Adel, GA
I was a little disappointed when I first got to Reed Bingham to find that its signature dam was dry due the lake being drained for maintenance. As I started to kayak the shallow lake and found myself dragging bottom, it was even more frustrating–not to mention the frustration of swarms of seasonal yellow flies! But the natural side of the park finally shone through as its location near the south of Georgia means it has tons of waterfowl and other birds–egrets, ibises, herons, and signature flocks of turkey vultures. More importantly, I finally got to kayak by several alligators as I entered the cypress-filled Little River area. I did my first state park camping there and had a pleasant experience with that. There are trails of pine and moss-draped oaks that lead to a boardwalk by the river (unfortunately closed by hurricane damage when I was there). Bonus experience, the park is a protected habitat for the gopher tortoise and there were two who had made burrows right by my camp site!
Kayaking Reed Bingham Park Lake (375 acres)
As noted above, my time kayaking on the Reed Bingham lake was a bit of a mixed bag. The first part in the open area along side the dam was marred by the drained lake. The whole left section of water and small islands shown in the map above didn’t even exist at that time. But coming around to the back area of the lake things totally changed. First there was a lot of shore grass and tropic plants sheltering various wading birds. Then I suddenly hear a roaring sound that I thought was a boat–before I realized it was the guttural grunt of a couple of alligators among the bushes. I was entering the narrower waterway of the Little River where large cypresses rose from the reflective water. The view was beautiful in and of itself but I suddenly realized I was also looking at an alligator sunning on the shore as well. Unfortunately, my phone camera couldn’t get that good of photos of it or the couple of others I saw swimming ahead of me in the water but I was thrilled to finally see some after several state park visits without. I would love to go back one of these days!
