Registration opens March 9 for Dragon Run paddle trips

Registration for the Dragon Run spring paddle season opens on Saturday, March 9, at 9 a.m. Friends of Dragon Run (FODR) conducts paddle trips in The Dragon during the spring, summer and fall. Reservations are on a first-come-first-served basis. The spring paddle season will run from Saturday, April 13 to Wednesday, May 22. Most Wednesdays are reserved for group paddles. Each trip will accommodate nine paddlers. Paddlers must be at least 18 years old.

FODR paddle trips fill up quickly. Individuals who work during the week don’t always have an opportunity to register until after work when many of the best dates have been filled. To ensure that everyone has a fair chance at registering for the paddle day of their choice, we have moved paddle registration days to the second Saturday of the month.

Paddle trips will begin at Big Island, a FODR property located in King and Queen County. The trips will leave from and return to the same location where guests parked their cars. This is a round trip paddle, and the upstream paddling may be strenuous at times.

Jeff Wright, FODR president, noted, “Spring is a beautiful time to paddle the Dragon. The bald cypress will be getting their needles and we will see spring flowers such as spatterdock and wild azalea. The highlight of these trips are sightings of the golden yellow Prothonotary Warbler. This tiny bird breeds along the Dragon in early spring and migrates to Central and South America around August.”

Be sure to sign up soon; reservations fill quickly. Visit DragonRun.org for more information and to sign up.