White’s Ford, NVRPA’s newest park: Kayaks only or motorboats, too? (neighborhood)

[normie]

So what do you think NVRPA should do with their newest park?

White's Ford will be a 295-acre park along the Potomac River in a rural area southeast of Lucketts. Right now, the plans for the park include camping and allowing boats with motors under 10 horsepower. But neighbors are upset that motor boats will create unwanted noise and leak gas into the river, campers will damage the land, and boat trailers will clog the narrow roads.

The NVRPA said RVs, jet skis and powers boats with more than 10-horsepower engines would not be permitted at the park. Also, it intends to reforest about 100 acres and let much of rest of the park become natural meadows.

The neighbors want the park to be hiking and kayaking only. No camping, no motorboats of any sort.

What do you think?

Park Plans Draw Ire of Neighbors | Loudoun Independent

[Caladium]

Too much noise on the river already. Kayaks are nice and quiet, and besides paddling is good exercise. I think they should allow camping, though.

[normie]

I'm not sure what the objection to camping is all about. They aren't going to allow RVs, so I don't buy the argument about clogging the back roads of Lucketts. Do you think they may be worried about people living there?

[Caladium]

UPDATE:

This park just received final approval. The final decision was no jet skis, but boats with motors under 10 horsepower will be allowed. The campsites will be for tent camping only (no RVs).

I'm glad to have another place to go camping around here.

[NYmama2dallas]

I have been really impressed with the NVRPA parks we have been to this summer.

[pcity]

Originally Posted by Caladium

UPDATE:

This park just received final approval. The final decision was no jet skis, but boats with motors under 10 horsepower will be allowed. The campsites will be for tent camping only (no RVs).

I'm glad to have another place to go camping around here.

Possibly stupid question: Since the park is on the Potomac, wouldn't there be other launch points around that jetskis and boats with more than 10HP could launch from? I mean, it's the Potomac, not some private lake.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by pcity

Possibly stupid question: Since the park is on the Potomac, wouldn't there be other launch points around that jetskis and boats with more than 10HP could launch from? I mean, it's the Potomac, not some private lake.

The Potomac gets shallow in some areas. Also rocky. So you can't launch a jet ski in one area and go down the whole river.

[normie]

That's one of the reasons kayaking is so big here. Some of the best spots are accessible only by kayak. Which is nice because it means you can kayak in peace, without worrying about having to deal with the wake from a power boat. Also, that's where the birds tend to hang out.

OTOH, there are also many spots in the river that are fairly deep and you'll see lots of jet skis and boats in those sections. Something for everyone.

[pcity]

Fair enough. I admit to not being very familiar with that part of the Potomac. I'm more familiar with part down near DC where anything goes.

[normie]

Originally Posted by pcity

Fair enough. I admit to not being very familiar with that part of the Potomac. I'm more familiar with part down near DC where anything goes.

It's funny how shallow the Potomac is in a few places, especially where the river bends a little. Then as soon as it straightens up it gets deep again. In my neighborhood, they occasionally find artifacts from the civil war era when people escaped to the north by just running across the river.

(Not a smart thing to try, BTW. The current is extremely strong and it's very easy to lose your footing.)