Long Canoe Trips Around the East Coast

[Chance09]

I googled long canoe trips on the East Coast and couldn't find much. Could anyone point me toward a website that has some information i could look at or suggest a trip? I'm looking to do a week or so in a canoe probably around april before heading out to do the PCT. Thanks

[Gray Blazer]

They've got canoeing on the Suwanee River in FL.This time of year would be perfect. Canoeing in the Everglades can be fun this time of year as well. Flamingo City to Everglades city.

[dmax]

There is one in NC towards the coast. I don't remember the name of the river....But it is set up kinda like the AT. It has shelters set up on platforms that are about a days paddle away from each other.

[DAJA]

Maine has some tremendous canoe trips but for one with an international flavor i'll recommend canoeing the St. Croix River..

The St. Croix is the international boundry of Canada and the US.. It is a remote paddle that will allow you to experience unpopulated lakes, populated lakes, dead waters with great fishing, and fast water with class 3 rapids...

If you begin at the top of North Lake and paddle down to Loon Bay you'd be looking at roughly a 5/6 day trip. Well maintained but remote camping sites along the river on both sides of the international border...

Find more info here:
http://www.stcroix.org/

And a basic map here:
http://www.stcroix.org/waterwaymap.html

When I have more time I'll post some other great Maine paddles.. But the St Croix has been one of my favorites for years and I'm drawn back to this trip every May..

[Ender]

Check out the Northern Forest Canoe Trail...
http://www.northernforestcanoetrail.org/
740 miles of awesome. It's a dream of mine to do the whole thing some day.

[Jester2000]

Maine has some tremendous canoe trips but for one with an international flavor i'll recommend canoeing the St. Croix River..

The St. Croix is the international boundry of Canada and the US.. It is a remote paddle that will allow you to experience unpopulated lakes, populated lakes, dead waters with great fishing, and fast water with class 3 rapids...

If you begin at the top of North Lake and paddle down to Loon Bay you'd be looking at roughly a 5/6 day trip. Well maintained but remote camping sites along the river on both sides of the international border...

Find more info here:
http://www.stcroix.org/

And a basic map here:
http://www.stcroix.org/waterwaymap.html

When I have more time I'll post some other great Maine paddles.. But the St Croix has been one of my favorites for years and I'm drawn back to this trip every May..

Will that work in April, or do you think it will still be too cold?

[Hikes in Rain]

Also the Okeephanokee Swamp, in Georgia. It has canoe trails, tenting platforms, all kinds of good things. And with the cold, the alligators are pretty slow!

[DAJA]

Will that work in April, or do you think it will still be too cold?

Yeah April would be to early as the ice won't be gone till late April or early may. Generally we do the run around the may long weekend and still have to be cautious of some pockets of ice.

[Grampsb]

There's the Boundary Waters in Mn and Queto in Canada which is next to the Boundary Waters. For the more adventureous there is Wabakimi and Woodland Caribou in Ontanrio. Been to Boundary Waters and Wabakimi

[Tinker]

Maine has some tremendous canoe trips but for one with an international flavor i'll recommend canoeing the St. Croix River..

The St. Croix is the international boundry of Canada and the US.. It is a remote paddle that will allow you to experience unpopulated lakes, populated lakes, dead waters with great fishing, and fast water with class 3 rapids...

If you begin at the top of North Lake and paddle down to Loon Bay you'd be looking at roughly a 5/6 day trip. Well maintained but remote camping sites along the river on both sides of the international border...

Find more info here:
http://www.stcroix.org/

And a basic map here:
http://www.stcroix.org/waterwaymap.html

When I have more time I'll post some other great Maine paddles.. But the St Croix has been one of my favorites for years and I'm drawn back to this trip every May..

I was going to suggest paddling the Maine coast until he mentioned the time frame - April - too dangerous (cold).

[Tinker]

Also the Okeephanokee Swamp, in Georgia. It has canoe trails, tenting platforms, all kinds of good things. And with the cold, the alligators are pretty slow!

This one sounds like a winner - or the Everglades in Fla. I know that there's at least one canoe trail there that has chickees (sp?) - platforms to set a tent up on.

[eric j]

I googled long canoe trips on the East Coast and couldn't find much. Could anyone point me toward a website that has some information i could look at or suggest a trip? I'm looking to do a week or so in a canoe probably around april before heading out to do the PCT. Thanks

The Tidal Hudson from Troy to New York Harbor is an awesome trip, The Hudson River Watertrail Assoc has campsites every 10-15 miles, I've seen more wildlife along the Hudson river valley than anywhere else on the east coast. It truly is beautiful once again.

We usually paddle it in touring kayaks, but canoes have been plowing the waters for centuries (obviously). Check out the Great Hudson River Paddle

[Cookerhiker]

How about the Potomac? The Maryland side is entirely the C&O Canal National Park with campsites, privies, and water pumps. There are a few "trail towns" for some civilization and resupply - Hancock, Williamsport in MD, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry in WV. There are also long stretches with no roads or towns (although you're never far from railroad tracks). You'll intersect the AT in Harpers Ferry.

There are a few dams so you need to get some good maps. A long-time outfitter who can probably help you is River & Trails Outfitters in MD across from Harpers Ferry.

Just don't go all the way down to Great Falls!

[Jim Adams]

Try the Peace River through central Florida. I've done from Ft. Meade south and it was a great trip.......second week of March, good water (alittle higher than normal), lots of wild birds, lots of alligators (they won't bother you) and good weather (50*-60* at night, 60*-75* in the day). Canoe Safari Outfitter in Arcadia shuttled us for a reasonable price and also gave us alot of info about alligators. They rent canoes (100's) on weekends and have never had an aligator / person problem.
Enjoy the trip...it's a great river.

geek

[Deadeye]

Canoeing in Maine or the North Country Trail in NY, VT, NH and Maine isn't called canoeing in April... it's called ice boating.

[bobgessner57]

The river in North Carolina with the camping platforms is the Roanoke. The platforms must be reserved (for a nominal fee). The weather in April can be wonderful or nasty but certainly not as cold as some of the northern routes mentioned above.

A great resource for planning paddling trips of any length in Canada is Myccr.com . The site has threads divided by province and has a ton of info about routes, weather, gear, anything you might need to know.

[Snowleopard]

Not for April (too cold), but the Adirondacks and Algonquin Provincial Park are supposed to have great canoeing. A good place to find about the Adirondacks is http://www.adkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

[Tennessee Viking]

Check out JohnnyMolloy.com

I do know there is huge canoeing system around the NC Croatan National Forest.

[Jim Adams]

Not for April (too cold), but the Adirondacks and Algonquin Provincial Park are supposed to have great canoeing. A good place to find about the Adirondacks is http://www.adkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62

Algonquin is GREAT (picture Boundry Waters East) however it is still iced in until about May 1, paddlable with high cold water about May 15 and into blackfly season by the end of the first week in June. I've spent at least a week every year in Algonquin since 1987. I have seen most of the park and NEVER get tired of it but go the second week of August or later to avoid bugs and after September 1 to avoid crowds.

geek

[toegem]

I googled long canoe trips on the East Coast and couldn't find much. Could anyone point me toward a website that has some information i could look at or suggest a trip? I'm looking to do a week or so in a canoe probably around april before heading out to do the PCT. Thanks

Below are a few links to areas to paddle on the East Coast and the Midwest. Someone had mentioned the Boundry Waters, chances are that ice out would have not happened by the end of April, was there April 2009 and the only thing really open were the rivers. Should you be able to postpone your canoe trip till mid May I would highly recommend either the Boundry Waters or Quetico, chances are if you do a trip in canoe country your going to get hooked, I have been since 1983.
http://www.canoetrip.com/index.html

During winter IMHO you can't beat the paddling on the Wilderness Waterway here in FL, it's a 100 mile trip from Everglades City to Florida Bay, in April you could run into a problem with the Florida State Bird, the mosquito. Spring paddling in Fl. offers up long paddles on the Peace River, Suwannee River and Sopchoppy River which is some what shorter than either the Suwannee or Peace Rivers, but lies within the boundries of Aplalachicola National Forest and it can be tied in with other streams
http://www.evergladesdiary.com/
http://www.canoeoutpost.com/Peace/prlinks.htm

I've included the Roanoke River Basin which is located in your own state, I can not say that I've paddled here but have an interest in checking it out in the furture.
http://www.roanokeriverpartners.org/...RiverBasin.htm

Then there is the Allagash In Maine which is another paddle worth taking, although as with the Boundry Waters, April paddling can be difficult and you may be better off doing this trip in mid to late May.
http://www.katahdinoutfitters.com/river.htm