Two Camden County business owners share their passion for the Great Outdoors
KINGSLAND, GEORGIA—SEPTEMBER 2024—Kingsland and surrounding Camden County are a nature lover’s paradise, boasting of a temperate climate, marshlands teeming with wildlife and birds, three major rivers and the Atlantic Ocean with its pristine Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest barrier island and part of the National Seashore.
It’s no wonder two couples decided to use their love of the outdoors to create long-standing businesses and offer visitors a unique natural experience in the process.
Peter and Jennifer Koerner operate Adventures Up The Creek (St. Marys, 912-882-0911, KayakUTC@gmail.com) paddling trips and Terry Landreth and his wife Darlene service, sell and rent bikes at Camden Bicycle Center (1929 Osborne Road, St. Marys). Their passion for getting people on the water and area bike trails is evident, and they share that love to those visiting the area.
Entrepreneurs create business exploring Kingsland’s outdoors
Both came to their nature-oriented businesses after other careers, the Koerners from Georgia fire departments and Terry Landreth after 22 years as a naval submarine engineer, his last stop at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Marys.
About 27 years ago, Pete Koerner visited Kingsland to teach a field course at the Camden County Fire Department, met fire medic Jennifer Harrell and fell in love.
“Six months later I moved down here,” he said. “And I was looking for something to do.”
When Landreth left active duty with the Navy, he decided to open a bike shop. Trek and Giant bicycle companies trained him to sell their products in the southeast Georgia market and “we’ve been going gangbusters ever since.”
Both businesses have been enjoying success for more than 20 years and much is due to their customer service, attention to detail and safety and their vast knowledge of the area’s natural wonders. But it’s their genuine love for what makes Kingsland and the surrounding region special that gives visitors a unique outdoors experience.
Paddling Camden County
The three main places Adventures Up The Creek offer kayak trips are Crooked River, around St. Marys harbor and Lofton Creek. Each one offers a different experience.
Paddlers launch at Crooked River State Park in St. Marys (6222 Charlie Smith Sr. Highway, St. Marys, 912-882-5256) for a kayak trip among the river and accompanying marshlands. Koerner is adamant that visitors work with the tides, which change every six hours, so he utilizes tide tables to plan their trips, pushing off on the last hour of the outgoing tide and returning on the first hour of the incoming tide. It allows paddlers to work with the current instead of fighting the flow.
Lofton Creek, a black water creek with an “iced tea color” from tannins emitted from vegetation, is a great option for those who want a more peaceful paddle. In summer, Koerner puts paddlers in on Lofton around 8:30 a.m. to avoid afternoon heat and thunderstorms. In the winter, launches may happen latter in the day.
Paddlers who want to enjoy the waterfront of St. Marys may launch into the St. Marys River from downtown and hopefully spot dolphins, river otters and a variety of seabirds that call the harbor and surrounding marshlands home. Adventures Up The Creek launches anytime from this location as long as the wind is below 10 miles per hour.
Biking Camden County
There’s so many places to bike in Camden County, an area boasting of flat and winding paths through maritime forests, marshlands and near waterways such as the Crooked, St. Marys and Satilla rivers. There are more than 12 trails around the Kingsland area alone, but also trails in neighboring Woodbine and St. Marys; the three cities make up the Three Rivers Trail. The Georgia Coastal Rail Trail follows an old railroad line from Kingsland north to Riceboro and Crooked River State Park in St. Marys has a mile of paved trails for bikers as well.
In addition to selling and servicing bicycles from those with training wheels to electric bicycles, Landreth rents bikes to visitors traveling to nearby Cumberland Island. To access the island, that’s partially part of the National Park Service, one must transport their bikes to St. Marys, store the bikes at accommodations and then carry them on the ferry that operates to the island daily. Landreth takes the hassle out of visitors’ trips by meeting them at the ferry with his rental bikes.
If you go
Camden Bicycle Center sells and services bicycles and e-bikes and rents bicycles for use on Cumberland Island. For more information, call (912) 576-9696 or email Terry Landreth at terry@camdenbikes.com.
To book a trip with Adventures Up The Creek, sign up on their website or email KayakUTC@gmail.com. The company offers five to six tandems and 20 single kayaks. They host groups up to 20 people.
For visitors who wish to relax while taking in the area’s waterways or biking the trails, there are numerous chain hotels along Interstate 95, all centrally located to Kingsland restaurants and its historic downtown. Kingsland’s sister city of St. Marys is a short drive east.