How to Plan an Overnight Kayaking Trip

Earlier this year, a friend and I kayaked about 54 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Scotland, along the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals. We’d never planned such a thing—nor had we ever attempted to kayak so far—and we were surprised when we weren’t able to find any blog posts or travel stories about others who’d paddled the whole Glasgow to Edinburgh Canoe Trail. 

Luckily, we were able to get some advice from the Scottish tourism board and Scottish Canals Trust to make sure we weren’t planning something totally impossible. Along the way, we learned a bit about how to plan a solid trip. 

Here’s what you should consider before you set out with your Oru on your back.

Plan your rest stops and overnight sites in advance

Depending on where you’re paddling, you may have easy access to hotels a short walk from the water, or you may have to rely on dispersed camping (also called wild camping in many parts of Europe). Either way, you should know in advance where you expect your stopping points to be. If you’re not an experienced distance paddler, like I wasn’t before my first trip, it can be easy to forget that you need to have land access to get out of the boat to stretch your legs, or to find a spot to take a bathroom break. 

If the route is unfamiliar to you, try to confirm in advance that you’ll be able to pull your boat out of the water in the places you plan to stop. Canals sometimes have high sides in places where it’s not easy to get out of your boat, and coastal paddling trails may have rocky beaches where it’s dangerous or impractical to pull your boat ashore. 

Ask for advice

I’m a travel journalist and often call up tourism boards and outdoor associations to ask for advice on planning trips, so to me it was a no-brainer to make a few phone calls to fill in the details I couldn’t easily find myself. But even if you’re not a journalist, you can do this, too. There are loads of organizations very happy to help travelers figure out how to safely plan their adventures. 

As an example, I’ll walk you through how we planned our paddling trip on the Glasgow to Edinburgh Canoe Trail. Before we settled on that journey, we perused the VisitScotland website to look at paddling trips around the country. We considered the Great Glen Canoe Trail, which is known for stunning mountain scenery and a long stretch through the length of Loch Ness. We decided against it after realizing we may not have had adequate experience for the sea-like swells that can toss a kayak around Loch Ness on a blustery day. 

Then we went to Scottish Canals for maps of the trail and to register ourselves for the trip. For safety reasons, the organization asks paddlers to register online in advance of a trip so they know who’s out on the water. You should always look for a management organization like this to make sure you’re following local guidelines and kept aware of any unexpected restrictions as it gets closer to your trip. You can zoom out and look for national, state, regional, and city outdoor organizations, too, which often have lists of local groups that may be more relevant to your specific trip. In the United Kingdom, the British Canoeing Association is a great place to start. 

If all else fails, you can also try asking around for advice on r/Kayaking on Reddit.

“Travel” your route on Google Maps before you head off

On one night of our kayaking trip, my friend and I zoomed into the canals on Google Maps to see if we could find any waterside restaurants for a lunch stop the next day. Our goal was to find a place where we could leave the boats tied up without having to pull them out of the water and fold them up or leave them unattended and well out of sight, and we got pretty lucky.

“Traveling” the canal this way also led us to another surprise—the Linlithgow Canal Society, a waterfront nonprofit at our take-out on our final night of the journey, which operates a seasonal tea room. The Canal Society—of which we are now both proud members—very kindly allowed us to store our boats overnight so that we could get a faster, earlier start the following morning. 

Had we done this sooner, we may have also discovered a few inns with marinas which may have been more practical overnight stops than some of the hotels we chose.

Pack as little as possible and do a dry-run of carrying your gear

Although you can carry more in a kayak than you might on your back, you still have to get to your start point with all your stuff. If you’re taking public transit to the start of your adventure, as we did, make sure your gear fits in dry sacks you can lash to the outside of your Oru pack and that you can carry it yourself without assistance. 

Consider setting up your boat at home and packing it the way you would out on the water to strategize how to stow overnight gear out of the way and keep daytime essentials handy. It’s best if you can keep your overnight gear and clothes in a drybag you won’t open at all during the day, to minimize the chances of getting your dry gear wet. Instead, consider separating your gear into smaller dry bags: one for your clothes and/or tent, etc.; one for snacks; one for your phone and camera. 

If you’re planning to leave your boats in the water overnight or for a lunchtime stop, make sure you bring along a small rope or cord so you can tie up your boat to a dock or tree. And finally, regardless of the weather you’re expecting to get, it’s smart to bring along a rain jacket and rain waterproof pants, neoprene gloves and booties, and wool layers that will keep you warm even if you get wet.

Set up a shuttle or research public transit options

Unless you’re doing an out-and-back paddle, you’ll need a way to get back home with your boat when you cross the finish line of your adventure. We intentionally chose a route with ample public transit on either end so that we could do our trip car-free, but of course that isn’t an option everywhere. 

If you’re relying on public transit to get you home, check in advance that you’ll be able to bring your boat on board. Few sites will say “no kayaks allowed,” but some trains have bike storage you can book in advance to more easily stow your kayak on the journey. Some stations may also be easier to navigate than others. For safety reasons I recommend using elevators or stairs whenever possible and avoiding escalators. You can look for wheelchair-accessible public transit routes to gauge whether a station has elevators or step-free access available.

In doubt? Book with a guide

If you’re eager to head out with your Oru but don’t have a buddy and aren’t quite sure about going alone, you can always consider joining an organized group through a local gear shop or outdoor organization—such as the New York-North Jersey Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club; Mad City Paddlers in Madison, Wisconsin; or REI Adventures—or finding a private guide. 

Wilderness Scotland, for example, operates multi-day sea kayaking tours along the coast of the Highlands and around a handful of the country’s 900 islands. You’re welcome to bring along your own kayak to join one of their groups, or, for something custom, you can contact them directly to plan a bespoke and sustainable journey that fits what you’re looking for. Many, if not most, adventure tour operators like this also offer this sort of service even if they don’t advertise it, so it never hurts to call and ask for exactly what you’re looking for.