A Banner Marsh Morning Paddle

For years we’ve been wanting to kayak at Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife Area. We drive past it routinely and even headed that direction about five years ago, but it never did work out – until today (Friday, July 21, 2023). I don’t know what I expected, but I certainly did not expect to be so impressed with this site. I really expected it to be a mucky, marshy, messy, muddy water without much character. Boy, was I ever wrong. 

Figure 1. Mark kayaks away from the Banner Marsh boat dock.

Banner Marsh was amazing. We started at the boat ramp and paddled down the long straight-a-way along a well-established kayak trail with metal signage leading the way. I also followed a Banner Marsh Paddle Route from the AllTrails app. We ended up paddling 3.4 miles for 1 hour and 40 minutes. 

Figure 2. Mark paddling among the water lilies at Banner Marsh.

Immediately we remarked on how clear the water was. We could see fish swimming and water plants were all along the shoreline, water plants that usually need clean water to flourish. Particularly outstanding were the American waterlily (Nymphaea odorata), small pondweed, yellow water primrose, and cattail (though most cattails were choked out by the invasive reed grasses). 

Figure 3. American Waterlily at Banner Marsh.

There were a lot of invasive plants along the shoreline such as Common Reed Grass (Phragmites sp.), Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), honeysuckle, and teasel. Yet, we also saw some nice shoreline plants, including a fruiting black cherry tree (Prunus serotina) with ripening fruit hanging over the water. Several trumpet creeper flowers and a few nice dogwoods.

Figure 4. Black Cherry fruit at Banner Marsh.

Along the route we saw a couple pair of graceful swans, some great blue herons, and many turtles popping their heads above water to watch us float by

This might be our new go-to kayaking destination. Next time we’ll take a picnic lunch and our fishing poles.