Places to Paddle, Kayak, Canoe in Alabama

There are many places to go kayaking and canoeing in Alabama.

Click on the links below to find some of the best places to kayak, canoe and paddle in Alabama. Kayaking and canoeing locations include the Alabama Scenic River Trail, the Bartram Canoe Trail and Alabama State Parks.

The Alabama Scenic River Trail

The Alabama Scenic River Trail is the nation's longest one state river trail. There are over 1000 miles of accessible waterways.

The main waterways of the trail: The Alabama River, Coosa River, Tensaw River, Tennessee River, Cahaba River, Mobile-Tensaw delta, Terrapin, Hatchett Creek, Weogufka Creek. They offer access to big cities and small towns.

Guide books can be purchased on their website.

The Bartram Canoe Trail

The Bartram Canoe Trail is part of the Alabama Scenic River Trail and has many opportunities for kayaking and canoeing. There are day use paddling trails with many access points and overnight paddling trails. Paddling is on the rivers, streams, lakes, sloughs, and bayous of the Delta.

Here is some information on the day use paddling trails:

The Globe Creek Trail

6.8 miles

Start: French’s Lake Coastal Access Kiosk

End: Hubbard’s Landing

Type of trail: creek, lake, and slough

Starting in the upper reaches of the Mobile-Tensaw Forever Wild Property. The trail begins in a small waterway that meanders through mature bottomland hardwood forests.

Red Hill Proctor Creek Trail

6.5 miles

Start and End:Hubbards Landing

Type of Trail: Creek, lake, and slough

Crossing the open water of Tensaw Lake to small feeder creek – explore the remote backwaters.

Douglas Lake Trail

10.2 miles

Start and End: Upper Bryant's Landing

Traveling up Tensaw Lake and into Douglas Lake.

Richardson Island Trail

10.2 miles

Start and End Rice Creek Landing

Follows Rice Creek, Brier Lake, and Tensaw Lake around Richardson Island.

Fisher Island Trail

8.9 miles

Start and End: Rice Creek Landing

Crossing Brier Land and the Tensaw River, the trail follows Bayou Jessamine into what is locally known as Jug Lake.

Indian Mound Island Trail

9.1 miles

Start and End Rice Creek Landing

Cross Brier Lake and Tensaw Lake. The trail follows the entire length of Bayou Jessamine into Bottle Creek.

Alabama State Parks

There is also paddling opportunities at many Alabama State Parks.

Parks may require a fee or permit, so check before you paddle.

Some State Parks may have canoe rentals.

Paddling Alabama

From the Appalachian highlands in the north to the Gulf Coast, this guide offers paddling opportunities ranging from classic whitewater rapids to meandering rivers, quiet lakes, and saltwater estuaries. Join authors Joe Cuhaj and Curt Burdick for a statewide tour of Alabama's premier paddling destinations for the canoeist and kayaker. Each destination is described and mapped in detail, with information on put-in points and take-outs, water conditions, and flora and fauna. Sidebars and at-a-glance data highlight local history, seasonal attractions and cultural events, restaurants, paddlesports organizations, and much more.

Purchase Paddling Alabama

Alabama Atlas and Gazetteer

If traveling beyond Interstates and main highways is your idea of the open road then this is the Alabama Atlas for you. Delorme Atlases and Gazetteers are topographic maps of an entire state, formatted in a convenient book. The road information runs the entire spectrum, from national interstates, to dirt roads and trails. Ideal for finding those out-of-the-way campsites or remote lakes and streams. Each Atlas has a complete gazetteer for quick and thorough reference. Also included information about wildlife, scenic drives, parks, museums, historic sites, campgrounds, hiking, fishing, and now GPS grids When you head off the main road, take a Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer with you. This Alabama Atlas features, GPS Grids and Tick Marks, Index of Place Names and Physical Features (Lakes, Rivers, Mountains, etc.), Freshwater and Saltwater Fishing Access, Golf Courses and Recreation Areas, Covered Bridges, Unique Natural Features, Hunting, Land Use, Wildlife Refuges, Whitewater Recreation, Boat Ramps, Scale of 1182,000 (12.9 miles)

TOPO!® Georgia, Alabama and Florida Outdoor Recreation Mapping Softwar

National Geographics TOPO® is the leading map software for outdoor recreation and features seamless, authentic USGS maps you can customize and print yourself.TOPO® Georgia, Alabama and Florida features more than 2,800 seamless USGS 124,000 scale topographic maps covering all three states in their entirety. These are not computer-generated maps, but high-resolution scans of authentic USGS quads with all the richness of detail they offer., Five levels of map detail, from National Geographic Atlas maps to USGS 7.5 series seamless quads -- the most detailed outdoor recreation maps available, Print custom-centered photo quality maps on any printer, Customize your map by adding trails, routes, text and symbols, Add notes, web links and photos linked to a location on the map, TOPO is GPS-ready. Transfer GPS waypoints and routes between your GPS unit and the software to find where you want to go or where you have been, Add latitudelongitude or UTM grids to any map, One-click trail profiles show you the distance along with elevation gain or loss, Toggle shaded relief on or off, Find new trails, parks, summits, campsites and more using the USA Place Finder, Animated 3D fly-thru feature enables you to fly along a trail you have drawn or imported from your GPS, Resizable split screen enables you to view maps in 2D and 3D. See a full 360 degree view, Live Map Update gets you the latest revised maps and software updates, PC and Mac (10.2) compatible