Where to Kayak?

[xc62701]

Santa was good to us and now I have two kayaks to go play with. I'm currently figuring out how I want to mount these - either on the roof of my car or on my small trailer. The next thing will be where to go explore? I definitely have Splitrock Reservoir on my list but where would you say is great to go paddle? Looking for cool spots that I wouldn't mind taking a day trip to.

 

[giff06]

Unless you have cold weather paddling gear I would suggest staying very close to shore in very calm water or waiting until May when the water is warmer. Hypothermia is no joke.

 

[Steve Vai]

In the water mostly.

 

[soundz]

Obligatory link to @Nicholas thread: http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/threads/my-kayaking-failure-in-the-rockaway-river-need-advice.23794/

 

[Karate Monkey]

How far do you want to go? Crosswicks Creek is nice, lots of people paddle around the Navesink river. D&R canal/feeders are cool too, albeit with a few large PITA portages.

Second @giff06 's suggestion. Cold, wet, and in the middle of nowhere sucks. Consider taking some paddle safety classes if you've never done it. Knowing how to roll [a sit-in] is a pretty vital safety skill for cold weather, when you've got a skirt on.

 

[Steve Vai]

How far do you want to go? Crosswicks Creek is nice, lots of people paddle around the Navesink river. D&R canal/feeders are cool too, albeit with a few large PITA portages.

There's a dock in New Brunswick if you want to head East in the Raritan. The water has been really low heading West.

 

[UnionRider475]

Monksville Reservoir is great for kayaking .

 

[mattybfat]

Science says 71% of earth is water so it shouldn't be hard to find.
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html

 

[gtluke]

passaic river where it runs through the great piece meadow is supposed to be great. I see the river in my adventures through that area and it's beautiful. You jump in at Home depot in Montville and out at the 2 bridges in fairfield. It's like 3 miles apart but like 10+ miles of river because it winds so much. So it's easy to set up dropping a car off. Hell bring a road bike on drop off car at 2 bridges and you can probably sprint over to to home depot in like 10 minutes.

 

[xc62701]

Yea I'm not looking to kayak in the cold weather but just planning ahead. Passaic river and monksville sounds good.

 

[icebiker]

Congrats!! Kayaking is a great alternative when trails are less than ideal. Sit-on-top? or Sit-inside?

Some suggestions (all of these are, coincidentally, have good MTB'ing nearby, so bring 'yer bike if you want to make a day of it. I sometimes do that (e.g. ride at Jungle, kayak at Monksville down the road; Ride at Wawayanda, Kayak at Wawayanda, etc).

Nearest to you:
Splitrock for sure
Cranberry Lake (launch off the public dock off the Sussex Branch trail...not the private dock next to it)

Further north:
Lake Wawayanda
Monksville Reservoir (North section is cool...head northwest to the stream that feeds in from the ruins of Long Pond Ironworks and go for a hike among the ruins before heading back through the sunken forest). Don't be surprised to see @Kaleidopete up that way on his fattie ;-)
Shepards Lake (Ringwood) but it's a bit small for the trip up there

South of you:
Round Valley (clearest water in NJ)
D&R Canal (from 6MR south to Griggstown is good stretch between the inevitable bridges)
Chimney Rock (Washington Valley), though it's a bit small, and I haven't figured out an easy way to portage into it, but I have seen kayakers in there
Carnegie Lake (Princeton)
Clinton Reservoir (near High Bridge)

West:
Delaware River (Class 1, maybe some 2)
Lehigh River (Class 3...sit-on-top or actual whitewater boat recommended)

As for how to carry them...I use J-style bars. As I get older I might consider splurging on the "Hull-a-vator" hydraulic assist racks to spare my back, but they are pricey at $400+ each. A trailer makes loading a snap (you can keep the boats on the trailer for the next adventure), but the downside is you need space for it, plus not all put-ins have enough parking for a vehicle with trailer.

 

[pxs231]

Its not the most peaceful, but if you want a workout lake Hopatcong is pretty good. You can always try to dock at one of the many restaurants for food (not sure how you would actually pull that off).
Lake Aeroflex in kittatinny is also nice and very easy to access.
Round valley reservior and spruce run are also good destinations.
I know a lot of people do the musconetcong river, but I don't remember all of the details.
There is also clinton reservior if you wanna drive a bit more.

 

[giff06]

If you get to the Seaside Park area the Sedge Islands behind Island Beach State Park are nice and scenic.Ask for a Sedge Island kayak map at the gate when you enter the park.

 

[Mildly Wild]

Rockaway River, Denville. Put in at Gardner Park/Savage Rd by bridge. Go approximately 7 miles to Griffith Park. Take out just above spillway on left side. Paddle dependent on water level but I made it thru with a group 2 years ago in the summer. Scraped bottom quite a few times in earlier part of trip but never had to get out of the boat.

Nice paddle, goes thru 2 golf courses.

 

[xc62701]

Congrats!! Kayaking is a great alternative when trails are less than ideal. Sit-on-top? or Sit-inside?

Some suggestions (all of these are, coincidentally, have good MTB'ing nearby, so bring 'yer bike if you want to make a day of it. I sometimes do that (e.g. ride at Jungle, kayak at Monksville down the road; Ride at Wawayanda, Kayak at Wawayanda, etc).

Nearest to you:
Splitrock for sure
Cranberry Lake (launch off the public dock off the Sussex Branch trail...not the private dock next to it)

Further north:
Lake Wawayanda
Monksville Reservoir (North section is cool...head northwest to the stream that feeds in from the ruins of Long Pond Ironworks and go for a hike among the ruins before heading back through the sunken forest). Don't be surprised to see @Kaleidopete up that way on his fattie ;-)
Shepards Lake (Ringwood) but it's a bit small for the trip up there

South of you:
Round Valley (clearest water in NJ)
D&R Canal (from 6MR south to Griggstown is good stretch between the inevitable bridges)
Chimney Rock (Washington Valley), though it's a bit small, and I haven't figured out an easy way to portage into it, but I have seen kayakers in there
Carnegie Lake (Princeton)
Clinton Reservoir (near High Bridge)

West:
Delaware River (Class 1, maybe some 2)
Lehigh River (Class 3...sit-on-top or actual whitewater boat recommended)

As for how to carry them...I use J-style bars. As I get older I might consider splurging on the "Hull-a-vator" hydraulic assist racks to spare my back, but they are pricey at $400+ each. A trailer makes loading a snap (you can keep the boats on the trailer for the next adventure), but the downside is you need space for it, plus not all put-ins have enough parking for a vehicle with trailer.

Lots of great suggestions. I have one sit-in kayak and one sit-on-top. I wanted some versatility. Especially if I want to take the young one out and paddle. I have a small trailer which I can make work but is still like to get a rack for one or two on top of the car. The Thule crossbars are insanely expensive. I'll probably grab a set of Subaru crossbars and get one or two J style racks for on top.

 

[The Kalmyk]

Some of the nicest systems are in the South... Check out the Tuckahoe River. @KenS knows the deal.

 

[giff06]

Make sure the cross bars you select will support the weight you want to transport. A lot of the car/van type stock racks aren't rated for the weight of 2 kayaks.

 

[xc62701]

The Subaru racks are rated the same as the Thule racks and they will support the load. I just need to suck it up and order the stuff.

 

[Rdoonz]

I love kayaking almost as much as mountain biking....actually it's probably a toss-up. Over the years I've accumulated 3 kayaks that I now use with my wife and two kids, along with a group of like minded friends that also enjoy the peace, quiet and fun we've come to find on the water. I've kayaked on lakes, bays, oceans and rivers. Although each type of kayaking is awesome in its own right, my personal favorite is a river run.

I saw that you wanted to explore great places to paddle. See the link below for a map I put together for places to drop in/pull out a kayak or canoe on the South Branch of the Raritan River. If you click on the pins in the map, you can see my personal notes on each location.
http://goo.gl/maps/EQExD

The time it takes to float between points I've marked on the map average anywhere between one and four hours depending on the water flow and your propensity for paddling. I've done runs between Three Bridges and Neshanic Station that have taken two hours on one day and five hours on another day. I try to block off a whole day for river runs because the time factor can vary so much....my buddies and I refer to this phenomenon as "River Time"

I've literally take dozens of people on trips down the South Branch and first timers always comment on how peaceful and secluded it is. Friends from out of state have even commented that they couldn't believe NJ could be so quiet and beautiful. Here are some pics I've taken on various trips.....all on the South Branch



Just a couple of notes on how I built the map. At one point, many years ago, I had never used my kayak anywhere except for Round Valley on camping trips and Cape May Point back when I was vacationing there regularly with my family. Then one day I saw some people kayaking on the South Branch and stopped and asked them where they put the kayaks in. They told me they started at Neshanic Station and were getting out at Old York Rd. I was actually shocked that you could just drop a kayak in the river and float. Back then I still had a motorcycle and decided to try and figure out locations to put a kayak in the South Branch. I basically road every road along the South Branch River between Bridgewater and Clinton making notes of public places that looked like decent places to launch a kayak. It basically took me a couple of weekends to put together the information that I used to make the map I included here and I found some nice backroads to ride my motorcycle. The motorcycle is long gone, but my fleet of kayaks has grown.

The reason I relayed that story is because I believe you could probably do the same thing for rivers near you. You will get a lot more use out of your kayak if you can find kayaking places closer to home. Best of luck with the new kayaks!

 

[giff06]

A plus to all this is if your put in/ take out aren't too far apart simply lock an old beater bike to a tree and after paddling ride back to get the car. No additional transport needed.