Lewis & Clark Expedition - Canoeing the Missouri River

Overview

This family canoeing vacation traces the path of Lewis & Clark’s return voyage on the Missouri River in Montana. Guests paddle 34-foot voyageur canoes and a Lewis & Clark expert joins most trips to interpret and share information about the historic expedition. This is a gentle trip with great scenery and comfortable riverside camping. Highlights include: visiting camps where Lewis & Clark stayed some 200 years ago, hiking incredible eroded sandstone crags, and exploring Native American cultural sites and pioneer homesteads. The weather and water is typically very warm and wildlife is abundant.

     

• Trip Duration: 5 Days
• Trip Length: 60 miles
• Intensity: Easy, Class I
• Season: June-September
• Minimum Age: 5
• Begins in: Great Falls, Montana
• Ends in: Great Falls, Montana
• Closest Airport: Great Falls or Missoula, Montana

Details

Grab a paddle and hop aboard one of ROW's 34-foot voyageur canoes to follow the Lewis and Clark Expedition along Montana's Missouri River. Lewis and Clark paddled these very waters on their historic expedition some 200 years ago.

This canoeing vacation is an ideal family trip that blends discovery and fun. Combining a Lewis and Clark history tour and scenic canoeing trip, you paddle, hike and explore as the "Corps of Discovery" wilderness adventure comes to life. You'll visit several camps where Lewis and Clark stayed, marvel at ancient Native American rock art and tipi rings, and ramble around long-abandoned homesteads where empty corrals, tool sheds and cabins look like the pioneering souls left only yesterday.

If rivers could talk, the Missouri would tell a story few other rivers could match. Upon its waters and riverbanks every major theme of Western Plains history has been played. Native American cultures, white man's exploration, the fur trade, gold fever and the steamboat era are just a few of the historical happenings of the Missouri river. To complement the knowledge of ROW's expert interpretive guides, most Missouri River canoe departures are designated Journeys of Discovery and are accompanied by expert historians and authors with in-depth knowledge of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The Missouri River's pleasant current makes this trip suitable for anyone in reasonable physical condition and is a great family vacation for paddlers age five and up. This canoe trip offers an intimate visit to the historic and scenic Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. Our canoes replicate those of the early fur traders and make the perfect platform for spinning yarns as we float downstream.

From the launch at Coal Banks Landing, the river carries our canoes down a wide, meandering valley into the famous White Cliffs area. White Cliffs is a deep, rugged gorge where steep, eroded sandstone cliffs reach a height of nearly one thousand feet, revealing ten million years of geologic history. Wind and water have eroded the dazzling White Cliffs to create massive rock crags and carved castles that loom high above the river. A storybook of geology unfolds as we continue downstream from White Cliffs to the Missouri River Breaks.

Summer days are typically hot and dry and the cool river water welcomes swimmers. Each night we set up our luxury camp on the Missouri's riverbanks while golden eagles, hawks and falcons gracefully soar above. Cottonwood, juniper and pine grow along the Missouri River with sagebrush, cactus and wildflowers which provide food and shelter for beaver, prairie dogs, antelope, deer, elk and big horn sheep. Our 34-foot canoes each carry up to 14 paddlers and two talented ROW guides. Smaller 17-foot canoes are also available on the Missouri River canoe trip.

If you need to purchase some gear before your whitewater rafting trip, ROW has assembled the more common items at our ROWear online store, hosted by New Headings.

Itinerary

If rivers could talk, the Missouri would tell a story few other rivers could match. Upon its waters and banks was played the drama of every major theme of people's history on the Western Plains - the Indian cultures, white man's exploration, the fur trade, gold fever, the steamboat era, the collision of white expansion with the Indian's last stronghold and the resultant military occupation, and finally, the establishment of permanent white settlements, the range-cattle industry and farming. To help everyone learn about these themes in a fun, informative manner most departures are designated as "Journeys of Discovery" and are accompanied by talented authors and historians with specialized knowledge of the area. This factor alone sets ROW's Missouri River trips a world apart from most others.

To help bring a part of the river's history alive, you travel in 34' canoes that replicate those of the early voyageurs, or fur traders and are similar in size to the dugouts used by Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery. Each will carry up to 14 paddlers and two talented ROW guides, making the perfect platform for spinning yarns and pointing out the many points of interest along the way. For those who prefer a smaller craft, we offer the option of paddling a 17' MadRiver canoe. The smooth and pleasant current with no rapids makes this a trip anyone in reasonable physical condition can enjoy.

FAQ

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