kayak spots in Minneapolis

Does anyone have suggestions for lakes to kayak around Minneapolis? Interesting scenery, birds, wildlife are a plus.

I live
in the Mpls area. There’s tons of lakes, slow & fast rivers to run. If you want a slow river run, wildlife & scenery, the St. Francis river near Princeton,MN runs through a wildlife management area- no houses, just silence except for the birds & other wildlife. Platte river near St. Cloud-same deal. And a bunch of other rivers & lakes with wildlife & zero to few houses. If you’re serious about running some stuff in this area, PM me. I have a lot of knowledge of the lakes & rivers here. Not much for scenic rivers & lakes in Mpls proper, unless you like a crowd, but if you’re willing to drive 30-60 miles out of Mpls, I can give you a lot of suggestions. Glen

Metro
I paddle the Rum River in anoka often. Its at the edge of the cities and has houses on the river, but it is very quiet with mostly paddle craft or an occasional fisherman. I see lots of wildlife on it. If you launch from the anoka county fairgrounds there is a cool sand island about 5 miles upstream that people stop at. Otherwise the Mississippi at the East River Flats is where the U’s sculling club launches from. There are some eagles and pretty scenery for being right in the heart of downtown. If you’re driving an hour, I’d also suggest the St croix near Taylors falls. Its extremely pretty for a couple miles with tall rock cliffs before the land flattens out.

Hey
mcimes. Never ran the rum from anoka. Might give it a try this year. I live on the Rum in Princeton. From Milaca dam to county rd 4 take out is a 5 mile run with easy class I-II, with water campsites. Goes through state land-very few houses or paddlers. Always looking for others to paddle with if you’re interested. Glen

Check out SE Minnesota
There are over 600 miles of great paddling routes in SE Minnesota bluffland ares that have great scenery, lots of wildlife. The Cannon River is about 40 minutes from Minneapolis and the Zumbro, Root, Straight, Whitewater rivers are a little farther. Check out www.RiverPaddlin.com for more info.

correction
on the last posters link. www.riverpaddling.com

Minnesota DNR canoe route website
and there’s this…

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/index.html