There’s one tricky rapid just upstream of the put-in that can be avoided by launching downstream from it.”
Expert paddlers looking for more excitement will have the option of running the famous “Boiling Hole” and the “S-Turn” (also known as “Blender”) before continuing with the remainder of the trip. Helmets are strongly recommended for anyone choosing to paddle the “Boiling Hole” section.
Otherwise, much of the excitement comes from navigating small rapids through several 1,000-year-old fish weirs created in the river by Native Americans and used by local residents until about 1900. These V-shaped stone fish weirs concentrated migrating fish at the point of the “V,” making it possible to collect them in nets or baskets. Great spawning runs once came from the Atlantic Ocean, up the Roanoke and Dan Rivers, into the Mayo River and its tributaries, where fish laid their eggs before heading back downstream. For centuries, before dams halted the migrations, people living along the river made huge catches that fed communities and supported local livelihoods. Today, the fish weirs provide routes through shallow water and add to the uniqueness of the float.
Paddlers may also have the opportunity to observe habitat associated with the recent reintroduction efforts of the Roanoke logperch, a rare native fish species once thought to be disappearing from portions of the Dan and Mayo River systems. Conservation and restoration work in the Mayo River has helped support the return of this unique species and highlights the ecological importance of protecting clean, free-flowing waterways throughout the basin.
Portions of the land along this section of the river are part of North Carolina’s Mayo River State Park. The Mayo River remains one of the region’s greatest natural assets. Paddlers can enjoy the river’s unspoiled beauty, forested banks, wildlife, birds, and few signs of civilization. Watch the riverbanks for blooming wildflowers along the water’s edge. Layers of azalea, mountain laurel, and rhododendron climb the banks beneath a thick forest canopy. Songbirds migrating through the area or establishing nesting territory join waterfowl such as ducks, herons, and kingfishers along the route.
Participants are asked to bring:
*A boat suitable for river paddling
*A properly fitting life jacket
*Lunch and drinking water
*Clothing made of wool or quick-drying synthetic materials
*A willingness to get wet
NOTE: All participants will be required to sign DRBA’s waiver prior the event. If you have attended one of our FSO’s in the past, you will be asked to initial your waiver on file.
Directions to the Put-In
From US 220 north of Stoneville, take the Smith Road (SR 1360) exit and turn west. Travel approximately four miles to the T-intersection with Anglin Mill Road (SR 1358). Turn left onto Anglin Mill Road and continue about one-half mile to within less than a mile of the Anglin Mill Bridge over the Mayo River. Turn left onto unpaved Old Anglin Mill Road (SR 1385). Continue one-half mile to the T-intersection with Mayo Beach Road (SR 1359).
GPS Coordinates: 36.528463, -79.989540
For more information about the outing, Trip Coordinator: Lucas Conkle / Email: l_conkle@hotmail.com.
