As the weather warms up, outdoor enthusiast Oconee Joe is providing a unique experience for locals.
Oconee Joe offers guided trips throughout all sections of the upper Oconee River watershed leading into Lake Oconee. He is passionate about his work and looks forward to the season ahead.
“It’s definitely a great time to go outside and get in the water,” Oconee Joe said. “We are running different sections, half day, full day, and multi-day trips from Athens, down to and into Lake Oconee, depending on the section that somebody wants to run and the time that they have to do it.”
Oconee Joe primarily offers kayak and canoe river excursions, but he also has a new vessel for trips.
“I’ve recently bought a 28-foot pontoon boat that has been converted into a river boat,” Oconee Joe explained. “It can run real shallow, so it gives me the ability to run upriver and down into the lake.”
During his trips, Oconee Joe also brings along a co-tour guide who has extensive knowledge of the outdoors. Participants will learn a great deal about the plants and wildlife during their paddling trip.
“Sometimes I’ll have a co-guide that’s a specialist either in birding, like an ornithologist or a herpetologist, or even a historian,” Oconee Joe said. “We explore all around the Oconee River watershed.”
The avid outdoor enthusiast will take his paddlers along several parts of the Oconee River, including the Barnett Shoals Dam, Dyar’s Pasture, Scull Shoals, and into the Oconee National Forest.
Oconee Joe leads trips through Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Greene counties along the river.
The purpose of these trips is to educate the public about the history and beauty of the Oconee River.
“There are a lot of natural areas to explore,” Oconee Joe said. “It gives people a chance to appreciate nature. It’s a truly different ecosystem out there. It’s marsh-like, with many reeds and marsh grasses, and it attracts waterfowl from the coastal areas. It allows people to see some rare birds that pass through as they migrate. There are also all kinds of other creatures out there, making it a true treasure.”
For further details or to schedule a kayaking or boat tour, visit OconeeJoe.com.