Getaway: Family Fossil Hunt

Trips

68497d6cb194485d2759fde9466457b7_XL — Photos: Virginia Marshall

This Family Camping article originally appeared in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.

We’ve all been one or know one. Memorized the impossible, seven-syllable names (try saying Archaeornithomimus three times fast); pretended the backyard was Jurassic Park (and known that, to be perfectly correct, it really should be called Cretaceous Park); slept between dinosaur-motif bed sheets. Yes, I’m referring to the part-time paleontologist, the fearless fossil hunter in your family. Whether it’s you, your son, grandson, sister or dad, a fascination with the creatures that walked, crawled, swam and sprouted long before we appeared can inspire a fun theme for your next family adventure.

MISTAKEN POINT ECOLOGICAL RESERVE

NEWFOUNDLAND

Newfoundland is world-renowned for its fossils. Long ago set adrift from what is now Europe, the Rock’s sheer bounty of, well, rock is home to ancient marine organisms spanning 320 million years of geologic time. Most famous of these fossil beds is Mistaken Point, a wave-battered crag that takes its name from the deadly result of sailors mistaking it for the safe harbor of Cape Race. Buried in fine volcanic ash 565 million years ago, the creatures now exposed here in tennis court-sized slabs of sea cliff are not only the most ancient deep-water marine fossils in the world, they’re also the oldest diverse collection of complex organisms ever discovered. And they’re controversial, too. Only a handful of the frond-like, leafy forms resemble known living animals— most are so radically different that some scientists insist on assigning them to their own completely separate kingdom.

STAY AWHILE: Reached by dirt road and a six-kilometer hiking trail on the tip of the Avalon Peninsula, Mistaken Point has an edge-of-the-world feel that’s worth visiting even if you’re not a fossil buff. Between June and September, don’t pass up a whale and puffin-watching boat tour 90 minutes north in Witless Bay.

INFO: The point is two hours south of St. John’s, off Route 10. Meet your guide at the interpretive center in the coastal village of Portugal Cove South for a daily tour (departs 1 p.m., May–October, 3–4 hours). 709-438-1100, Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve

DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK

ALBERTA

When dinosaur fanatics dream of Nirvana it looks a lot like southeastern Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. Here the Red Deer River Valley carves through Canada’s largest badlands, revealing haunting hoodoos, isolated mesas and the greatest concentration of Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils ever found. Every known group is represented, including favorites like Triceratops, Hadrosaurus, The Lost World’s battering ram Pachycephalosaurus and, of course, the terrifying Tyrannosaurus rex. Seventy-five million years ago, this was low swampy country with a steamy subtropical climate, and the dinosaurs rubbed shoulders with fish, turtles, crocodiles, amphibians and even marsupials. Since the first paleontologists began digging here in the 1880s, more than 23,000 fossils have been collected, including 300 dinosaur skeletons. Some of these now reside in museums around the world, but the greatest collection is housed just a two-hour drive away in Drumheller, Alberta’s Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology.

STAY AWHILE: Explore the stark beauty of the badlands on the six-kilometer Great Badlands hike. Join one of the park’s paleontologist-led family or kids’ day programs, including an authentic dinosaur dig, prospecting hike or dinosaur day camp.

INFO: The park is three hours east of Calgary, off Route 544. Dinosaur Provincial Park, 403-378-4342 ext. 235, Dinosaur Provincial Park

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota’s White River Badlands are to the study and understanding of ancient mammals what Alberta’s badlands are to dinosaur research. Since 1846, paleontologists have uncovered the remains of camels, three-toed horses, saber-toothed cats, rhinos, rabbits, beavers and more, providing the most complete snapshot of mammalian life in North America during the early Age of Mammals 36 to 28 million years ago. But that’s not all. The extensive erosion that has produced this landscape of buttes, pinnacles and spires amid the prairie has also revealed even more ancient fossils dating from the Cretaceous. During the Age of Dinosaurs, however, a warm shallow sea covered the Great Plains. Since dinosaurs were land creatures, none have been found here. Instead fossil hunters have unearthed giant marine lizards called mosasaurs, along with fish, turtles, nautiloids (shelled mollusks) and ammonites (ancient squid).

STAY AWHILE: Bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs may be seen from the park’s trails. Hike 1.5 miles to the Notch, a dramatic overlook of the White River Valley—watch your step, the trail climbs a log ladder and skirts drop-offs.

INFO: The park is 75 miles east of Rapid City on Route 44. Badlands National Park, 605-433- 5361, Badlands National Park

BURGESS SHALE

YOHO NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA

The word Yoho comes from the Cree language. Probably the best translation is “Wow”. Native peoples and modern visitors exclaim at the stupendous Rocky Mountians, emerald lakes and 833-foot Takakkaw Falls (another Cree word meaning magnificent). But it is likely that paleontologist Charles Walcott also breathed “wow” in 1909 when he discovered the fossil bed now known as the Burgess Shale. In seven years, Walcott collected more than 65,000 fossils, many of which were unknown. Declared a World Heritage Site in 1981, the Burgess Shale is still regarded as the finest site for Cambrian age fossils. Join a daylong guided hike—the only way to view the park’s two fossil beds—to learn how these half-billion-year-old marine animals hold important clues to evolutionary understanding. Mount Stephen’s famous trilobite beds are accessed via a nine-kilometer hike, while Walcott Quarry is a strenuous, 22-kilometer round-trip to a spectacular subalpine ridge.

STAY AWHILE: There’s no shortage of things to do in Yoho. View some of the park’s abundant wildlife and lofty peaks while hiking one of the dozens of trails, canoeing on aptly named Emerald Lake or staying at a historic backcountry lodge.

INFO: The park is a short drive west of Lake Louise on Trans-Canada Hwy 1 and borders Banff National Park to the east. Yoho Visitor Center, 250-343-6783, Burgess Shale

WHAT IS A FOSSIL?

Think of fossils and the first thing that comes to mind is probably a dinosaur skeleton. But fossils come in every shape, size and age—the oldest fossils are 3.5-billion-year-old stromatolites while the youngest are just 10,000 years old.

Mold and Cast Fossils form when a skeleton is buried by sediment. Over time, the sediment turns to stone and the entombed bones begin to dissolve, leaving a cavity in the shape of the original skeleton. Water rich in minerals enters the cavity and the minerals deposited in the mold form a cast that has the same shape but none of the internal features (or DNA) of the original skeleton. Most of the fossilized bones, shells and leaves we find are mold and cast fossils.

Replacement Fossils are made up of minerals that have taken the place of the original organic material while preserving the internal structures. For example, petrified wood is actually rock—silicon or calcite crystals have replaced all of the organic matter down to the last cell!

Whole Body Fossils are unaltered, intact organisms like mammoths caught in ice or tar pits, or insects trapped in amber.

Trace Fossils record the activity of an animal, rather than the animal itself. These include footprints, tracks and coprolites (fossilized poop!).

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Fall 2012. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Match Making

f9a9b7c9f33a923e5475b478a62125ae_XL — Photo: Jeffery Turner/Flickr.com

Betcha didn’t know these fun facts about matches

– Sweden is the world’s leading exporter of matches, manufacturing around five million boxes daily—the equivalent of about 250 million matchsticks.

– The original matches—small sticks of pine impregnated with sulphur—were first used in China in the sixth century.

– Matchbox collectors are called phillumenists.

– “Third on a match” means bad luck. The superstition dates back to WWI when it was believed that if three soldiers lit their cigarettes using the same match, a sniper would see the match strike, take aim at the second soldier lighting up and pick off the ill-fated third.

– Five hundred billion matches are used each year.

– A lawsuit was filed against Match.com in 2005, claiming that the dating website secretly employs people as bait to send fake messages and go on as many as three dates per day to keep paying clients returning. Both the suit and the plaintiff’s love life failed to ignite.

– Up until the early 1900s, matches were made using toxic amounts of white phosphorous, causing an epidemic of a deadly bone disease known as phossy jaw.

– The safety match separates reactive materials, with red phosphorus on the matchbook’s outer striking strip and potassium chlorate on the match head, making undesired ignition virtually impossible.

– Most wooden matchsticks are made from aspen or white pine with a single tree yielding anywhere from 400,000 to one million sticks.

– If all of the three-inch Matchbox toy cars ever built were parked bumper to bumper, they would stretch around the equator more than six times.

Essay: Bridging the Gap

49d07d2f2b048709fab28e0845347114_XL — Photo: Patti Horton

This essay originally appeared in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the Olympic fanfare and it’s impossible to miss Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt but you probably don’t know any sprint canoeing heroes. Relative to the deeply entrenched canoeing culture in North America, top-level racing has a weak following.

With marathons, outriggers, war canoes, even dragon boating, there’s no shortage of competitive spirit amongst recreational single-blade paddlers in North America. This has not, however, been translating into more and better athletes canoeing at an Olympic level.

Pam Boeteler is the president of WomenCAN International, a collective focused on gender equality in canoeing at the Olympics—an issue that she suggests is partly behind the waning interest in elite canoeing events. “There are no women’s open canoeing events at the Olympics,” says Boeteler. This despite the fact that 36 countries have established programs for women at various stages of development.

“On top of that, nobody just goes out and high-kneels recreationally,” Boeteler points out, referring to the trickier stance that elite sprint canoeists use to gain power. “We have a population who want instant gratification and don’t necessarily have the time to learn an entirely new skill.”

Paddling, unlike most elite sports in North America, doesn’t have a recreational stream to draw from.

“I started looking at the industry as a whole and over time there was this disconnect between recreational and elite paddlers,” says Wade Blackwood, executive director of the American Canoe Association. “When the ACA and USA Canoe/Kayak (USACK) split in the ‘90s, performance dropped off, medal counts dropped off and participation at the elite level dropped off.”

As a result, the ACA is once again working together with USACK—the national governing body for paddlesports racing and a member of the national Olympic committee—in an effort to reduce the obvious disparity.

The ACA has 5,700 instructors and Blackwood hopes that by introducing the idea of competitive canoeing into beginner courses, people will become aware that they can get involved in elite paddling disciplines.

In the end, both Blackwood and Boeteler agree that increased exposure and support for local competition are the keys to bridging the gap between recreational and elite paddlers. Extending the canoeing culture leisure paddlers love into the competitive sphere is healthy for both camps.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Fall 2012. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Conservation Heroes

c1a11e28afb03c9d81c096faa0a5ce8e_XL — Photo: Gary and Joanie McGuffin

They’re not scientists, lawyers or full-time conservationists, yet these three paddlers have charted courses through wilderness protection, tumped long portages through dam relicensing, and urged the public to dip their paddles in the turbulent, challenging waters of environmental protection.

Kate Ross

PORTLAND, OREGON

After working as a kayak guide and instructor, Ross volunteered to help organize the Clackamas River Cleanup. The cleanup grew and she became a founding board member of We Love Clean Rivers, which helps others orchestrate river health events. She eventually parlayed this experience into a job, going from paddling instructor to the Outreach Coordinator for Willamette Riverkeeper. At WRK she gets people on the river and advocates for the river’s health. She won the Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition First Ascent Award in 2011 as an emerging conservation leader.

Words of Wisdom “Make the river accessible. Traveling on the river is much more intimate than standing next to it, and people become exponentially more

committed to protecting rivers once they float them. We provide boats, organize shuttles and make it easy for people to experience the river.”

Jay Morrison

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Morrison retired from the Canadian government at 57 and spent two years paddling across Canada. In 2003, looking for something to get involved in, he joined the board of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society, where he chairs the volunteer-driven campaign to protect the Dumoine River. He spends untold hours doing the non-glamorous work of river conservation: meeting with first nations, user groups and agencies, and testifying at hearings. The Dumoine has received interim protection, and he thinks they’re on the verge of a permanent win. Wondering whether his young daughter will have clean air, water and wild places after he’s gone keeps him motivated.

Words of Wisdom “Believe it or not, conservation is actually easy. Don’t be intimidated. Environmental groups need skills of all kinds and you probably have valuable skills you’ve developed elsewhere. Join a group, get involved and you’ll learn how to do it from professionals.”

Charlie Vincent

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

An engineer by training, Vincent led river trips with the University of Utah. Talking about the Green and Colorado rivers forced him to hone his knowledge of ecology and environmental impacts. He volunteered with American Whitewater in one of the most notoriously byzantine environmental processes: representing them in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dam relicensing processes. His background as an engineer was a good match for the FERC process, and despite the multi-year relicensing process, they were able to secure flows for improved habitat and river recreation.

Words of Wisdom “It’s surprising how much impact you can have on the process. Maybe not at the first or second meeting, but it happens if you carve out the space and stick with it. If I’d known how long it would take, I might have been scared off, but I’m glad I wasn’t.”

– Neil Schulman is a paddler, writer and co- founder of the Confluence Environmental Center, which develops future environmental leaders.

Almanac of Change

Stories

d81dde7813bd99a2f6a5498a2ec932ec_XL — Photo: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Aldo Leopold was a man who wore many hats: writer, philosopher, forester, professor, wildlife manager. And canoeist.

Born in Iowa in 1887, and a graduate of Yale’s School of Forestry, Leopold spent his early professional days in the American Southwest. But he is best remembered for his later years in central Wisconsin, the scene of his classic literary work, A Sand County Almanac.

Sand County is a month-to-month collection of outdoor observations and essays about wilderness, wildlife and the American land ethic. After its publication in 1948— ironically the same year Leopold died of a heart attack while fighting a brush fire on a neighbor’s farm—the book developed a life of its own. It captured an immediate and devoted readership and thrust Leopold into the same company as Thoreau and John Muir—men whose writings have had profound impact on the meaning of nature to humankind and the value of wilderness to our survival.

To Leopold, wilderness encompassed many things, tangible and otherwise, but more than anything else it was a place “big enough to absorb a two weeks’ pack trip, and

kept devoid of roads, artificial trails, cottag- es or other works of man.”

In Sand County, Leopold lamented the fact that self-propelled backcountry travel was rapidly disappearing from the American scene. He wrote: “Your Hudson Bay Indian now has a put-in, and your mountaineer a Ford.” He implored those interested in opening up every last vestige of the country to motorized traffic to pause and reflect. “Mechanized recreation already has seized nine-tenths of the woods and mountains; a decent respect for minorities should dedicate the other tenth to wilderness.”

When Leopold wanted to escape “from too much modernity,” he would seek relaxation on one of Wisconsin’s few remaining undeveloped rivers.

One of his favorites was a 50-mile stretch of the Flambeau within the 90,000-acre Flambeau River State Forest. His impressions then are hauntingly similar to those that paddlers experience today on many of America’s “wild” rivers.

“When I finally launched my own canoe in this legendary stream,” he wrote, “I found it up to expectations as a river, but as a wilderness it was on its last legs.”

Leopold was gravely concerned that civilization’s voracious appetite for wild land would ultimately threaten not only the Flambeau, but all areas that had yet to see a bulldozer, dam or timberjack.

Despite its shortcomings, he heaped praise on the Flambeau: “…at early dawn one can still hear it singing in the wilderness.”

It’s up to all of us to keep that song alive for future generations. Otherwise, as Leopold mused in closing his chapter on the Flambeau: “Perhaps our grandsons, having never seen a wild river, will never miss the chance to set a canoe in singing waters.”

– Larry Rice has canoe-camped on the Flambeau and is glad to report that its tree-lined shores, abundant wildlife and nice stretches of whitewater still make it one of the most beautiful paddles anywhere.

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

Stories

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This essay originally appeared in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.

What am I supposed to be looking for out here in this canoe? I’m suspicious of how easy it is to zone out, rarely thinking about anything more profound than what’s for dinner.

It’s certainly not because I have all the answers to life’s more difficult quandaries. Can time spent in the Boundary Waters, Adirondacks or Algonquin really provide answers to my questions about life back home? Can hours spent on a webbed seat, kneeling, bug-bitten and sun-baked, really change my outlook on work? My relationships? My path in life? These things creep into my head when I’m out for a paddle.

Most of the time, however, I don’t think about them at all. Instead, I’m focused on the heat, the location of the next portage marker, the bugs, my aching shoulders or, most often, my next meal. My brain is just as scattered here as it is when I’m hours—or days—away, at my desk, behind the wheel of my car or lying awake at night. The meaning of life flits through my mind, then quickly gets pushed aside by the need to hit the shore for a pit stop.

I’ve spent entire Saturday afternoons contemplating the placement of a barrel and portage pack in my canoe, optimizing balance, tilt and access. Then, when I’m back at the car, tying down the boat, I become addled with guilt over not taking advantage of my surroundings to meditate on life.

Isn’t it enough to pick a route, enjoy a different place and relax with a paddle in my hands? Should I be trying to find myself? Is that really what I’m supposed to be doing out here?

So, I force the questions. I try more demanding routes to push myself, hoping to prove what I’m capable of. I slow down, be more mindful and write it all down in my Moleskine.

People are always talking about finding themselves while paddling. Bloggers broadcast mysterious deep sentiments revealed by cedar and canvas. Sales pitches promise journeys of self-discovery. People recently returned from trips glow with an aura that suggests a life-changing event.

This trip, these adventures, this paddle—they’re supposed to mean something. And maybe they do. But when I look back, I’ve never really been able to recognize a life-defining passage while it’s happening. It’s in sharing stories around the campfire circle on future trips, or in flipping back through old journals years later that I gain the perspective that I want so badly to find right away.

I snap myself out of it and focus. How much deep thought and soul-searching is enough to figure it all out? Do I really need to try so hard? I’m not sure. But I know I’m hungry. And, for now, that’ll have to be enough.

This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Fall 2012. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

Daily Photo: Getting There

e9432fccf28a953514f077b86e5e657a_XL — Photo: Colin Field

Advances in tech help keep things fresh in kayaking, but sometimes it seems a little too easy to focus on the manufactured goods, and not the fluid goods on which we paddle. For Colin Field, the goal is to get anywhere the surf is up, escewing spending on a name brand rack in favour of a lumber yard and a little sweat equity. For Field, it’s an effort all in the name of getting to the real goods.

Morpho 2P Tent Gear Review

2cd9d1d7bb30511eb4cd517c131ae148_XL — Morpho 2P Tent Gear Review

This gear review of Nemo’s Morpho 2P tent was originally published in Adventure Kayak magazine.

Jamming 18-inch tent poles into a nine- inch-diameter hatch on a low-profile touring boat is problematic. Nemo’s Air Supported Technology employs foot pump-inflatable sleeves instead of conventional poles to provide remarkably sound structure that’s far more packable, durable and field repairable. The Morpho 2P is easy to set up in nasty conditions and provides ample living space to stay comfortable away from the storm.

www.nemoequipment.com $490

This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Fall 2012. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

MSR Zing Gear Review

Gear

c75601cf4b798b9bb038a5b73c93d358_XL — MSR Zing Gear Review

A review of the MSR Zing shelter from Adventure Kayak magazine.

A tarp is essential for a camp kitchen, gathering area or even sleeping shelter that’s shielded from the rain, sun and wind. The MSR Zing has multiple configuration options that let you optimize for space or protection and includes two adjustable aluminum poles if you’d rather not use your carbon paddle for support. Mastering the set-up of a high quality tarp like this provides added relief from the elements on weather-bound days.

www.cascadedesigns.com/msr | $400

This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak, Fall 2012. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.

10 Downtown Day Trips For Kayakers

Trips

Want a great kayak adventure but can’t afford any more days off work? We dish out the goods on ten kayak trips within city limits, from Halifax to Houston and San Francisco to Toronto.

10 downtown day trips for kayakers

1 Vancouver

Consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world, Vancouver’s oceanside location and outdoor culture make this an ideal place to explore by kayak.

Paddle past the giant cedars and temperate rainforest of Stanley Park, glide below the sweeping expanse of the Lion’s Gate Bridge (and play in the tidal race if your timing and skills are right) or head up the sheltered waters of False Creek—all framed by the beautiful Coastal Mountains.

The Outdoor Adventurer’s Guide To Vancouver

2 Seattle

With its busy seaport, lively indie music scene and successful high-tech economy, Seattle is an intriguing city to explore from the water and beyond.

Freshwater Lake Union in the middle of Seattle has sheltered paddling conditions and a close-up view of the skyline. For a more exposed saltwater adventure and encounters with seals, whales and sea lions, the waters of Puget Sound are a paddler’s dream.

Trips: Kayak In Seattle, Washington

3 New York City

Overwhelmed by crowds and concrete? Escape to the Hudson River to experience the grandeur of New York City from a more peaceful perspective.

Ambitious kayakers can circumnavigate the entire island of Manhattan in eight hours—be sure to plan for currents and tides. For a more leisurely trip, paddle to the Statue of Liberty, visit Chelsea Piers or venture on a night time paddle to see the city lights.

Guide To Kayaking In New York City

4 Miami

Vamos a la playa! Kayak past the sun-drenched beaches of Miami to experience the buzzing beach culture and ocean side skyline.

Kayaking the sheltered canals and harbors will let you marvel at Miami’s super yachts and tropical vegetation, while paddling on the Atlantic side offers rolling surf and possible encounters with manatees, dolphins and stingrays.

Best places to paddle in Southern Florida

golden gate bridge in san francisco — Photo: Ragnar Vorel/Unsplash

5 San Francisco

From the iconic Golden Gate Bridge to the infamous island of Alcatraz, the San Francisco Bay area has a wealth of prime destinations to explore by water.

Beginners can easily enjoy panoramic views of the Bay from close to shore while more experienced paddlers can tackle the powerful surf, tide races and rock gardens that make this coast famous.

Two kayakers in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Paddle The Coast: Guide To Kayaking In San Francisco

6 Halifax

Looking for lighthouses, rocky shores and colorful fishing villages? The paddling paradise of St. Margaret’s Bay offers an archetypal East Coast experience just a 30-minute drive from downtown Halifax.

While popular Peggy’s Cove can be overrun with tourists, exploring the surrounding area by kayak will give you easy access to undisturbed beaches, birding and whale watching.

Sea Kayaking in Halifax, Nova Scotia

kayaker in Montreal — Photo: Miguel Ausejo/Unsplash

7 Montreal

Located on an island guarding the St. Lawrence Seaway, Montreal’s vibrant culture, lively nightlife and Old World atmosphere make this city an eternally popular destination among travelers.

From the calm waters of the Lachine Canal, you can paddle past historic buildings and stop at the Atwater Market to browse the distracting array of delicious wares. If you’re looking for an adrenaline rush, join local river surfers on the powerful standing wave by Habitat 67.

Kayaking on the rivers in Montreal, greenery all around

Kayak Montreal: Where To Paddle, Rent, Buy & More

kayakers in Chicago — Photo: Antonio Janeski/Unsplash

8 Chicago

Kayaking beneath the towering skyline of Chicago gives you a unique perspective of the city’s world renowned architecture and will help you build up an appetite for the Windy City’s famous deep-dish pizza.

For a close-up view of the city, follow the canals and branches of the Chicago River, most notably the downtown Chicago Loop. Head out onto Lake Michigan for more exposed conditions and sweeping views of the cityscape.

Trips: Kayak In Chicago, Illinois

9 Houston

Despite being the fourth largest urban center in the U.S., Houston’s elaborate network of rivers, lakes and bayous make this city popular among paddlers.

Paddling along Buffalo Bayou will bring you straight to the heart of the city, while dozens of other bayous or lakes such as 1,200-acre Sheldon Reservoir offer great bird watching and alligator spotting opportunities.

Man kayaking down river toward Houston skyline

Paddle The Bayous & Lakes Of Beautiful Houston With This Guide

kayaker in Toronto — Photo: Dmitry Rozhkov/Wikimedia Commons

10 Toronto

Skip the long terrestrial line-ups for the CN Tower—a paddle along the Toronto waterfront will give you an incomparable view of this tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere.

The Toronto Islands offer numerous sheltered channels to explore by kayak, while Lake Ontario has fun surf when the wind cooperates. Beyond diverse paddling opportunities, the Toronto Islands also have an amusement park, cafes, outdoor art displays and beaches.

Front of a kayak pointing at the CN Tower

Paddle In The City: 4 Of The Best Places To Kayak In Toronto

Cover of Summer/Fall 2012 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2012 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.

Feature photo: Robert Jones/Pixabay