# Farthest inland you can get with a boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782 "2016-05-27T01:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/1 "2016-05-27T01:58:02Z")
In the USA, what is the farthest point from the ocean that you can get using rivers and canals? I I believe the great lakes all connect to the Atlantic. If I got a on a boat in the Atlantic, how far west could I go using the rivers and canals? How about going east from the Pacific? The boat is not allowed to be moved outside of the water for the purposes of this question. So towing and seaplanes do not count. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/2 "2016-05-27T02:02:00Z")
Without looking it up, I’d guess that you can get pretty close to the center of the US by going up the Mississippi and taking a left at the Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/3 "2016-05-27T02:18:57Z")
Eyeballing from [this map](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_waterways_of_the_United_States#/media/File:Inland_waterway.png) I think it’s a toss up between St Paul and Omaha. Checking the distances I think St Paul is the winner. ([1,010 miles to New York](http://www.distancefromto.net/distance-from-new-york-to-saint-paul-us), [1,020 miles to Mobile](http://www.distancefromto.net/distance-from-mobile-us-to-saint-paul-us) versus 854 miles from [Omaha to Mobile](http://wdistances.com/omaha-ne/mobile-al)). I’m assuming Hudson Bay takes Canadian cities out of the running. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/4 "2016-05-27T02:19:13Z")
Going west: if my mapwork is any good, maybe all the way to the Continental Divide. Atlantic Ocean St. Lawrence River Lakes Ontario, Erie Detroit River, Lake St. Claire, St. Claire River Lakes Huron, Michigan Chicago River, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Desplaines and Illinois Rivers Mississippi River Missouri River North Platte River You’d fetch up in Casper, Wyoming (where the river turns south), by which time you may be paddling a canoe. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/5 "2016-05-27T02:25:07Z")
Rugby, North Dakota is the geographic center of North America. Churchs Ferry, North Dakota is forty miles to the east and is on the shore of Lake Alice. From Lake Alice you should be able to reach the Sheyenne River, which will take you to the Red River of the North, which will take you to Lake Winnipeg, which will take you to the Nelson River, which will take you to Hudson Bay, which will take you to the Atlantic. Pack warm clothing and some sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/6 "2016-05-27T02:26:54Z")
I read this long ago, but [River-Horse](http://www.booknotes.org/FullPage.aspx?SID=154123-1) by Willam Least Heat-Moon is an account of a coast-to-coast boat trip. Some portages (aka roads) were involved but he spent an amazing amount of time in the water. > [@Wiki](#): > > River-Horse is Least Heat-Moon’s account of a four-month coast-to-coast boat trip across the U.S. in which he traveled almost exclusively on the nation’s waterways from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with many of the nearly 5,000 miles following journeys taken by early explorers like Henry Hudson and Lewis and Clark. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/7 "2016-05-27T02:28:48Z")
You want the [pole of inaccessibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility)rather than the geographic centre I think. Check the waterways around Kyle, South Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/8 "2016-05-27T02:34:51Z")
I knew a guy who kayaked from the staue of liberty to the mouth of the Columbia. He didn’t get out of the water until he reached the Rockies and portaged over them. It was somewhere on the Yellowstone that he got out ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/9 "2016-05-27T02:50:21Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > You want the [pole of inaccessibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility)rather than the geographic centre I think. Check the waterways around Kyle, South Dakota. Wiki sez Allen, SD, I think. It looks like you can take the Missouri River as far as Chamberlain, SD, then take the White River to within about 40 miles of Allen. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/10 "2016-05-27T03:11:34Z")
If you like this subject, the must read book is [River-Horse](http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/river-horse-the-logbook-of-a-boat-across-america): The Logbook of a Boat Across America, by [William Least Heat-Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Least_Heat-Moon). River-Horse is Least Heat-Moon’s account of a four-month coast-to-coast boat trip across the U.S. in which he traveled almost exclusively on the nation’s waterways from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with many of the nearly 5,000 miles following journeys taken by early explorers like Henry Hudson and Lewis and Clark. Great read. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/11 "2016-05-27T03:15:01Z")
Double post ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/12 "2016-05-27T03:19:11Z")
It looks like you can get up the Missouri River and its tributaries [pretty much all the way to the Continental Divide](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Missouririvermap.jpg), although I can’t say for sure that there aren’t rapids and waterfalls that would block you. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/13 "2016-05-27T11:02:39Z")
Just to clarify, lisiate mentioned St. Paul and Omaha because they’re the “heads of navigation” for the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers – that is, the furthest you can get in a _biggish_ boat. For most passenger or commercial cargo purposes, that’s where you’d have to change to a ground-based transportation type, which is why those two cities developed at those places. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/14 "2016-05-27T11:26:30Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Wiki sez Allen, SD, I think. It looks like you can take the Missouri River as far as Chamberlain, SD, then take the White River to within about 40 miles of Allen. The White River looks to be pretty shallow; see [this picture, for example.](https://goo.gl/maps/Agp7XDRaiT62) If you couldn’t get your boat up that river, then next best bet would probably be taking the Missouri up to Pierre, SD, about 100 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/15 "2016-05-27T13:09:40Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > The White River looks to be pretty shallow; see [this picture, for example.](https://goo.gl/maps/Agp7XDRaiT62) If you couldn’t get your boat up that river, then next best bet would probably be taking the Missouri up to Pierre, SD, about 100 miles away. Hmm. Drat. According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_River_(Missouri_River)), the White River sometimes doesn’t flow at all. It only flows year-round near where it meets the Missouri. Maybe if you caught it at the right time of year, you could get all the way to near Allen in a small boat. There is a creek that runs from the White River right through the middle of Allen, but it looks tiny enough that it runs under some highways through drain pipes. So, that’s probably out. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/16 "2016-05-27T13:16:57Z")
The Red-River Lake Winnipeg route (north of Lake Winnipeg) has always involved some portages, carrying the York boats or canoes overland around the rapids. It was never fully navigable, never fitted with canals, and now IIRC has some biggish hydroelectric dams in the way. Depends on OP’s criteria for “using a boat”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/17 "2016-05-27T13:53:48Z")
Note on the Columbia-Snake waterway: It is navigable by ocean-going barges up to Lewiston, ID. 465 miles. Above Lewiston, on the Snake, is the Hells Canyon Dam on the OR-ID border. It has no locks. Nor do the dams upstream from there. According to my Math and Wikipedia distances, it’s 572 miles inland from the Pacific. This would be the furthest inland one could go from the US West Coast (and probably via any US river west of the Mississippi). Staying on the Columbia instead of turning onto the Snake soon dead-ends, boat-wise, at the Priest Rapids Dam. The dams in Hells Canyon represent significant portages. Much bigger than a canoe/kayak and you’ve got issues. (The Columbia-Willamette distance isn’t all that great now that the locks at the falls at Oregon City are decommissioned. While the falls aren’t that great of a height during a major flood, it would take a significantly powered and rugged craft to go up them at that time.) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/18 "2016-05-27T15:15:11Z")
If a kayak is acceptable and portaging around dams and waterfalls allowed, then the optimum route from Atlantic to Pacific looks to be: Mississippi River to near St Louis, MO Missouri River to Three Forks, MT Madison River to a point a couple of miles downstream of Hebgen Lake Portage to Henrys Lake (headwaters of one branch of the Snake River) Snake River to Clarkson, ID Columbia River to its mouth This gives a route with all but 11 miles on water. And the portage to Henrys Lake is over notably mild terrain (rises about 500’). ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/19 "2016-05-27T16:16:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Just to clarify, lisiate mentioned St. Paul and Omaha because they’re the “heads of navigation” for the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers – that is, the furthest you can get in a _biggish_ boat. For most passenger or commercial cargo purposes, that’s where you’d have to change to a ground-based transportation type, which is why those two cities developed at those places. I was under the impression that the Missouri is navigable by barge traffic as far upstream as Sioux City, but I could be wrong. In any case, it appears that under the OP’s guidelines the Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, SD is the absolute upper limit for the Missouri, since AFAIK it lacks navigation locks and would therefore require a portage to get around. However, according to the Wikipedia article the section of the river immediately downstream from that point is unchannelized, so it may be difficult to reach that far in anything much larger than a canoe. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782/20 "2016-05-27T18:12:58Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Maybe if you caught it at the right time of year, you could get all the way to near Allen in a small boat. Yeah, I’d expect that if you’d have better luck if you tried to head upstream around the middle of April, when the largest run-off from the spring melt was happening. Note that you’ll also have to portage past the [Gavins Point Dam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavins_Point_Dam) and the [Fort Randall Dam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Randall_Dam) to get to the mouth of the White River. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/farthest-inland-you-can-get-with-a-boat/755782.md?page=2)