Paddlers to get new access to Neely Henry through grant
Story by Paul South
Photos by Graham Hadley
Submitted photos
For Dave Tumlin, the memory is as vivid as summer sunsets on Neely Henry Lake.
As an Alabama kid transplanted to California, he and his family would travel from the West Coast to visit relatives and spend time on the Coosa River. His family eventually moved back to Alabama and built a rock and shake shingle house on the Coosa River in 1968. Dave still lives there today.
The trips – and his parents’ stories of family and the river – would linger in Tumlin’s head, heart and imagination long after returning to California.
“When we were kids in grade school, my brother and I would take the double mattress off my folks’ bed, throw it on the floor, and we would pretend like we were rafting down the river like Tom Sawyer,” Tumlin said. “That’s how long my love has been for this river and this lake.”
The Tumlins were one of the lake’s first families. He remembers when the area was dominated by the Coosa River and cow pastures.
“It was pretty close to the first house on the lake after the lake came up in the 1960s,” Tumlin said. “We’ve watched it evolve from a beautiful river and bottom land to a more beautiful lake.”
Alabama Power Company created the lake in 1966.
Now retired, Tumlin serves as president of the Neely Henry Lake Association. The organization, representing some 130 lake families working to protect and improve life on the lake, received a $2,200 grant from the Alabama Scenic River Trail Waterway Enhancement Program.
The funds will be used to construct the Rainbow City Paddle Launch. The project will provide the first assisted launch device on Neely Henry Lake, which will benefit paddleboarders, kayakers and canoeists, making water access easier and safer for them, particularly enthusiasts who don’t have their own dock.
NHLA was one of six recipients in the inaugural round of ASRT grants.
“The accessibility, if you don’t have your own dock, there is none, quite frankly,” Tumlin said. “That triggered the thought … What could we do with the popularity of paddleboarding and kayaking and so forth to give the public better access. So, it kind of evolved from there. We felt like it was a good thing to do.”
The grant is a first for the association.
Martha Grace Mize, Development and Outreach coordinator for the Alabama Scenic River Trail, praised the NHLA’s “really thought out” and thorough grant application. In its first year, the grant program attracted 10 applicants. The ASRT, best known for hosting the Great Alabama 650, the nation’s longest paddle race, awarded $25,000 in grants.
“They (the lake association) were very considerate of thinking about what it would take to bring the project to fruition and what the follow up would be,” Mize said. “They were very intentional about how this project would impact public use and how they could explore other projects in the future on Neely Henry.”
The ASRT was founded in 2008 to enhance recreation and tourism on Alabama’s more than 6,000 miles of rivers and streams, the longest historic river trail in the United States.
The accessibility devices can either be fixed or floating. The NHLA launch will float and be affixed to a dock. The new launch will be able to rise up and down with the lake levels.
NHLA, in conjunction with Rainbow City Parks and Recreation, expects to complete the project by summer’s end. The accessibility device will be located at Rainbow Landing near the Southside Bridge on Alabama 77.
“We wanted to be able to provide something that to our knowledge doesn’t exist for the public,” Tumlin said.
Currently, kayakers, paddleboarders and the like have to go to a public dock and lower themselves onto their vessels. Balance can be tricky. The project will change that.
“You can put your kayak, paddleboard or canoe on top of the floating device and ease yourself into the water using arms that are on there. And the reverse is true when you return. You can pull yourself out of the water.”
The project is in response to the increasing popularity of canoes, paddleboards and kayaks. The COVID-19 pandemic actually boosted the popularity of paddle sports. The global market was estimated at $2.4 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $3.3 billion by 2027, according to the Great Outdoor Recreation Pages (gorp.com).
That increasing popularity underscores the need for the project, Tumlin said.
“With the really rapid growth in the use of kayaks, canoes and paddleboards, we need that accessibility on our lake,” Tumlin said.
“I think this will go a long way to help people who enjoy doing that and give them a safer way to access the lake. It seemed like a really neat thing to do to improve life on the lake because a lot of people are going to kayaks, canoes and paddleboards. It’s a great way to connect with the water,” Tumlin added.
While pontoons, ski and bass boats and personal watercrafts, even sailboats, are popular, paddle sports provide a more intimate experience.
“It’s just a whole different way to experience the lake,” Tumlin said. “The shoreline is closer and certainly the water is closer. But it gives you a connection you don’t get any other way.”
He added, “There’s nothing cooler than being on a paddleboard or a kayak and going up quietly into a slough. You really are one with the lake when you do that.”
Paddle sports also benefit the environment, propelled by human strength, not fossil fuels.
“It’s quiet. You get exercise when you’re out there, so that’s a good thing. But from an environmental standpoint, there’s absolutely no impact. So, it’s a very good thing.”
As for the future, NHLA is considering similar paddle sport projects on the lake and plans to pursue more grants, Tumlin said. The group is currently researching possible sites in Gadsden, Southside and in St. Clair County.
“We would like to put one up in Gadsden at Coosa Landing,” Tumlin said. “They’ve got a small inlet area there that I think would be [a good place] to launch before people got out into the river itself.”
Bottom line for Tumlin is, “I’d like to see one in Canoe Creek. I’d like to see one on Southside and one in Gadsden.”
The love affair that he and his family have had since even before his imaginary childhood Coosa River on a mattress has only deepened. The biodiversity and changing topography are only part of the lake’s variety. He’s explored much of it in a flat bottom boat.
North of Gadsden, the lake is riverine, narrow with high banks.
“That’s a whole different world, and it’s really cool to explore that. When you get down below Gadsden in the Southside area, the lake spreads out and the fishing changes. You’ve got mountains and the history of the area. I could talk forever about the beauty of this lake and the river.”
The initial Neely Henry access project is the latest in a series of projects by the association on the lake that improves the quality of life.
“Anything that can improve life on this river, that’s the most important thing,” Tumlin said. “We’ve seen the growth of boats and more families on the water and more kids experiencing what I experienced as a kid on the water. (Paddle sports are) a whole new way of experiencing the water. It’s just great to see that growth.”
For Tumlin, as certainly for other families and visitors, Neely Henry Lake is – to borrow a phrase from an old hymn – a fount of blessings.
“When I’m out there [on my patio looking at the lake], maybe having a glass of wine in the evening, I think how blessed I’ve been that my parents made the decision that they did. That decision – being on this lake – has affected my whole family. Just the joy over the years that my family has been able to experience because we live on this lake.”
What would his parents think of the new project?
“I think they would be really pleased that the lake association and the Alabama Scenic River Trail were able to expand to a whole other group of people the joy of being on this lake.”
Editor’s Notes: For more information on the Neely Henry Lake Association, visit neelyhenrylake.org or call Tumlin at (256)368-5200.
Learn more about the Alabama Scenic River Trail at alabamascenicrivertrail.com.
