After purchasing a family canoe, we started looking for fun places to take it (beyond the excellent local canoeing on the Swatara Creek). The Allegheny River came up repeatedly as a place to go for family friendly paddling. Looking at the Allegheny River we found a stretch of it that is both designated as “National Wild and Scenic River” and has a paved bike trail along it that includes long tunnels!
The itinerary for our trip is below. Links to blog entries about individual days are included. Be sure to note modifications to consider at the bottom.
Day 1
Drive to Kennerdell
Settle into lodging
Day 2
Leave bikes at lodging, drive canoe to Franklin
Paddle from Franklin to Kennerdell
Peddle from Kennerdell to Franklin
Day 3
Leave canoe at lodging, drive bikes to Emlenton
Peddle from Emlenton to KennerdellPaddle from Kennerdell to Emlenton (Our kids were not ready to sit in the canoe for another long period. Instead I rode my bike back to Emlenton to fetch the van)
Day 4:
Pack up and return home
Modifications to Consider:
If I were to plan knowing what I do now, I would work to include the Sandy Creek Rail Trail into the itinerary, and I would consider separating the paddling and peddling to different days.
For example,
Day 1: Peddle Emlenton to Kennerdell (leave vehicle in Emlenton overnight)
Day 2: Paddle Kennerdell to Emlenton (retrieve vehicle)
Day 3: Peddle Sandy Creek Rail Trail (drive to and from)
Day 4: Paddle Franklin to Kennerdell (leave vehicle in Franklin)
Day 5: Peddle Kennerdell to Franklin (retrieve vehicle)
For more fun family adventures be sure to check out https://homeschool.fickett.info/adventures/