Average Canoe Paddling Speed

If you’re planning a canoe trip, you might want to know what an average canoe paddling speed is. Knowing this will help you potentially plan daily paddling distances or calculate the total number of days needed for a distance. There may be other factors that slow you down such as wind, current, and portages. Here are a few general rules of thumb for estimating paddling speed.

Average Canoe Paddling Speed Rule of Thumb

If you’re looking for an easy rule of thumb, then I’d suggest that on a loaded trip when making distance from point to point that you’ll likely be paddling a tandem tripping canoe at about 3mph (5km per hour). Generally speaking this is the speed that I plan on when planning trips.

I use this when planning either a tandem or solo trip to a flat water destination, such as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

If feeling super motivated, 4mph (6km per hour) isn’t unheard of.

If your canoe is heavily loaded, you may be slower. If your canoe is lightly loaded, you may be faster. See the Lightweight Secret to learn more.

Wind

Wind can slow you down or speed you up. While you have a strong tailwind, you’ll gain speed. I’ve never been able to quantify the exact amount of speed that you gain with the wind behind you, but sometimes it has been up to 1mph (1.6 km per hour).

When the wind is in your face, it sucks. It not only slows you down, but it also tires you out forcing you to take extra breaks. If possible, try to hug the shoreline that is out of the wind because then it will affect you less. We’ve had wind so strong in the past that getting out and walking where it was funneling was actually faster than paddling into the wind. That was for a short distance but still.

Side winds generally don’t speed you up, but because you have to make more corrective strokes, they do tend to slow you down.

If you’re on a mixture of lakes that head in different directions, you can probably just average it out to 3mph (5km per hour). If not, add or subtract 1mph (1.6 km per hour).

Canoe Speed in Current

This depends on the speed of the current and whether or not you are paddling into it. I’d suggest that with the current behind you, you will likely gain a quarter to half the speed of the current on top of your average canoe paddling speed. If you have to navigate lots of turns and rapids, you likely won’t gain that much.

Paddling into the current tends to drop your progress to a crawl, especially with the current is faster than 3mph.

Portaging Speed

Portaging is interesting because a lot of the speed depends on how quickly you can unload, get your packs on your backs and canoe on your shoulders. If you double portage, which is taking one load over the portage and going back for a second load, it takes about three times as long. Personally, we pack in a way that every portage is a single portage.

When you add portages into your average canoe paddling speed, you’ll notice that you get much slower. You’ll need to account for that at each portage.

My rule of thumb is that it’s going to take you about five to 10 minutes to start the portage, and another 10 minutes at the other end while you load and wait for your paddling partners (or they wait for you).

Portaging on and easy trail is about 2mph (3km per hour). If the trail is harder, you can half that time. If the trail is longer, then you will probably need a rest at some point. Count on adding 10 minutes for each rest.

In the Boundary Waters, we measure our portages in rods. There are 320 rods to one mile (1.6km). So the rough rule of thumb is that on an easy portage trail, the first 150 rods (0.75km) takes 30 minutes to portage including unloads and loads. Each additional 150 rods takes 20 minutes unless you are taking a rest. Harder portages, such as those that go uphill, take 10 to 20 minutes longer.

Summary

If you’re looking for a quick summary, then this is it:

• Average Canoe Paddling Speed: 3mph (5km per hour)
• Motivated Canoe Speed: 4mph (6km per hour)
• Wind behind you: +1mph (1.6 km per hour) if lucky
• Headwind: – 1mph (1.6 km per hour) if lucky
• Sidewind: You’ll get slowed down depending on your corrective strokes.
• With the current: Gain 1/4 to 1/2 the speed of the current.
• Into the current over 3mph: Pace becomes a crawl.
• Portaging: 30 minutes for the first 150 rods including loading and unloading. 20 minutes for each additional 150 rods.
• Portaging rough: Add in another 10 to 20 minutes per 150 rods.
• Portaging long: Add in 10 minutes per rest