TR Alligator River Wildlife Preserve Nov. 21, 2015

[Stan Heatwole]

Saturday morning the 21st turned out to be a sunny day on the Outer Banks in N.C. The wind was blowing strong off the ocean and surf was up so the surf fishing didn't look too promising. Nobody signed up for the Coastals Trip to the Alligator River Wildlife Preserve so I decided to do it on my own. There is a nice National Wildlife Refuges Visitor Center in Manteo at 100 Conservation Way which is easily reached by turning right off of bypass 64 toward Manteo just before crossing the 64 bridge towards Manns Harbor. After crossing the bridge there is 9 miles to the turn onto Buffalo City Rd. this is well marked but a gravel road 2 miles to the put in for the 4 canoe trails. All 4 trail meet at this put in. There are maps at the cut off and also at the dock if you don't stop at the visitor's center for one. The red trail is 1.5 mile loop trail, The green is 2.0 miles each way to Sawyer Lake , the yellow trail is 4.0 miles each way on Milltail Creek to the Alligator River, The blue trail is a 5.5 mile trail in the opposite direction on Milltail Creek that goes to a landing on Milltail Rd.and would be possible to set up a shuttle if you didn't want to paddle the 5.5 miles back.
The put in also has a Sandy Ridge Hiking Trail of 1/2 mile. There is a nice dock with the inscription "Sponsored in part by Dare Co. Tourism Bureau and Outer Banks Paddlers Club. Part way in on the Buffalo City Rd. I encountered two bears in the road a mother with her cub as my first wildlife. I decided to take the green trail to Sawyer Lake. The area was protected from the wind and was a nice flatwater paddle in my Perception Catolina sea kayak. I thought it was fitting to paddle a Carolina kayak for this trip. I trolled a fishing line wothout any success. I did meet some duck hunters in a boat that said it was a good place for Chain Pickeral. When I arrived at Sawyer Lake I really felt I was in the wilderness with large trees around the lake adorned with spanish moss. There was a bit of a wookpeckerr convention with at least a dozen Flickers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and one Pileated.
I arrived back at the put in just after sunset and decided to try a top water popping lure at the edge of the marsh. Again not fishing strikes. The mosquitos were out but I didn't need insect repellant but can imagine in summer months it would be a different story. As I was paddling back to the dock by moonlight I heard the howls of the Red Wolves in the distance. That was the end of my day at the Alligator River Wildlife Reserve.
I would definitely recommend this area if you are evere in the Outer Banks and want some nice canoe trails to paddle.

[allsky7]

The GF and I paddled the Milltail Creek to Alligator River section a few years ago in late Sept. Got a nice picture of a 6' gator. Another gentleman we chatted with (a Virginia Tech guy from Yorktown, VA) got a shot of an 8 footer. He also saw bears. We paddled 8 miles....and both of these gators were spotted within a quarter mile of the put in. Very cool you heard the Red Wolves. We knew it was a long shot but were hoping to see one. One word of caution on the section we did. Even though this is flat water......there IS current. Mix in a little wind....and paddling back to the put in from the Alligator River was tougher than I expected. I admit....we were not paddling the best boats for FW. Definitely a neat trip and worth the effort.....but lets just say that my end of trip beverage was well earned. Thanks for trip report.

Steve