The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river that runs for over 200 miles through North Carolina before flowing directly into the Atlantic Ocean. The scenic flatwater river travels through diverse coastal vegetation and offers lots of opportunity for wildlife viewing. Much of the river is part of a designated canoe trail with multiple access areas making it easy to customize trips of varying distances. This section of the river starts from a put-in at Tar Heel Ferry Road and covers over 14 miles of undeveloped wilderness waterway to the take-out just before the US 701 bridge in Elizabethtown.