After a day of low impact activities (a hike and a bike ride) we recovered from the Cold Creek kayak trip and were ready to take on Blackwater River. Wow, what an amazing waterway. This is the only river that I have ever seen with a sandy bottom for the entire run. There were a few logs and branches that had fallen along the way but the river was open and was an easy ride. The trip was 8 miles and flowed about 2mph, it had beautiful white beaches along the banks and on one, there were bear tracks leading down to and back from the river - but no bear sighting... all made for a wonderful day on the river. We ended the run at the beach in Blackwater River State Park and wheeled the kayaks a short distance back to camp. Just a short distance farther downstream the river became unnavigable. It was told by one of the locals the the river was once used for moving logs downstream and as the logs became jammed, the river gradually began to run underground, thus it becomes a mucky swamp on the surface and everyone who attempts it has had to be rescued...no other warning was needed we were happy with what we accomplished.