Neches River Rally
Sept 7, 2019
by Fran Wilcox

The Neches River Rally was held on Saturday, September 7th at the Saltwater Barrier of the Neches in Beaumont. The river community pulls together to host this 4-mile, fun, informative and beautiful fund-raising event. This year’s route (the routes are switched each year) was Cooks Lake to Scatterman Lake and this Trail has been designated by Texas Parks and Wildlife as an Official Texas Paddling Trail. This trail is a large loop that follows the Neches to Pine Island Bayou to Cooks Lake to Scatterman Lake and back to the Neches. A portion of the paddle winds through a well-marked cypress/tupelo forest. We were rewarded with excellent hamburgers after all our work and an optional nature tour on the Big Thicket Association’s floating classroom pontoon boat, "The Ivory Bill".  

The funds that are raised support the Big Thicket Association’s mission of “promoting conservation, environmental education classes and scientific research in the Big Thicket National Reserve”. 

Since this route has been established as an official TP and W Paddling Trail, this may be a great location at a different time for a club paddle (with additional miles). 

The put-in is approximately 1.5 hours from Houston.

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The author, Fran Wilcox