Canoeing Recommendations for Allegheney River

[T2Eagle]

Our troop is planning a trip to the Allegheney National Forest area at the end of July.

 

We are hoping to do an overnight canoe trip on the Allegheny and I am looking for recommendations on both a livery service and an itinerary.

 

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[Oak Tree]

We've had great luck with Allegheny Outfitters. http://www.alleghenyoutfitters.com/ and their Indian Waters subsidiary - http://www.alleghenyindianwaters.com/scouts.html

 

This is a great trip. Are you planning on doing just one night? You can start at Kinzua Dam and stay overnight at the Buckaloons, a National Forest Service Campground. You could also try camping on some of the wilderness islands. It depends on how experienced your Scouts are and how much time you have.

 

Be prepared for rain. Don't build an itinerary around the assumption that it will be sunny.

[qwazse]

Ditto Oak Tree.

 

Indian Rivers was especially accomodating because the hauled my kayak free of charge. They were happy for the other 30 paying customers!

 

Did Backaloons once, which was nice. I definitely prefer the islands.

[Frank17]

 

We have also used Indain Waters and had good experiences. We usually take their 2-day, 35 mile trip and camp on Hemlock Island in the river. The Allegheny is a fun river at that end.

[eisely]

Here is another link to information about the Allegheny and other rivers.

 

http://www.canoe-camping.org/

[T2Eagle]

Thanks for the responses so far, we have a family with a cabin there and we're using that as a base for a long weekend. We plan to do one overnight on the river.

 

I have a couple of follow ups.

 

How Leave No Trace do you have to be camping on the islands? Do we dig cat holes, do we need to use wag bags?

 

Also, it looks like Chief Cornplanter sometimes rents out their canoes, did you look at that at all.

[T2Eagle]

I have to add that I never build an itinerary under the assumption it will be sunny. I am currently at 16 straight trips where some precipitation fell during the trip. People are starting to wonder whether I should continnue to be invited.

[qwazse]

I think most campers do cat holes. Decomposition is pretty quick on those islands.

 

No experience with Cornplanter.

[Oak Tree]

Agreed, the islands are alluvial and wet, so decomposition should go quickly.

 

The Forest Service says "Visitors are encouraged to use already established campsites whenever possible and remove all traces of human presence when breaking camp."

 

I did notice that Chief Cornplanter Council rents canoes, but one of the big advantages of using an outfitter is for logistical support. They'll get all of the people and all of the canoes to the start of the trip at the right time, and they'll pick you up at the end and take you back to your cars. From the rental form on the council's web site, it looks like they'll rent you a trailer and canoes, but then you'd have to pick it up, get it to where you're going, provide a chase vehicle or two to meet at the end, take the trailer and canoes back, etc. Maybe if someone lived in the area it could make sense, but it didn't for us. The camp isn't real close to the boat launch - maybe 45 minutes.

[T2Eagle]

Thanks for your help, I can'wait to get there.