from dayton
I live in Dayton. I canoe the little miami a great deal. I also would say to check out Kiser. I love it cause there are no motors and that eliminates a great deal of traffic. Look at Deer creek and CJ brown. The Big darby has a livery on it and is a beautiful piece of water. Look at a map. The Ohio atls avalable in most sporting goods stores(Galyans, Gander Mountain). They have lists of canoing trips and all the lakes with ramps marked.
What he was saying
– Last Updated: Feb-19-04 11:37 AM EST –
was that their (COPS)schedule would tell you where local paddlers prefer to go.
Don’t overlook…
Rocky Fork Creek, Paint Creek and the Mad River. All are within 1-1.5 hours from you. I lead trips for the Dayton Canoe Club all around the area. Feel free to e-amil me for more info.
Jon
tell me about it.
i was in polaris and westerville(?)the other day and the whole area looks flat and way too busy for moi. lots of good eatery’s and shopping opportunities but i didnt see much water. the nations fastest growing city i’m told. what water is right near columbus though? i’m going there again soon myself. otterbein.
Hocking Hills
We made a trip from Cincinnati to Hocking Hills approx. 2 yrs ago. Great class I to I+ water. Very scenic and peaceful. At the time, they had several trips available from 5 miles to a 20 + mile overnight camping trip. They drop you off up river, take YOUR camping gear and set it up on a small island, you paddle and camp, they come back in the morning and tear everything down for you and have it waiting for you back at the livery when you arrive. We plan on making that trip this summer.
Exactly
But to be more specific, the Big Darby and Stillwater are within easy reach and are both scenic protected rivers. In addition to COPS, you could check out the Cincypaddlers group on the Yahoo site and see where they paddle. North of Columbus, there’s some WW on the Sandusky and Cuyahoga. Someone already mentioned Rocky Fork and Paint creeks, some of the prettiest paddling in the state. Also, the Licking near Zanesville has a very scenic gorge.
CowTown
Hey, Dave, I’ve lived in or near Columbus for 30 years, and grew up in the Dayton area. There are lots of opportunities to paddle around here, although there is no whitewater to speak of. I don’t care much for flat water paddling so won’t mention the myriad reservoirs in the area (but almost all of Ohio’s rivers are dammed and flat water paddling opportunities abound).
The Big and Little Darby Creeks are both nearby, and both are classified as Wild and Scenic Rivers, with the Big Darby being classified as “one of the last great places” by the Nature Conservancy. Both class I, and my “home” streams.
2 rivers meet in Columbus: The Olentangy and the Scioto. Both are big, lazy, and dirty, with lots of low head dams. There are dozens of good rivers within 2 hours of Columbus, and I’ve paddled most of them. I firmly believe that Ohio looks best from the bed of a river.
I can provide lots more information. Much of it has already been mentioned above. Feel free to e-mail if you want to chat…There is a book about Ohio paddling which is a great source of information; I’ll get you the title & author if you want to check it out.
Kate
Echo that!
Rocky Fork is my very favorite spot. It is absolutely beautiful, and after a good rainfall, it is really fun!
But pronounce it correctly
It’s “clum-bus.” Just west of Nerk.
Book
The book is “Canoeing and Kayaking Ohio’s Streams - an access guide for paddlers and anglers”. Good info and maps, but a little old, copyrighted in 1983 and reprinted in 94.
Central Ohio
I have lived in a Columbus suburb for 17 years and don’t mind it a bit. I moved here from San Diego, too, so that was quite a switch. I miss San Diego a lot at this time of year, but the rest of the time I’m OK. I really love Big Darby Creek for paddling. The water level fluctuates a lot, but it is fun at a variety of water levels. If you locate south of the city you can get to rivers in W. VA fairly easily–there are some trip reports on this site I believe. Good luck with your decision. We were (and still are)avid birders when we moved here and I remember checking with local birders as part of making our decision. One interesting thing about Ohio is that about 2/3 of the state was glaciated and 1/3 wasn’t, making for quite a lot of variety in terms of topography, plants and animals.
As a reformed buckeye…
– Last Updated: Feb-24-04 10:04 PM EST –
from Cincinnati, I remember well how frustrated I was as a yute. I'd get these wild hairs and head for Florida or Kentucky to canoe some honest to god backcountry. Now I'm in Idaho. I still run into crowds and am dissatisfied with the flat water opportunities. Too dam many roads and dams. But alas, that's what we have and I guess you gotta just make the best of it. Someday, the Canadians and Alaskans will be complaining about all the congestion and sewage in their rivers too. Maybe they'll find water on Mars, and we can just rocket off to prime canoe country in space. This time though, we gotta remember not to build the roads along the river valleys. Millions of future martian canoeists will thank us.
Almost forgot, don't forget the Miami Whitewater river just over the Indiana line. Its best during peak flow periods. The Little Miami through John Bryon State Park can be thrilling. A buddy bent a rented aluminum canoe right in half there once.
Bent canoe?
Let me guess: He got stuck sideways in the millstream gate just above the Jacoby access.
WW Creeks
Paint Creek has been mentioned - the “Chutes” is a fun little spot to play and practice your skills. Also nearby in SW Ohio there are class II-III early spring WW runs on Rattlesnake Creek, Lee’s Creek, Stonelick and White Oak that I’ve done several times.
Rocky Fork and several other southern Buckeye streams have been mentioned as scenic floats. Sunfish Creek in the south and sections of the Scioto are pretty in the fall. Beaver Creek in the NE part of the state and the Grand river has some scenic sections. Kokosing, Walhonding are also good options.
BOOK
Old, but a great source of information nonetheless…
Feather,
I’m in Hilliard, so just a few miles from the Big Darby. My fave trip is from the Metro park in Georgesville to Trapper John’s. I feel like I know that section like the back of my hand. Have you paddled the Little Darby? The last time we did it, we had at least 6 portages due to downed trees. Can’t much paddle it except after a good rain, and high water makes the portages pretty tricky.
My son worked for 2 summers at Trapper John’s. Good people there.
So true.
The company I work for has branches all over the place and our designation for Columbus is COOH. Cleveland is CLOH. I get about 3 calls a day from people who think CLOH is Clumbus. Haha
Olentangy
There’s a short class 2/2+ section of whitewater on the Olentangy north of Columbus. The putin is immediately downstream of the Delaware sewage plant, so you can guess the water quality. Don’t even THINK of flipping without nose plugs (I learned the hard way). That said, the run has a number of nice surf waves/ledges. Look for 1000 cfs coming out of the Delaware dam.
columbus to miami
I moved from columbus to Miami florida 22 years ago and never looked back. Now that I am into Kayaking down here, I try to imagine doing this activity up there in Central Ohio. I cannot. The weather and topography limit opportunities for this activity, of course, relative to Florida.
I remember the Scioto and the Olentangy as dirty water rivers which I would not want to take a spill into. On the plus side, at least you won’t have to worry about sharks and sting rays and there is more water than in Kansas. :-}
You would be amazed, then.
As to the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers, you are quite right. But while Ohio is not a paddler’s mecca, there is a whole lot of beauty along our rivers. Don’t knock what you haven’t tried??
:o)