Recommended
Paddling sites worth reading
The official paddling sources we check ourselves, plus the independent sites we read. Kept short on purpose, and a person writes every entry.
Official sources
Agencies, regulators and the organizations that publish the rules and the data. We use these ourselves. None of them asked to be listed and none of them link back to us.
American Whitewater River Index
americanwhitewater.org
Run descriptions, gradient, rapids and live gauge readings with the levels each run is good at, maintained by paddlers. The access notes are the part that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else.
Coast Guard Boating Safety
uscgboating.org
Required equipment, registration, accident reporting, and the free vessel safety check a volunteer examiner will run at the ramp. Also where recalls and safety alerts for boats and engines get published.
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
fws.gov
The rivers Congress has protected, why each one qualified, and who manages it. A practical way to find a stretch that will still look the way it does now in twenty years.
USGS National Water Dashboard
dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov
Live streamflow, gauge height and water temperature from every USGS gauge in the country, on one map. This is the same data behind our river conditions, read straight from the source, and it is the first thing worth checking before you drive anywhere.
Independent sites
Written by people who do this rather than by an agency. We read every one before it goes on this page.
Worth reading anywhere
Quiet Adventures Society
quietadventures.org
A Michigan nonprofit behind QAS, an annual show for paddlers and other quiet-sports travelers with speakers, demonstrations, exhibitors, a paddling film festival and youth activities. Its site also points paddlers to Michigan water trails on the Grand and Huron rivers.
Ten Best Kayaks
tenbestkayaks.com
A kayak review site whose buyer's guide walks first-time buyers through sit-on-top versus sit-inside designs, hull types, length, width, materials and weight capacity.
Colorado
Michigan
Headwaters Trails
headwaterstrailsinc.org
A nonprofit building a network of land and water trails along the Shiawassee River headwaters in northwest Oakland County, Michigan. Its monthly business meetings are open to members and the public, and its Trail Resources page gathers local paddling and trail links.
Michigan Canoe Racing Association
miracing.com
Promotes marathon canoe racing in Michigan: the season race schedule, MCRA points standings, race results and racing rules, plus annual awards for paddlers and race directors.
Wisconsin
Run a site we should know about?
We read everything that comes in. Independent sites about paddling only, and a person writes the description, so there is no need to send us one.
Add your siteWe link to these sites because we think they are useful. Some of them link back to us. None of them paid for a place here, and nobody can buy one. If a site stops being worth reading, it comes off this page.
