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Put In -
From Raleigh,
Staunton River State Park (Campsite 19) is a 1 hour 50 minute drive up Hwy
50, then 96 west to South Boston. Best to Google Map it as no bridges cross
the Dan or Staunton River to let you get there faster, so you have to go
into South Boston and then head east straight in. The park is the
oldest park in the Virginia State Park System. It is very well
maintained and has a pool, cabins, shelters, boat ramps, and lots of hiking
trails. The restroom/shower house is heated. Virginia parks won
the best state parks in the nation and you can see why. Again they
cater to RV folks, so you will not find many tent sites. But since
this was in April and a Sunday, it was free picking. The campsites are not on the
water, so you have to drive to the boat ramps. There are two, one on
the Staunton River and one on the Dan River.
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Distance/Time - 3 trips, trip 1 up the Dan River to Hyco River, 8.3 miles, 2nd trip -
4
miles at night, and 3rd a morning trip up the Staunton River to Difficult
Creek - 8.8 miles.
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Difficulty - Average.
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Trip Directions - Kerr Lake was around 2 feet above full pool, so I figured
that the river areas would be nice and high. Last time in this area
the water level was so low, I got stuck everywhere. The trip up to
Hyco River was a tough paddle because of the high wind. Coming back
was a lot easier. The trip up the Staunton River was a nice paddle, I
did have to portage because I took a finger that dead ended. I should
have gone further river right which would have given me a cut over. It was
the one year anniversary of the tornado
that touch down inside of the park. It spared the campsites mostly, a
few sites are now in the open. It could have been a lot worst.
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Hazards -
Wind.
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Boat Ramp on the Dan River |
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Heading up to Hyco in high winds |
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Boat ramp on the Staunton River |
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Heading up the Staunton on a finger |
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Getting to the end of the road |
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Old water intake for the park at sunset |
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LED camplights on the tent, to many bugs |
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On the entrance to the campsite |
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Heading up the Staunton River |
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Stuck and have to portage |
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Entrance to the campsites |
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Tornado damage to the right side of the campsites |
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Tornado damage down the road |
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The old favorite campsite 19 now void of trees |
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