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Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
The classic lake-to-lake canoe trip: 1.1 million acres of northern Minnesota lakes and rivers joined by rustic portage trails. Routes can be as easy or as hard as you plan them, from a base camp a couple of lakes in from the road to a week of daily carries.
The practical point is the permit. From May 1 through September 30 everyone on an overnight trip needs a quota permit tied to a specific entry point, so choose the entry first and the route second. Groups are limited to nine people and four watercraft. Most trips start from the gateway towns of Ely, Tofte and Grand Marais, where outfitters rent canoes and gear and can issue permits.
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Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Island-hopping by sea kayak on Lake Superior, with 21 islands to paddle to, sea caves to explore in calm weather and island campsites. It feels like a coastal trip without tides, but treat it as open water: the lake's average summer surface temperature is 59°F, and hypothermia can set in within about 10 minutes of a capsize.
Winds commonly run 5 to 20 knots with waves of one to four feet, and kayakers have died at the sea caves, which should be avoided in rough conditions. Camping permits are required for all camping in the lakeshore and can be reserved online. Go with a guide, or with a wetsuit and solid rescue skills.
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Quetico Provincial Park
Across the border from the Boundary Waters, Quetico is the quieter, wilder half of the same lake country: 4,760 square kilometers spread over more than 600 lakes, where motorboats have been banned since 1979 apart from a small exception on a few lakes. Its campsites are unofficial, unimproved clearings rather than prepared sites, so navigation, map reading and tidy camping matter more than on the Minnesota side.
Canoeists need a permit reservation for one of the park's entry points. Choose Quetico once you have done a lake trip or two and want fewer people and more self-reliance.
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Algonquin Provincial Park
Ontario's best-known canoe country has over 2,400 lakes in its backcountry, and its lakes, portages and campsites form one network that you combine into your own trip from an access point, using the park's Canoe Routes Map. That flexibility suits mixed groups: a two- or three-night loop with short carries works for first-timers, while the deeper interior rewards longer trips.
The camping is predictable. Every backcountry campsite is marked by an orange sign and has a fire pit, a box privy and flat ground for a tent. Reserve ahead, because the reservation letter is your camping permit.
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Killarney Provincial Park
Killarney is the most striking-looking lake trip in Ontario: clear lakes set among the large, rounded white quartzite hills of the La Cloche range, on the north shore of Georgian Bay. The canoe routes are linked by well-maintained portages and lead to canoe-in backcountry campsites.
The park is compact, at about 493 square kilometers, so a loop of three or four days takes in a lot of the best scenery without long travel days. Pack light enough to carry everything across a portage in one or two trips, and book early for summer.
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Bowron Lake Provincial Park
A rare true circuit: a 116 km chain of lakes, rivers and portage trails in British Columbia that brings you back to where you started, so there is no car shuttle to arrange. The full loop takes six to ten days, with 10.8 km of portages in total, and departures are limited, so a reservation is essential. The circuit is open to a limited number of canoes and kayaks each year from May 15 to September 29.
If a week is too much, the west side can be paddled on its own in two to four days, a good first taste. In wet spells the portage trails turn muddy and rough, so pack for rain even in summer.
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Broken Group
A sea kayak trip among the small islands and islets of Barkley Sound, off Vancouver Island's west coast, where the inner channels are sheltered and the shell beaches make easy landings. Camping is allowed only at designated areas on six islands, from May 1 to September 30, and every camper needs a backcountry permit from the Parks Canada reservation system, with no stand-by spaces.
Many paddlers skip the exposed approach by taking a scheduled boat that carries kayaks to the protected water just north of the islands. Once there, the hazards are wind, fog and tidal current: the Loudon and Imperial Eagle channels are not recommended for kayaks, and conditions can change in minutes.
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Allagash Wilderness Waterway
Maine's 92.5-mile protected ribbon of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams through the North Woods, including much of the Allagash River, makes a one-way trip that changes character as it goes, from lake paddling where the wind sets the pace to river miles with the current behind you.
It has been a protected waterway since 1966 and a National Wild and Scenic River since 1970, and the remoteness is the point. The river sections include moving water, so check current conditions, and arrange a vehicle shuttle between the distant start and finish before you commit.
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Saint Regis Canoe Area
The Adirondacks' answer to the Boundary Waters, on a smaller scale: the only designated canoe area in New York State, with around 50 ponds and lakes, no motorized vehicles and primitive canoe camping on many of the shores. Only two of the lakes can be reached without a portage, which keeps the interior quiet.
The best-known route, the Seven Carries, makes a good long weekend for paddlers who want to practice portaging on short, frequent carries before committing to a bigger trip.
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Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Paddling the Okefenokee means days in a dark, peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida border, with an abundance of alligators for company and nights on raised shelters deep in the swamp. The refuge has six marked boating trails and seven interior overnight shelters, which together give a choice of twelve different overnight canoe trips.
Because the routes are set and the water is sheltered, this suits paddlers who want a wild trip without open-water crossings or route-finding. The trade-off is that you camp where the itinerary says, so check the refuge's current reservation rules and trail conditions before you plan.
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Everglades Wilderness Waterway
The 99-mile Wilderness Waterway connects Flamingo and Everglades City through the mangrove backcountry of Everglades National Park, and most paddlers allow at least eight days. It is a navigation trip more than a fitness one: the creeks and bays look alike, and tides can heavily change how long a leg takes.
Around 40 designated sites include beach, ground and chickee campsites, the chickees being roofed wooden platforms of about 10 by 12 feet raised over the water. Permits are required for all overnight wilderness camping. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums can be aggressive, so aim for the cooler months, and arrange the long shuttle between the two ends.
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Green River (Colorado River tributary)
Labyrinth Canyon, Green River State Park to Mineral Bottom, Utah
The gentlest multi-day canoe trip on this list: an easy flat-water stretch of desert canyon suitable for canoes and kayaks of all types. The full trip is 68 river miles, and you should plan at least three to four days; launching at Ruby Ranch shortens it to 45 miles.
Every group needs a BLM permit, downloaded and emailed in advance, and the trip leader carries a copy. The current does the steering, so the real challenges are summer heat, carrying enough water and arranging a pickup at the Mineral Bottom take-out.
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Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
The Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River through the Breaks, Montana
A paddle through history on a 149-mile section of the Missouri given Wild and Scenic designation in 1976. The favorite stretch passes the White Cliffs, and the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Breaks in 1805.
Camping is allowed on any of the 90,000 acres of BLM land beside the river, so you are not tied to set sites. The big variable is wind on the open river, which can slow you badly or stop you altogether, so keep spare time. Motorboats share some stretches all year, but from June 15 to September 15 the wild segments below Pilot Rock limit them to downstream travel at no-wake speed, and the lower one allows them only Thursday through Saturday.
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Yukon River
Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon
The big one: about 715 km down the Klondike gold-rush route, which takes roughly 17 days at a touring pace. At the rush's peak nearly 30,000 gold seekers in 7,000 boats traveled this river, and the history is a large part of the trip.
Early on comes Lake Laberge, where wind and waves can keep paddlers on shore for the best part of a day, so build in spare days. Carmacks is the halfway point to resupply, and Five Finger Rapids just beyond it is one of only two rapids on the route. Outfitters in Whitehorse rent canoes and gear for the trip.
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Dalsland Canal
The Dalsland lake system, Sweden
One of Europe's most approachable canoe-camping areas: long, narrow lakes linked by the Dalsland Canal, with over 100 prepared campsites, each with a wind shelter, an open fire pit, firewood and a toilet. That infrastructure means you need no wilderness campcraft to manage a trip of four or five days, and canoe rentals around Bengtsfors supply boats and gear.
Campers buy a Nature Conservation Card, sold at tourist offices and canoe rentals, which pays for the sites. The long lakes can build waves in a stiff breeze, so start early and keep days short.
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Caledonian Canal
The Great Glen Canoe Trail, Fort William to Inverness, Scotland
A coast-to-coast canoe journey of about 60 miles across Scotland, mixing sheltered stretches of the Caledonian Canal with the open lochs of the Great Glen, Loch Ness included. Most trips take three to five days.
The canal sections are easy; the lochs are where wind decides your day, because waves build quickly on long, open water. Paddling from southwest to northeast puts the prevailing wind behind you, and Scottish Canals asks paddlers to register their trip in advance. Guided trips are available, which makes this a realistic first open-water journey for confident lake paddlers.
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Whanganui Journey
A Great Walk done by canoe rather than on foot: 145 km down the Whanganui River from Taumarunui to Pipiriki, an average of five days, or 88 km from Whakahoro in about three. Huts and campsites line the river and must be booked in advance during the Great Walks season.
There are several large rapids, including Ngāporo and Autapu, so expect the odd swim and pack in waterproof containers, but most of the journey is gentle moving water. Canoes and gear can be hired as a package from local suppliers, with transport in the nearby towns. Avoid May to September, when high river levels, very cold water and wet weather are common.
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Abel Tasman National Park
The Abel Tasman coast by sea kayak, New Zealand
The friendliest multi-day sea kayak trip on this list: golden beaches and sculpted granite cliffs, with beach campsites a short paddle apart and Mārahau as the usual base. Rental operators there run multi-day freedom trips, but independent rental needs at least two people and previous sea-kayaking experience; otherwise go guided.
Book campsites you can realistically reach, and assess the wind and swell each morning, waiting a few hours on the beach when it is rough. Kayaking north of Onetahuti Bay is not recommended, because the coastline there is remote and exposed.
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