Paddling from Truxton Park

Truxtun Park is located near Annapolis and has a boat ramp, three pavilions, and a short hiking trail. The pavilions can be rented from Memorial Day through Labor Day on Holidays and weekends for $25 by calling (410) 263-1183 according to the Annapolis Government webpage. The launch site is located at GPS coordinates (N 38° 58.097' W 076° 29.920'). A map to this point can be found here.

Since this kayak trip was in the beginning of November, there was very little boat traffic. The water was relatively warm and the air temperature was in the upper 50's with minimal wind. After putting our boats in the water and packing our extra gear, we paddled northeast down the Spa Creek as shown from my Garmin GPS map. After about a mile of paddling, we crossed under the 6th street drawbridge. There is plenty of clearance for the kayaks and we had no trouble clearing the sections next to the main boat crossing. Following the left coast, we reached the Annapolis Harbor and the main boat entry into the center of Annapolis. In the summer, this area is extremely crowded with large boats trolling up and down either looking for parking or looking to be noticed. The second reason is why this area is named ego alley.

Again following the coast on the left hand side, we saw the Naval Academy and we passed a large sailboat. This boat had several masts and a large birthday party was underway. The four of us passing in our kayaks drew some chuckles from the passengers and crew.

We continued to follow the left shore and wrapped around the Naval Academy. There was a lacrosse game in process on the grounds of the Naval Academy, but we were too low on the water to have much of a view. We went further up College Creek and saw the pier and building used to store boats for the Naval Academy Crew Team.

We then turned around and headed back to Truxtun Park. We could easily have made this a full day trip, but we decided on a shorter half-day run. With the Capital up on a hill, much of Annapolis is visible from the water. We slipped past the game and the Naval Academy, and beyond the ego alley, we paddled under the 6th street drawbridge. The calm water and lack of boat traffic made this crossing quite easy. During our entire trip, we saw very little boat traffic. We made our way back to the launch site and covered a total of seven miles in three hours. I hope to make this trip again in early 2007.