Anyone out there like to canoe camp? If so, what tips do you have to share? I bought my first canoe about a year ago and plan to do a lot of canoe camping with the family and solo. Thanks.

I do a lot of canoeing, but so far no canoe-camping. A friend of mine is a rabid devote of that pursuit so if you have a specific question I might be able to ask him.

My one word of advise is the obvious one: be careful. Especially on rivers. People often underestimate the danger of rivers. Even a mild one is quite dangerous. More people drown in rivers than in any other way. That's not to say not to go on them, in fact, most of my canoeing is done on rivers. Just be careful and don't take chances, it's not worth it.

How old are the kids in the family?

you could try the boundary waters in Minnesota for a start.

My favorite is Algonquin park in Ontario

My wife's a total novice (paddled local lakes with me ~ 10 times) and I'm fairly new behind a paddle myself(1 BWCAW trip, 2 small river trips, numerous days fishing on lakes/ponds). As for my son, he just turned 2 years old so camping and trips with him are going to be ultra-tame until he's old enough to swim and even then, I'm not going to plan trips beyond their skill level.

My goals are to improve my personal skills/techniques for solo fishing/hunting trips as well as our �family� skills/techniques for camping/river trips. I�m planning on working on the �family� skills/techniques around home as much as possible before we set out on any "real" trips like the BWCAW or Quetico. Working on safety, paddling skills, trip organization/content and researching good destinations will hopefully pay-off with loads of great memories for everyone to enjoy long after our paddlin� days are done. I really want to do my part to ensure our trips are safe, meaningful and fun so any tips on you guys and gals have on safety, food, gear, practice, activities, destinations, etc. are all very much appreciated.

I've, in the past, done a lot of canoe camping great why to go if you do not have to portage a lot yu can carry more comforts with you. Better food nicer tent ect.

We (wife and kids) have done quite a bit. First rule in capital letters: Qualified swimmer or not, wear your personal floatation device. I was so rabid about it that even when we were camped and just swimming, everyone had to wear their life vest. Being 50 miles or so from your closest help can really make you think. While a tent is nice, for one night stands we often used hammocks. Do Not plan on just sleeping on the ground. If its warm enough to family camp, its warm enough for creepy crawlers in buddy up with you. For what its worth, if the baby is two, I think I would use established camp grounds that have a lake or such to get my experience and introduce the wife and kid to camping. If you stop and think about it, a small child especially, one that might or might not be house broken, requires a lot of maintainance gear.

Logistics is your main consideration, i.e., leaving the canoe in one location, and a vehicle in another if you are planning river trips. Not that big of a problem for lake canoeing, which is probably best for learning how to handle the canoe.

In this area, Hungry Horse reservoir is a real sleeper for a trip away from the crowd. Deer, elk, Black and Grizzly bear by the bushell. The Missouri River has transporters for vehicles here in Montana, but I wouldn't recommend the big river to start.

I would look for lakes in your area with not alot of use, and start there. Keep you center of gravity low. If you are going to camp, carry good first aid, bedding, and food to keep the others happy. Keep it light. Any extra means more work for the paddlers.

Be careful, and wear the PFD's. We had a 24 ft. Sport Fisher capsize here last night. One dead so far, one with severe hypothermia, and one other still missing.

St. Croix and Flambeau Rivers, Willow and Turtle-Flambeau Flowages, and BWCA-Quetico. If you like to read, Song of the Paddle by Bill Mason is enjoyable and will give you some great tips on living out of your canoe. Cliff Jacobson has a couple of OK books on canoe camping as well.

Info on Song of the Paddle

Cliff Jacobson book

Nebraska , I'm sure you are aware of all the canoeists on the Niobrara these days ? I hear on summer weekends , it is so crowded uou would hardly be out there all by your lonesome .

When you are ready for something a little wilder , there is the White in SD , and there are a number of neat streams in the Sandhills , including the Dismal .

Here are a few tips and tricks I used to use when canoeing with my wife and (then) young daughter and now when I kayak.

Like everyone sez, always wear your PFD. Make sure your son ALWAYS has his PFD on even when not in the water!!! You can't keep your eye on him all the time and the water is only a stumble down a bank away.

I don't care where you camp or paddle to. Take along some plastic kitchen sized trash bags for litter. Always leave the area cleaner than when you got there. You don't have to pick up everything, just pick up more than what you took in. If everyone would do this.... you know where this is going.

If sleeping on the ground, I'd use a tent with a floor to keep the crawlies out (tics). A ground cover will help keep the moisture from coming up and making stuff damp.

Take along some containers like small plastic pails (one gallon ice cream buckets or butter bowls) if your son is old enough to follow directions, have him pick up small rocks (marble sized) otherwise you or your wife need to get as many of these rocks as you can get (you will need plenty). Then while you and your wife are paddling your son can drop or throw the rocks into the water to keep him occupied, they love doing this and it keeps them busy for a long time until they run out of rocks. This helps with the "sit still and don't be messing around cause mommy and daddy are busy paddling" orders.

Get a big sponge and have it in the back of the canoe with you. It is very handy to bail out the water that gets in and sloshes around while on a trip. Helps keep everything dry. I always covered the gear we were hauling in the middle of the canoe to help keep it dry because as you switch sides paddling you will inevetably drip water on them. Do this enough and your packs and sleeping bags are wet when you get to your destination. Dry compression bags are great but add to the start-up costs.

Have some string along and maybe a toy boat or two. Tie the string to the boat and to a branch you broke off so he can drag HIS boat beside the canoe. Think of stuff for your son to do to keep him busy while you are on the water. It will make your trip more enjoyable

Here in the west, if you see a storm approaching it is best to get off the water and get prepared to "weather the storm". Out here the wind can go from just a few mph to 30 or 50 mph gusts and the water on lakes can get waves up to 3 - 4'!! Many people drownd out here each year becouse of this! Most are in fishing boats with motors and in crafts bigger and more stable than canoes! Many times I have seen the weather change really fast while paddling on Yellowstone lake while in the back country of Yellowstone National Park.

Waterways and lakes attract all kinds of animals. Make sure your food and gear are stored appropriately. Even if you are not in bear country you might be in areas with raccoons and other creatures. It will help keep vermin out of your packs and food if you practice bear country rules like hanging food supplies off the ground from trees using ropes.

Plan short trips the first year. Don't go on some paddling marathon trip until you have learned what to take and have gotten some experience. And don't be afraid to cut the outing short and head home when it stops being fun for everyong (I'm thinking of your wife here). Cause "If Mom ain't happy, ain't nobody going to be happy"!! This will help with family sanity and to make sure everyone will want to go on the next trip you plan.

Enjoy -

Canoe camping is not back-packing more like car camping with a Civic.You can put a moose in a prospector canoe if you shoot it first.Two burner Coleman white gas,four person tent,lawn chairs,Thermarest Camp-rest, you get the idea.We use small 20gallon? plastic barrels,there are screw on lids for the 5 gallon pails,too.Heavy plastic bags,heavy like the ones that the highways dept. use for litter barrels,inside duffle or sport bags make cheap dry bags.If you tie or strap all these bags in the canoe,it's like floatation cells.Have fun !

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. Elkslayer....love the excellent ideas about the pails of small rocks and the boat on a string. Very good stuff....keep it up!!

SDGS - What's the White like? Any particular part of the Dismal?

I've heard the Upper Iowa is really nice. Any favorite Midwest destinations out there?

Went on a 4-5 day trip a couple years ago on the Green River in Utah. We went from Green River State Park to a place called Mineral Bottoms. Paid some guy $50 to shuttle my vehicle to our stopping point. Did a bit of fishing and a whole lot of relaxing on this trip and would recommend it even to novice campers.

Best Regards,

JohnTheGreek

Hi, Nebraska:

Where in Nebraska are you from? I'm from the Wayne area, a long time ago.

My wife and I canoe trip frequently, mostly wilderness trips for as long as I can get off work. Two weeks or so. To me, "wilderness" means map and compass. Parks like Algonquin and Boundary Waters are great. We take friends from the States there for what I call a "managed wilderness" trip.

I pack four piles:

1. Shelter — tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, axe, saw and bear rope.
2. Kitchen — pots, pans, food, coffee, knives
3. Clothes and toiletries — including rain gear
4. Recreation — camera, fishing gear, gun, etc.

Our clothing is plastic. Supplex, Gore-Tex, Polartec or whatever. It dries fast.

Fishing gear depends on the fish. I like the Syclops series from Mepps. Little ones with a Siwash hook for trout, big ones with a plastic tail for bass, walleyes and pike.

Everything weighs something. My tent is 52 sq. ft. and weighs less than four pounds. It also costs over $700. Eureka! Timberline is cheaper and very good. Many models.

Therm-a-Rest pads are the best. They are self-inflating (mostly) and very puncture-resistant. I have been using mine for eight years.

Don't take more bag than you need. My wife and I usually share one zipped to a sheet that's fitted to the Therm-a-Rest. Look at www.featheredfriends.com.

My canoe weighs 42 pounds and my pack is 50. My wife's pack is 45. We make all portages in one trip except during hunting season, when the extra gear mandates two.

We pack along a couple of collapsible directors' chairs. We are old, our knees don't bend and our butts don't like to be wet.

We use Whisperlite stoves and naphthalene (Coleman fuel). No gas lanterns. You can get candle lanterns, but in summer it's light late and we go to bed by 10:30 or so.

We never take cans. Pasta is good, and you can dry spaghetti sauce in your oven and it tastes fresh when you add water again. Line a baking pan with waxed paper, dump in the sauce and let it dry on low with the door propped open a bit with a wooden spoon to let the moisture out.

We filter water with a Sweetwater Guardian. Nebraska rivers might not be such a good idea because of pesticide runoff and sediment.

Protect your toilet paper.

kk

I just got off the upper Missouri (above Fort Peck res.) yesterday on what has become an annual rite of spring. 3 nights on the water, never saw a soul till the last day. Nothing even a novice couldn't handle--spectacular scenery and wildlife. I use several plastic "action-packers" with tightly sealed lids and several of the dry bags with roll lids (cabelas brand are the best deal and high quality--buy one size bigger than you think you'll ever need. If the water is at all sketchy. install eye-bolts (sealed with silicone) on the packers and lash to the boat. Center your load and keep the heavy stuff low in the boat (I had a pile of beaver traps that REALLY stabilized things!) Its one of the epic floats around in my opinion, if you want details, e-mail me at jaykolbe@hotmail.com

kk - Great post. Thanks.

SC - Sounds like a fun trip. I sent ya an e-mail.

In a far past life I did do some canoeing in Iowa. The Upper Iowa is nice. Another good one is the Maquoketa River. Watch for rattlesnakes. The White and Buffalo Rivers in Arkansas are nice floats.

Rattle snakes!!

Any cooking/food tips??? Any must haves for equipment??? Has anyone tried those floats that stick out the sides to help with stability when showing the kids the ropes? Thanks.

Hi, Nebraska:

Everything depends. How many people? What kinds of canoes? River or lake? Portages? If so, how many and how long.

At the extreme end, long trips with multiple portages, you want to go as light as possible. On the other end, a long drift with no rapids and you can take along four cases of beer if you want.

Try www.myccr.com

This is called Canadian Canoe Routes, but the route information is pretty minor. There are endless discussions on light vs. comfort, safety, bears, rattlesnakes and tons of recipes and tips on dehydrating.

Most of the posters are somewhere left of Stalin, believe in universal welfare and cannot abide either hunting or insect repellant, but there is some good information to be gleaned anyway. Whatever you do, don't tell them if you work for a living.

I hang out there quite a bit, but if I say a single word it sends them off like a banana in a chimp house. Tell them you're American, insane and you own guns and they'll be polite.

kk

I have canoed the Platte, Republican, Dismal, and Niobrara. All years ago when the NG&P was establishing camp grounds on those river and before the NG&P did so. WE did over nighters to 3 nighters several times a year. WE even hunted along the Republican, ducks and deer.

The important part was keeping things dry. WE tried bags and such but what worked best was ice chests with some kind of lock in case of a tip over. We carried our clothes and sleeping bags in them. They made nice chairs when you set up camp. A tarp or tent was a must, lots of humidity along the river. The trips were easy on all those rivers. Be aware of snakes, mosquitoes, and deep holes in the channels. Fishing was pretty good to. Lots of wildlife, and a bonfire at night on an island was very peaceful. Have fun but use caution. We have some great rivers out here but I am yet to see any one useing them to canoe/camp. Duck hunting is about it.

Nebraska , I had to look at a map to jog my memory . I was thinking about the Calamas , not the Dismal . We looked at some ranch property south of Ainsworth years ago and I thought it was a very pretty stream in that country , and just big enough to make for a nice float.

Personally , I wouldn't worry too much about farm chemicals or sediment in the Sandhills , as that is pretty much strictly grazing country . Alot more sand than dirt and it makes for some fairly clear water......I should keep my mouth shut lest the word get out , but i think the Hills are one of the mosr unspoiled regions in the lower 48......

I'll have a better report on the White in a few weeks......a few local guys are going to float it for turkey hunting......I think the lower White would look alot like the Niobrara except it would carry quite a little less water.......

The sandhills really are unspoiled, I've got inlaws that own a ranch in the sand hills ,with a smaller creek running through it. I've floated the niobrara and it's well worth the time.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with alot of the sandhill streams and rivers is deer flys. Usually the first two weeks of july are terrible. The creek on my inlaws place,gets so bad livestock and wildlife won't even drink out of it. I've seen horses literally covered in welts. They have to fill tanks to water cattle and the muleys and whitetail deer stand in line also. I've been to alaska and canada several times and these places are renowned for bugs,but the sandhills in july are worse. By all means give the sandhills a try. Basically the sandhills are what wyoming and montana were in the 1960's. The words already gotten out and the colorado assholes are already destroying it.

While on the subject of the sandhills.....

I took a trip on the Snake River in Cherry county during June about 5 years ago. Beautiful area and the horse-flies luckily weren't too bad. We had some "sticky strips" for the backs of our hats that seemed to help out. I was tripping with several guys, some of whom worked for the game and parks. They'd made the trip for years and at one point in the trip, we filled our water supplies from a cold underground spring that emptied into the Snake. I was hesitant to do it but went along with the gang. Well....much to my delight, it was just clean, cold water and didn't have any "diet supplements" in it! All in all it was a great trip and I plan on doing that one again in the future.