Blackwater Outdoor Journeys is a documentary archive of real canoe expeditions through the blackwater rivers of the Deep South, filmed by Rodney and Tina Thompson out of Saint George, Georgia. Uncut, unhurried, and real.
In June 2025 I launched this channel with a single camera. After losing one of my sons, I realized how many adventures had already faded into memory, and I swore that would not happen again. What began as an archive for my family has become a record for anyone who has felt the pull of dark water and tall cypress.
We paddle the blackwater veins where I grew up: the Okefenokee Swamp, the Suwannee River, and the St. Marys, and lately the Satilla, Altamaha, and Withlacoochee. We film the trips honestly, and we write down the field notes you need to navigate remote water, endure wet camps, and handle the fixes that keep a hard day from turning bad.
For those who cannot get out there, because of health, age, or distance, these films are your window to the swamp.
Three reasons. For my family, so these trips outlast my memory. For the people who cannot get out there. And for the paddlers planning their own runs, so they can learn from what we got right and what we got wrong.
The gear, skills, and trip-planning systems we use live inside Camping Wilderness Skills.
Join the CommunityRodney Thompson — paddler, filmmaker, and the voice behind the channel. Grew up reading these rivers before he could read a map.
Tina — co-paddler and trip partner, up front through every gator gauntlet.