Upper Iowa River Canoe Trip Report

The first weekend of May is the annual Northstar Experience canoe trip. Each year Northstar Canoes invites people who own Northstar canoes or Bell canoes to come paddle a river somewhere in the Midwest. This year was on the Upper Iowa River in northeastern Iowa. I attended two days of the event to take photos, connect with friends and make new ones and enjoy paddling with the Northstar community.

The Upper Iowa

The Upper Iowa is a river that I paddled several times when I was living in Iowa. It’s one of the best midwestern rivers and used to make Canoe and Kayak Magazine’s top 20 river trip lists. It’s also a popular river in the summer with many campgrounds servicing the route. To say that it is THE classic Iowa canoe route wouldn’t be exaggerating. One could ask, “Is this heaven?” And the answer would be, “No, it’s the Upper Iowa.”

The section that we paddled on the Northstar Experience was from Kendallville to Bluffton and then Bluffton to Chattahoochie Access, which is upstream from Decorah, Iowa. While I haven’t paddled all of the river, I’ve paddled from just downstream from Lime Springs to some point past Decorah, and all of that section was great, but the standout to me from from Plumber’s Park, which is actually in Minnesota, to the dam in Decorah. The most popular section is likely Kendallville to Bluffton and is characterized by limestone cliffs and a meandering river with riffles and few hazards. The two most stunning features are the palisades upstream from Bluffton and Malanaphy Springs. The springs flow out of the limestone bluff and cascade over a cliff running in strings past lush green vegetation. It’s stunning.

Resources:

• Guidebook: Paddling Iowa: 129 Outstanding Journeys by Canoe, Kayak, or SUP
• Paddling Iowa on Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Paddling_Iowa/89N8a2bcZ40C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover&dq=upper%20iowa
• Upper Iowa River Paddler’s Guide: https://www.winneshiekwild.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Upper-Iowa-River-Paddlers-Guide-Web.pdf
• Interactive River Map: https://upperiowariver.org/recreation/paddling/
• More Iowa River Water Trail Maps: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Things-to-Do/Canoeing-Kayaking/Water-Trail-Maps-Brochures

The Conditions

I had been watching the USGS gauge at Bluffton the week before the trip. Ideally, you’ll want at least 200 cubic feet per second. It was running at just that. A little higher would be better. Then it rained. It was at 480 ft³/s when we started paddling on Friday and at about 750 ft³/s when we got off the water.

On Saturday morning, I crawled out of my sleeping bag and looked at the river. It seemed higher. The river gauge was at 1070 ft³/s. As far as river height, it had come up a full foot from Friday morning.

The downside to all that water was that the river wasn’t it’s normal clear self. It was loaded with sediment which turned the river brown. I thought Saturday’s water level made the river much more fun and way faster. I wish I would have had an extra day to paddle the Kendallville to Bluffton section again in those conditions. Those conditions also improve the upper sections of the river and help avoid any scratchy rock bottoms.

The People

I always enjoy the people who paddle Northstar and Bell boats. Northstar has done well at cultivating a great community of paddlers who are fun to be around. That community also includes adventures, such as Cliff Jacobson, and music stars, such as Jerry Vandiver. Both where there. Jerry flew in on Friday and gave a campfire concert on Saturday night for everyone who attended the event.

I haven’t had time to process all the photos of all the people that I photographed so here are just a few. I tried to photograph everyone on the trip, but there are always a few that slip through unphotographed. I hope to have all of the photos processed and online after I get back from about a month of traveling.