Check out the New York Times
feature on Paddle to the Bay 2007!
Click here for the article.

What is the Paddle to the Bay?

Each year, the Anacostia Watershed Society sponsors a 120-mile paddling & camping expedition along the length of the Anacostia River, down the Potomac and to the Cheseapeake Bay. In the past, the trip has begun in either Bladensburg, Maryland or at the Anacostia Community Boathouse in Washington. The final day culminatnes in an invigorating paddle to the mouth of the Potomac at Point Lookout, MD.

Paddle to the Bay 2008 will be here before you know it! Contact us today at 301-699-6204 for more information.

Click here for highlights from the 2007 Paddle to the Bay!

Click here for highlights from the 2006 Paddle to the Bay!

This expedition is designed to highlight the connection between the urban Anacostia River and the impact that its polluted condition has upon the Chesapeake Bay, and it also is a way to show the citizens of the region that one can have an incredible adventure right in the backyard of the nation’s capital.  Natural beauty and breathtaking vistas await the paddlers around each curve and bend in the river.

The participants travel the waters in sea kayaks, which have storage capacity for camping gear, clothing, food and water. The journey covers a distance of roughly 120 miles, and lasts about six days.  Each night, the group stops at waypoints along the shore and camps in tents along the water’s edge. The Potomac River is a wild and beautiful waterway, and every day brings a new challenge. To view pictures from previous outings, click here.

AWS holds a series of paddling trials prior to the actual expedition as a way of providing interested participants a taste of what to expect. The trials also serve as an indicator of the abilities and skills of potential paddlers.

There is no set fee for this experience, but each person who joins AWS for this trip is asked to make a tax-deductible donation to cover costs associated with the expedition.

For more information, contact Robert Boone or Jim Connolly @ 301.699.6204.