Kayak the Missouri River in Kansas City
Take in the KC skyline from a Kayak
Join a group float and navigate the Missouri River with surprising ease.
By Roy Harryman
Publisher
I’ve grown up in Kansas City and always had a fascination with the Missouri River.
As a child, we passed high above it on the I-435 bridge headed to my grandparents home in the Northland. It seemed miles below us.
Even now, as an adult, I experience a sense of majesty when I stand on its shore. Whether I’m at English Landing in Parkville or Liberty Bend in Independence, the Mighty Mo inspires with its seemingly eternal and steady flow.
Then there’s its sheer length: 2,341 miles from Montana to the place it meets the Mississippi River at St. Louis.
When I learned about the possibility of kayaking the river, I was intrigued – and a little terrified. But I spoke to the team at Kansas City Kayak and Canoe and they explained that it’s actually much riskier to float the smaller rivers that are much more popular (i.e. drunken imbeciles running rapids in Southern Missouri). The main water hazards are trees and debris. When water channels are narrow, the risks of encountering a water hazard increase.
“It’s more like a slow-moving lake,” the guide said of the Missouri River.
I ran out of time in 2021, but in 2022 I was determined to make it happen.
My friend Ray and I picked a picturesque May day: 70 degrees, sunny and very little wind. We were joined by four others.
We met at Riverfront Park at 5 p.m. on a Sunday (not Berkley Park) and then shuttled to Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kan. This point is a park and also the confluence of the Kansas (Kaw) and Missouri Rivers.
From there it’s boats in. After easing down the Kaw Point boat ramp, you’re off. Some gentle paddling takes you to the actual confluence and then the force of the Missouri points your kayak east.
Then it’s up to you. It’s likely you could drift the entire way to the pickup point without paddling. Some paddling is necessary, though, for steering purposes. Ray and I were stunned at how relaxing the journey was – and how fast. Although the river didn’t seem to be moving quickly, it was. In an extremely relaxed pace, we finished the 5-mile trip in about 45 minutes.
In between Kaw Point and the pickup (which is where you started at River Front Park), you encounter several quite different environments:
The flight path of the Downtown Airport
Heavy construction in a bridge zone
The River Market neighborhood
Berkley Park
The Christoper S. Bond Bridge
Trains running above you and beside you
And, amazingly, a quiet forested zone as you reach the end.
Kansas City Kayak and Canoe operates weekly trips through its website. You pre-pay and reserve a space.
In addition to the 5-mile trip, there’s a 15-mile run from Parkville to Riverfront Park.
Getting up close the river didn’t diminish my awe of it. It only increased it.
Video and photo gallery: Kayaking the Missouri River in Kansas City, Mo.
