The Delta is such a hidden Jewel for Kayak camping and multi day tours. I have lived near the Delta my whole life and have spent a lot of time on the waterways and most of it from my kayak. At first the Delta seems very vast and desolate but the more you paddle it the more beauty you can find. At one point I lived in Stockton CA and I spend countless days paddling around sloughs trying to find new places put in and take out, or a nice island to pitch a tent and camp out. During that time I learned to love the Delta. You always find yourself wondering what around that next bend or thule berm. When I moved to Walnut Grove a few years back I found myself in the heart of sooooo much good paddling. The whole area is 5 mph and during fall through early spring there is no power boats and rustic camping is easy. My wife worked nights as a nurse so every chance I got I would load the camping gear and the dog in the canoe and go campout for the night. All that to say that I am passionate about paddling the Delta and especially about using it for kayak touring.
There are many Marinas that will allow tent camping, as well as a few state parks and a few KOA's. For the really cool backwoods campsites, you ether have to have an experienced guide or the spirit of adventure. Most campsites I have found are owned by the county and are nothing but little Islands with a few trees, and a flat glassy spot above high tide. I am more than happy to share my expertise of the area who anyone who is interested in putting together a trip in the Delta, just give me a call and we can set up a time for you to come by the store, share a cup of coffee and stare at charts. Also I will be doing another guided tour in March if anyone is interested in coming along. It will be a three day trip in the Northern Delta around Cosumnes Preserve and Walnut Grove. The dates are not set because we are trying to stay flexible to peoples schedules, however plans will start firming up after the new year.
If some of you that are interested in learning more about paddling the Delta come by the store and I would be happy to show some pictures and talk about the trip.
Here is a link to a google map with trip route and campsites:
I put together a slide show of the trip on my Flicker account. Be sure to click more info because I put a description and info on each picture
Hope this inspires some of you to get in your kayak and go on a trip. Again, let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
Hi Dan;
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to plan a delta kayak camping trip that begins and\or ends in my hometown of Crockett. I swiped the camping spots from your map for my own campsite map (at http://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=206185975860789038035.0004bc9a57ebd2e9051c6), with 50+ potential campsites so far.
Since you are the only paddler I've found that takes delta camping seriously I thought that you might be willing to comment on some of the sites in your area. I'd like to be able to delete or confirm some of the iffy places, and maybe find some spots that I've missed.
I hope to write up the trip (if it ever happens) so that other low-budget campers (especially people who have time for super-low budget adventures because they've given up looking for a job) can do something similar. I imagine that this may become a trend soon... and we may as well steer people in the right direction from the start.