I’ve got some time to burn in January and want to high tail it to somewhat warmer climes for a canoe/bike trip. I typically drop the canoe at the put in, drive to the take out and bike back to the canoe. I’m looking for an overnight canoe trip (~20-35 miles), but the roads have to be conducive to biking (better yet; a dedicated bike trail). We have nice trips here, but i’m not so much into paddling when the roads are covered in snow and the water is this cold or solid.
Any suggestions? Central, southern IL? Southern Iowa? something in Missouri I’ve missed (love the Current River…but…too far…bad biking roads)? Indiana?
The good canoeing streams in Missouri are mostly in the southern part of the state, and most waterways in northern Missouri have been channelized. However, there are some possibilities. Here’s a map to check out.
Biking is good, as there’s a significant amount of mileage on the Katy Trail. Unfortunately, no realistic overlap with canoeing that I can see. If you’d consider just biking and camping, this might be a nice choice.
I don’t know much about hiking, camping, and canoeing in that part of the country, but I do know climate. If you’re looking for the warmest possible place within an eight-hour drive, that would probably be somewhere in western Kentucky. Average January temperature in Paducah is 38, compared to 21 in Milwaukee and 17 in Madison.
I note that Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is in that region. It sounds promising, but I have no inside information on the quality of recreational opportunities there in January.