Cooper River Paddle – Cherry Hill and Pennsauken, NJ

Our paddle up and down the Cooper River.

Cooper River Canoe – Greenwald and Cooper River Parks – Cherry Hill and Pennsauken, NJ
Distance: 4 miles
Type: Out and back
Difficulty: 3 of 10.
Total score: 5 of 10.

Terrain – Nice paddle downstream, then back up. Current is not too bad. Surrounded by parks and houses.

Put ins – Cole’s Mill Road, Haddonfield, NJ, just off of Grove Street. 39°54’56.38″N, 75° 2’7.42″W

Standouts – Nice little slice of nature in one of the most suburban areas in New Jersey.

Description: So my buddy has a streak going of over two years where he canoes at least once a month, year round. In February, I made the supreme sacrifice and went out canoeing with him. We decided to check out the Cooper River because a) neither of us had ever done it and b) it’s about ten feet from my house.

We put in on Cole’s Mill Road, about twenty feet off of Grove Street in Haddonfield.  There is a spot to park one car, and the drop from the bank into the canoe there is not too bad.

 

Once in, we headed upstream toward Brace Road, attempting to get to the CCC dam in Greenwald Park.  We made it a few hundred yards, but then scraped bottom too much to continue.  We turned around and tried downstream instead.

 

Heading downstream, you pass behind the armory and under the railroad bridge.

Under the bridge.

From here, it’s a good stretch up until you pass under Cuthbert Road and into Cooper River Park.

Racing platforms at Cooper River Park.

We made it as far as the tip of Veteran’s Island before we hit heavy headwinds.  We fought against them, but soon had to turn around and backtrack upstream.  The current was not very strong, and it wasn’t too bad paddling back upstream at all.

 

Overall recommendation: A nice little four mile paddle total.  Without the wind, we would have gone another 1 1/4 (one way) to the Crescent Ave.  Definitely a nice two hours on the water.