This 271-mile, coastline-hugging system of water trails on Washington State’s Puget Sound slips into coves and flows past bird- and seal-filled inlets around Seattle and Tacoma. Kitsap Peninsula Water Trail, Washington State Hop out along the route to explore an 1805 log cabin post office in Franklin, go geocaching at Hamilton’s Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum, or sip bourbon at the Century Bar, a clubby, wood-paneled watering hole open since 1945. What to know: Join a tour or use the interactive map to find launches for self-guided paddling. ( Learn how an Ohio toxic wasteland has been reclaimed as a pristine park.) Near Dayton, glide through the manmade whitewater feature at Eastwood MetroPark, or cool off under the Five Rivers Fountain of Lights, which has jets shooting water 200 feet high and 400 feet across the confluence of the Mad and Great Miami Rivers. In addition to 99 miles of paddling, the Great Miami Riverway, which run from the town of Sidney to Hamilton County, Ohio, offers a robust website with links to activities, attractions, and lodging for multi-day trips. You can take a guided trip or rent canoes, kayaks, or SUP equipment from multiple outfitters. What to kno w: There’s camping at historic Willow Beach and natural hot springs for soaking in several of the river’s side canyons. The route ends amid the towering sandstone cliffs of Eldorado Canyon on Lake Mohave. Highlights of the trail include desert landscapes and Emerald Cave, a shimmering green grotto only reachable by boat. It is accessible via guided tours that launch from the base of the Hoover Dam in Willow Beach, Arizona, or near an old mining town in Eldorado Canyon, Nevada. This 30-mile route travels a lesser-used portion of the Colorado River through Arizona and Nevada. Black Canyon Water Trail, Arizona and Nevada The Erie Canalway connects to three other historic canals-the Oswego, Champlain, and Cayuga-Seneca-or the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail, which runs north from Battery Park in Manhattan to the Adirondacks. In the Finger Lakes, paddle through the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, where you might spot bald eagles or rare cerulean warblers. From the launch in Waterford, near Albany, row out to scenic, 190-acre Peebles Island State Park. What to know: The Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor map can help you plan a trip. ( Discover the bike and footpath crossing the entire state of New York.) “People come for kayaking, then go into small towns for lunch or ice cream.” “You don’t have to own a kayak or be a tugboat captain to be out on the waterway,” says Shane Mahar, a spokesperson for the New York State Canal Corporation. It includes free use of kayaks and stand-up paddle boards from local rental businesses when participants sign up via the website. In 2021, New York State launched the On the Canals program to increase recreation on and off the water. Spanning nearly the entirety of upstate New York, from Buffalo in the west to Albany in the east, the Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor transforms the circa-1825 manmade trade and immigration route into a paddling and boating trail flanked by waterside pedestrian paths. One of the most innovative-and newest-paddling programs in the U.S. Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, New York State Here are some of the best places to float your own boat-or one you rent. “We now have trails across the country.”Īll the trails are easy to dip into for an afternoon or a few days of paddling. “One impetus for this was to work with communities that didn’t have great access to their waters,” says Lelia Mellen, a NPS outdoor recreation planner. The rivers, canals, and other channels of the NWT must have guaranteed public access, regularly located boat launches, educational activities, and a commitment to environmental stewardship. “Over the past 20 years, as rivers became cleaner and more accessible, there’s been increasing interest in being out on the water,” says Corita Waters, river partnerships specialist for the National Park Service (NPS), which oversees the NWT as part of its National Recreation Trail program. Many waterways are repurposed, rehabbed industrial trade routes. They range from the 4.2-mile Chippewa River Water Trail, which flows through the urban landscape of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to the 631-mile Alabama Scenic River Trail, which runs from the tip of the Coosa River to the Gulf of Mexico. But many of the record number of Americans who have taken up paddle sports (kayaking, stand-up paddle-boarding, canoeing) in recent years don’t know about an innovative national program that can help them explore the country by boat.įounded in 2012, the National Water Trails (NWT) system consists of 35 riverways and canals in 25 U.S. National Parks for scenic trails, and cyclists are wise to bike paths across the country.
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