Canoe Adventure and Expedition Camps
United States and Canada
Wilderness and canoe expedition camps can be an eye-opening and positive, inspiring experience for all. These camps can vary in length and mileage of trips, but the takeaways from each can be very similar. They are great for those who want to connect with nature, grow their leadership skills, and be put to a challenge.
Take a look at the video from Alex at Camp Voyageur with some advice on things to consider when looking at camps. Then peruse the list of camps to see which ones are of interest to you and your family!
This page is offered as a community service only. We do not endorse any of these camps and are not affiliated with any of them. If you know of a camp we should add to our list, please contact us!
If you are uncertain of the how canoe camps function and what the differences among them are, watch a few of the informational videos below. While all the camps we have selected have a focus on canoeing, they range from wilderness camps with a canoe bias to camps that are entirely about canoe tripping.
Camp Voyaguer, Minnesota
Keewaydin/Temagami, Vermont/Ontario
Northwaters Langskib, Ontario
Chewonki, Maine
Taylor Statten, Ontario
Why canoe camp? Because a real canoe trip is an experience like few available in the modern world. These videos talk a bit about what a difference that experience can make:
THE CAMPS:
Keewaydin
Location: Salisbury, VT / Lake Temagami, Ontario
Keewaydin Temagami camp provides single-gender wilderness canoe trips for boys and girls ages 10 to 18.
Camp Chewonki
Location: Wiscasset, Maine
Camp Chewonki has expedition-based youth leadership programs for all genders and all skill levels!
Northwaters Langskib
Location: Temagami, Ontario, Canada
Canoe camping is just the beginning… at Northwaters and Langskib (NWL) we offer backcountry adventures designed to engage and empower young people at a given stage in adolescent development. Within the context of a fun and challenging canoe trip, we use proven techniques in community building, group process, experiential learning and storytelling to create a pathway through adolescence. This approach makes us unique among outdoor adventure camps.
Camp Northway & Camp Wendigo
Location: Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada
Camp Northway is for girls ages 7-16 and offers a traditional program. Camp Wendigo is for boys ages 12-16 and acts as a canoe-tripping outpost, offering supervised canoe trips throughout Algoquin Park’s wilderness.
Camp Wanapitei
Location: Temagami, Ontario, Canada
Canada’s premier canoe-tripping camp has been teaching self-reliance and leadership skills since 1931.
Camp Temagami
Location: Temagami, Ontario, Canada
Canoe-tripping is a core activity at camp and every group takes trips based on their age and experience. Camp Temagami offers boys and girls programs for every age group and session length.
Camp Kawartha
Location: Douro-Dummer, Ontario, Canada
Camp Kawartha has canoe trip programs for campers aged 10-16. They offer junior trips with shorter durations and let campers build their skills. Senior trips are longer, more in-depth trips designed to challenge campers and give them a chance to further enhance their tripping skills!
Camp Pathfinder
Location: Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada
Camp Pathfinder offers canoe expeditions for campers of many age ranges. Trips can range in duration from 2 to 40 days.
Camp Hurontario
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Camp Hurontario is a summer camp that offers canoeing as an activity. Campers use canoes “like bicycles” to get around the islands. At the end of the month, campers can show their skills in the canoeing exhibitions.
Taylor Statten Camps
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Taylor Statten Camps offer Camp Ahmek for boys and Camp Wapomeo for girls. Campers participate in programmed activities and canoe tripping where they develop lifelong friendships.
Camp Voyageur
Location: Ely, Minnesota
Camp Voyageur is a wilderness adventure camp for boys ages 10-18. The camp lasts for 4 weeks and seasons campers for progressively longer canoe trips into the adjacent million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Birchwood
Location: Grand Marais, Minnesota
Birchwood Wilderness Camp accommodates canoe trips of various lengths and duration. Some trips last 3 days, some last 4-5 days. If there are campers that are interested and meet the requirements, 7-10 day trips are possible too.
Jack Pine
Location: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Jack Pine offers guided expedition trips in the Canadian north. They offer many different paddling adventure programs.
Bear Creek Outdoor Centre
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Bear Creek Outdoor offers a two week or single week program for canoe-tripping. Their programs are all gender and refines paddle skills on the iconic Canadian River!
Outward Bound
Location: Minnesota, Florida, Maine, The Mid-Atlantic, North Carolina, Utah, and South America
Outward Bound offers a vast selection of expeditions to choose from. Click on the link below to their list of expeditions to find one that fits for you!
Morse Hill
Location: Shutesbury, Massachusetts
Their Rattelsnake Adventure Camps offer day and single overnight camps in Central Mass.
Nashoba Paddler
Location: West Groton, Massachusetts
Summer day camps in Central Mass. Also offer rentals of canoes and kayaks and BIC stand up paddleboards on the beautiful, friendly Nashua River in West Groton, Massachusetts. Launch from our rental site and paddle for hours in either direction!