Multi Day Kayak Trips: How to Plan Your First One
A loaded sea kayak carries 60 pounds of camp without you feeling it, which is why paddling is the easiest way to spend four days in wild country. The planning is harder than hiking because wind, tide and cold water do not negotiate. Plan 10 to 15 miles a day on open water, 15 to 25 downstream on a river, and always a spare day for weather. Learn a wet exit and a self rescue before you go, not on the trip. Our Apostle Islands kayaking weekend is a good first target.
Realistic daily distances
- Open water sea kayaking: 10 to 15 miles a day for a fit beginner in a loaded boat. Three miles an hour is the honest cruising number, and a 15 knot headwind cuts that in half.
- Downstream river: 15 to 25 miles a day, because the current does part of the work. On the Green or the Missouri you can cover 20 miles without effort.
- Canoe country with portages: six to ten miles, as in the Boundary Waters, where the carries set the pace. See Boundary Waters guided trips.
- Always plan a weather day. On any exposed coast, one day in four or five is unpaddleable, and a trip with no slack in it forces bad decisions.
The skills you need first
The gap between paddling a lake for an afternoon and camping from a kayak for four days is mostly judgement, but three physical skills come first.
- A wet exit, practised until it is dull. You will capsize eventually and the first time should not be with a loaded boat in cold water.
- A self rescue, paddle float or re-enter and roll. In a group, an assisted T rescue as well.
- Reading a forecast, specifically wind speed, direction and the timing of any change, plus tide and current tables on the coast. Wind against tide builds steep water quickly.
A two day coastal skills course before your first trip is the best money in the sport. On a guided trip the operator carries these skills for you, which is a reasonable way to start.
Packing a kayak
- Heavy low and centred, water and food near the middle, light bulky items in the ends.
- Many small dry bags, not a few big ones. A 10 litre bag fits through a hatch that a 30 litre bag will not.
- Sleeping bag and spare clothes doubly protected, in a dry bag inside another one.
- Water: four litres per person per day on saltwater trips where there is no fresh source, and that is the single heaviest item you carry.
- On deck: chart or map in a case, compass, pump, paddle float, spare paddle, and water within reach.
- Communication: a VHF radio on the coast, a satellite messenger anywhere. Mobile phones fail first when wet and second when out of range.
Six routes that suit a first multi day trip
- Apostle Islands, Wisconsin. Twenty one islands in Lake Superior with designated campsites, sea caves and short crossings. Cold water year round, permits for camping. Our Apostle Islands weekend covers it.
- San Juan Islands, Washington. Marine trail campsites, orca sightings and real tidal current, which makes it a good place to learn timing.
- Labyrinth Canyon, Green River, Utah. Flat water in a desert canyon, 68 miles from Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom, no rapids and no wind problem before mid morning. The easiest genuinely wild multi day trip in the country.
- Everglades Wilderness Waterway, Florida. Ninety nine miles between Everglades City and Flamingo, with campsites on raised platforms called chickees. Winter only, and navigation is the challenge rather than water. See our Everglades kayaking weekend.
- Channel Islands, California. Sea caves at Santa Cruz Island and a boat drop off, so no long crossing. Our Channel Islands weekend has the detail.
- Upper Missouri River Breaks, Montana. One hundred and fifty miles of White Cliffs country with a current, exactly as Lewis and Clark saw it.
Kenai Fjords in Alaska is the step up: tidewater glaciers, cold water and bears, and it should be guided or water taxi supported the first time. Our Kenai Fjords itinerary explains how.
Permits and campsites
Most good multi day water routes are permit controlled, and the permits are the planning bottleneck. The Apostle Islands and the Everglades both require camping permits. Boundary Waters entry points are quota controlled from May to September. Labyrinth Canyon needs a free permit and a portable toilet system. Check the managing agency six months before your dates, because on the popular routes that is when they release.
Cold water, which is what actually hurts people
Most paddling deaths are not surf or rapids. They are immersion in water below 60F without a wetsuit or drysuit, where useful movement is lost in minutes. Lake Superior stays cold all summer. Alaskan and Pacific Northwest water is colder still. The rules are simple and not optional: dress for the water temperature rather than the air, wear the buoyancy aid every minute you are afloat, and stay close enough to shore that you could swim it.
Have us plan the trip
Tell us your dates, your paddling experience and how remote you want to be, and we will pick the route and sort the permits. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.
Multi Day Kayak Trips: How to Plan Your First One FAQs
Ten to 15 miles on open water in a loaded boat, and 15 to 25 miles a day downstream on a river. Three miles an hour is the honest cruising speed, and a 15 knot headwind halves it.
A reliable wet exit, a self rescue such as a paddle float re-entry, and the ability to read a wind and tide forecast. A two day coastal skills course before your first trip is the best preparation available.
Labyrinth Canyon on the Green River in Utah: 68 miles of flat water through desert canyon with no rapids, a helpful current and a free permit. The Apostle Islands are the easiest sea kayak option with designated campsites.
Heavy items low and near the middle, light bulky ones in the ends, and many small dry bags rather than a few big ones because of hatch size. Sleeping bag and spare clothing go in a dry bag inside another dry bag.
Four litres per person per day on saltwater or desert trips with no fresh source. It is the heaviest thing in the boat, so routes with reliable fresh water let you travel far lighter.
If the water is below 60F, yes, a wetsuit or drysuit. Immersion, not rough water, is what causes most paddling deaths, and Lake Superior, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest stay cold through summer.
