Canoeing and tubing on the Mohican River. (Credit: Mohican River Adventures)

By Ken Drenten

I remember taking my first canoe trip as a member of Boy Scout Troop 288, paddling the rippling waters of the Mohican River near Loudonville. I was probably 13 or 14 years old, and it was a blast.

While we Scouts did learn the basic J-stroke and how to look in the water ahead for telltale signs of submerged branches and rocks, we spent most of our time splashing each other with our paddles and trying to ram each other’s aluminum vessels.

Our time on the water ended about three hours later when we dragged our rented canoes and our sunburned, mosquito-bitten bodies out of the stream and boarded an old school bus for the rattling ride back to the parking lot and then home, tired and happy.

Lots of people have those kinds of great memories, and can make new ones too, at one of the many canoe, kayak and raft liveries in Ohio. The state has some wonderful scenic rivers that are actually cleaner than they were in the 1970s when I was a Tenderfoot Scout. Canoeing, kayaking, rafting and tubing have never been more popular or accessible.

Here are some of the places where you can paddle the day away. Find more canoe, kayak and raft liveries in Dusty Tires.

Birch Bark Canoe Livery (Mad River), 1455 River Road, Urbana. Offers canoeing, kayaking. Connect on Facebook.

Canal Fulton Canoe Livery (Tuscarawas River), 219 Cherry St. W., SR 93, Canal Fulton. Offers canoeing, kayaking. Connect on Facebook.

Hocking Hills Canoe Livery (Hocking River), 12789 SR 664 S., Logan, offers canoeing, kayaking, rafting. Connect on Facebook.

Kokosing Valley Camp & Canoe (Kokosing River), 25860 Coshocton Road, Howard, offers canoeing, kayaking, tubing.

Loudonville Canoe Livery (Mohican River), 424 W. Main St., Loudonville, offers canoeing, kayaking, tubing. Connect on Facebook.

Mad River Adventures (Mad River), 5605 Old Lower Valley Pike, Springfield, offers canoeing, kayaking. Connect on Facebook.

Mohican Adventures (Mohican River), 3045 & 3058 SR 3 S., Loudonville, offers canoeing, kayaking, rafting and tubing.

NTR Canoe Livery (Tuscarawas River), 11357 SR 212 NE, Boliver, offers canoeing, kayaking, tubing.

Paddle the River (Cuyahoga and Mahoning rivers), 1570 Akron Peninsula Road, Akron. Offers canoeing, kayaking.

Rivers Edge Outfitters, (Little Miami River) 3928 US 42, Waynesville, offers canoeing, kayaking, rafting.

River Run Canoe Livery (Mohican River), 3402 CR 3175 (Wally Road), Loudonville, and 3069 SR 3, Loudonville. Offers canoeing, kayaking, tubing.

Scenic River Canoe Excursions (Little Miami River), 4575 Mt. Carmel Road, Cincinnati. offers canoeing, kayaking.

Trailhead Canoe Livery (Tuscarawas River), 135 Lake Ave. NW, Massillon, offers canoeing, kayaking. Phone: 800-226-6349.

Waters Edge Canoe Livery (Paint Creek), 10807 SR 772, Chillicothe, offers canoeing, kayaking.

Yippie Kayak, 113 W. Railroad St., West Lafayette (Tuscarawas River), offers canoeing, kayaking and rafting. Connect on Facebook.

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

Subscribe to Dusty Tires and receive a weekly email with the latest blog article. It’s free and ad-free!

All rights reserved, copyright 2024, Dusty Tires (dusty-tires.com)