Conditions were not ideal.

The fish were finicky, a few bites from perch and other panfish providing the sole sport.

The river was bloated, the water a tad murky from recent rains.

Still, Stephanie Sharpe was as happy as a clam and as comfortable as a dragonfly floating in her kayak on the Mattaponi River.

"It's one of my favorite spots," said Sharpe, who lives in Richmond's West End. "If she gives me a choice, this is where I want to come."

"She," in this case, was paddling partner Tara Bragg of Mechanicsville. They had hooked up with Ron Lindsey, also of Richmond, for a float trip from Zoar State Forest to Aylett, and the sun and peace offered a pleasant getaway on a Sunday afternoon.

Sharpe's testimonial echoes a national endorsement that gives the Mattaponi and its sister, the Pamunkey, a higher profile. The American Canoe Association recently included the Lower Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers Canoe Trail among 12 recommended water trails for 2006.

The list ranges from Oregon to Florida and includes sections of the Potomac River in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.

One criterion for selection is that the trail has to be supported and managed by an organization. That requirement is filled by the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers Association.

"We're thrilled to be recognized," said Dawn Shank, secretary-treasurer of MPRA. "It was a surprise to us."

Rod Tatum, also active in MPRA, said the recognition is a "huge deal. It's a wonderful opportunity to open up the eyes of a lot of people to this area."

The trail stretches from the York River upstream to Zoar on the Mattaponi and above U.S. 360 on the Pamunkey. One conservation group called the area "the heart of the most pristine freshwater complex in the Atlantic seaboard."

MPRA, formed in 1992, has developed maps, helped raise kiosks, held river stewardship programs, involved local schools in education efforts, hosted paddle trips for teachers and, perhaps most important in the coming Jamestown 2007 celebration, paid homage to the rivers' heritage.

"The water trail follows the waterway that the Native American tribes used between villages," Shank said.

An area upstream of Aylett once was the site of Passaunkack, a Chickahominy tribal town documented by Capt. John Smith in his explorations.

Smith described numerous other villages, including one near Walkerton, where MPRA has its office. The north bank of the Mattaponi a few miles upstream was home to a little-known people, the Martoughquank.

The association's kiosk at Walkerton, one of seven built through a Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network grant, recalls that American Indian past. The structure evokes the rounded shape of an Algonquin longhouse, and the copper roof symbolizes the currency used for paying tribal priests.

A mural painted by a local artist also pays tribute to an asterisk in Walkerton lore. Two geese - one domesticated, the other a wounded wild bird - became inseparable, and people came from far and wide to see the odd couple. One day, however, a resident found them dead, pierced by arrows from some unknown archer. Artwork preserves their memory.

Such tidbits make the kiosks prominent elements of the trail, but the true bounty lies in the natural resources. The Mattaponi is reputed for the diversity of its birds, and both rivers give anglers plenty of sport - ring perch, American shad, chain pickerel, bass, catfish and more.

Shank said limited public access to the waters hinders full appreciation. The lower Pamunkey has only two landings, one of which is a rutted dirt ramp off state Route 602 in King William County.

"When we organize river connection trips and activities," she said, "we realize not only how important it is to get people on the rivers so that they will care about them, but we've come to realize how little direct public access there is to the rivers."

Everything comes down to stewardship. That includes getting down and dirty on cleanup days.

"The first stewardship day that I was at, people were picking up all kinds of trash - bottles, cans, old tires, just about anything anybody could throw out," Tatum said.

This year, he asked some paddlers to pick up trash between Zoar and Aylett.

"When they came in, I said, 'Where's the trash?' They said they couldn't find any.

"So the program really works."