dart estuary canoe trip

Have found a place to hire a canoe etc in Stoke Gabriel, so the trip would start there

I would speak to them - because they will know of the trips/places/campsites to do and if they allow hire you overnight (not everywhere does)

I’ve paddled from Stoke Gabriel up past Totnes. Very pleasant. I imagine wild camping anywhere round there would be tricky. I’ve only done a little bit of the downstream section from there so can’t really comment, but pretty sure it will be nice paddling if you get the tides right.

I did the Head of the Dart paddleboard race this year. Dartmouth to Totnes. Bloody hard, but amazing scenery.  About 14km if I recall. Get in at the chain ferry and out at Totnes rowing club.

I looked at paddling around the Dart estuary recently. I couldn't find any campsites near enough to the water to land/launch your canoe. Wild camping would be tricky to be stealth as it's a busy area.

Check out gopaddling.info which has lots of useful maps of rivers including the Dart, with access points, danger points like weirs and points for portage (getting in and out)

Also might be worth getting the South West England Paddle Boarding 100 places to SUP, Canoe & Kayak by Lisa Drewe which has lots of good routes

You may be better doing 2 day trips with a nearby B&B.

Whatever you do it'll be good fun, it's a lovely area

It’s not particularly helpful as you have to book the whole site so it only really works for a big group but this a great camp spot.

https://www.sharphamtrust.org/our-venue/camping-at-sharpham

Hi all

Thanks for the replies

Yep the camping part seems to be the tricky bit. I called the Sharpham place but they only do exclusive hire of the whole site. Seems a bit overkill for 2 of us!

I've found a couple of possible wild spots but it could be risky when we don't know the area

Will keep researching...

Amy other tips very welcome!

The Maltsters at Tuckenhay is a fine pub you can canoe to. It has rooms but not camping. There is a campsite 1.5 miles up the hill, but it is quite 'up'. There are some spots on the south bank of the Harbourne River between the Dart and the Maltsters where you could easily land and maybe get away with a low-key camp. Perhaps scope out a spot, paddle to the pub for dinner, then back to setup camp later?

https://the-maltsters.co.uk/arriving-by-boat/

@sturmeyarcher thanks for that! That's more or less what I had in mind. It'll be near-ish high tide so hopefully possible to land without it being a mud fest

If memory serves there's a campsite in the Bridgetown area of Totnes? Years ago me and a mate camped overnight in a field adjacent to the dart just upstream from Stoke Gabriel on the opposite bank. There's also a stretch of beach with woods behind we used to use overnight just downstream from Stoke Gabriel that was about 20 minutes walk from the village across the dam. No-one will bother you down there. I'd see any field away from obvious habitation as fair game in that area.

Another place to ask might be https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk - you're more likely to find people who have canoed on that stretch.I haven't, but based on other estuaries, tides would be my concern.

On a canoe day trip in any estuary, you aim to go upstream until high water, assisted by the flood current, and back downstream in the ebb. For camping, unless you're hardcore your landing and launching times won't suit a 12.4hr tidal cycle, and there will be mudbanks except at high tide (HW). Going to The Maltsters would work with HW at about 7pm, as their pontoon would allow access 2.5hrs each side of HW but that's based on a 4.6m tide; fortuitously, a 4.6m spring tide at Dartmouth will be high about the right time, although HW in the upper estuary will be later than Dartmouth.

If you're novice canoe paddlers, and novice canoe campers, you might find the added complications of a tidal estuary quite an adventure.