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Canoe Kentucky

4.2 (33 reviews)
Closed 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Updated 1 month ago

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Sarah B.

I went kayaking today for the first time and went to Canoe Kentucky because it was recommended by a friend. I did the Fun Float, which is 5 miles on the creek. Our shuttle bus driver, Lou was precious--he told Dad Jokes the whole way over. The equipment was fine--the $50 fee includes the time on the creek (we were on the water for about two hours), life jacket, kayak, and paddle. I would have liked a little more instruction since it was my first time, but I figured it out on my own.

Lori N.

I'm so grateful my job brought us here for World Emoji Day! Thanks to Canoe Kentucky, I got the chance to ride a tandem kayak for the first time, and it was amazing!! They offer you several vessels, kayaks, canoes, etc and for 2-3 hours, you get to ride down a slow moving river with your pals. There are a couple fast water spots along the way, so make sure to stay alert! They provided us all with life jackets and instructions, and there are spots along the way if you need to "pull over" and give your group time to catch up. No need to rush this experience at all, definitely take as much time as you'd like to enjoy nature and be prepared to come across as many turtles as possible!! Overall, such a wonderful experience compared to what I'm usually used to doing with my friends, and I would absolutely love the opportunity to try this again!

Am B.

Definitely a 20 out of 10! I highly recommend doing the kayaking and bourbon tasting trip with Canoe Kentucky! Our guides were awesome, lunch was delicious and we had a wonderful private tour and tasting at Buffalo Trace. #canoeky

On the creek
Jeremy R.

My fiancé and I made a trip to Canoe Kentucky for my birthday. It's only 45 minutes away from Lexington so it's a very easy day trip to make. Due to COVID, there really wasn't many people there, which made parking very easy. The parking areas are in neighboring houses yards, which sounds complicated, but the employees direct you to which lot to park in so it's very simple. Make sure to check in before you park. Prior to visiting, make a reservation on their website. It's very simple to do. The easy float is the first half of the ceek, which takes between 2.5-3 hours to paddle, depending on how fast you go and if you make any stops. The all day includes the second half of the creek, so you'll spend around 4-5 hours out on the water. The easy float is $45 per person for a kayak and $55 for the all day. You can bring your own kayaks or you can rent like we did. The employees are very helpful and they have a crash training course prior to getting on the water. This is just a creek so nothing to be concerned over, but they go over safety tips. Obviously, wear old shoes/sandals and old clothes or swimming suits because you will be in the water. This is a wonderful activity to do with the family. If you're looking for a fun trip during coronavirus, I highly recommend Canoe Kentucky.

front entrance
Amanda S.

This past weekend was my family's second canoe trip through Canoe KY, and overall we had a really nice and relaxing day on Elkhorn Creek! The registration process is pretty straightforward (register online ahead of time), and sign in & fill out a waiver when checking in. CKY offers canoe and kayak options to use on the river. There is a short informational video before you're given your life vest (mandatory to wear for those under 13). Afterward, there is a Canoe KY bus that takes the group a few miles up the creek with the canoes & kayaks in tow. My family opted for the "All Day Adventure" which is about 5-7 hours, depending on how you paddle. When you reach the Canoe KY building you're required to check in and tell the front desk what time your group will be ready to be picked up at the end. CKY offers a pick up once an hour, on the half hour (1:30, 2:30, etc). We told the staff that we would be ready at 3:30 or possibly 4:30 if for some reason we got held up. We were ready and waiting to be picked up at 3:20, however it wasn't until my sister called that the bus came to pick us up at 4. The driver said he didn't have anyone registered to be picked up at 3:30, so we aren't sure what happened. (There were other groups waiting to be picked up at 3:30 as well) Willing to let the bus incident slide because we had such a great day!

Beautiful day on The Elkhorn!
Kelly Y.

Perfect day on the water! Hubby and I are still novice canoers. This past Sunday we had a great time on the Elkhorn Creek. The weather was perfectly balmy. The creek was calm with just a few gentle rapids to remind us why we must keep the life jackets on. The Elkhorn is a lot wider than Floyds Fork. We were not worried about being swept into the roots and branches of trees. The creek was only about 2-3ft deep on this Sunday. It is just what we want as novice paddlers. There were a few places where we knew we have to carry the canoe rather than getting stuck on the rocks. The guy did mention that we should get out at a place called "The Claw", survey the water and proceed with caution. We followed his advice and chose a route wisely. We did not flip over once! Although I don't think it will be so bad if we did fall in the water. The temperature was warmer than I had thought. I saw a few people, including little kids swimming in the creek. There are many nice locations to stop and have a picnic or fish on the banks. Everyone we encountered on the creek were friendly and courteous. We finished the Fun Float in just over 2 hr. Hubby and I both agreed that it was worth the drive and we will be back!

Sailing down the Elkhorn in the K-9 canoe

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5 years ago

Really enjoyed our kayaking trip. The staff was friendly and answered our questions. Great place for a kayaking or canoeing outing!

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Ask the Community - Canoe Kentucky

Review Highlights - Canoe Kentucky

I had a great time on Elkhorn Creek getting some canoing instruction from Chris Howard for an upcoming trip I'm taking.

Mentioned in 10 reviews

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Nachand Canoe & Kayak

Nachand Canoe & Kayak

4.5(15 reviews)
44.4 mi

I went canoeing with my bf a few weekends ago and it was so much fun! I was a little nervous at…read morefirst because all the reviews for this place were really old. We rented a canoe for 4 hours and enjoyed every second of it. The lady up front was superrr nice and she was very open to rescheduling because of weather. My bf and I tried on life jackets while she grabbed our canoe and paddles and she pushed us out into the water. There are two paths, a scenic path and a path with food, both are very pretty though. We saw so many animals but I could only take pictures of so many. When you go to the restaurants you do have to tie up your boat yourself but that's super easy like even I figured it out. There are two restaurants on the path, a bar type restaurant and a seafood restaurant. We went to the bar and i'd definitely recommend it! Overall we had sooo much fun and I can't wait to come back again!!

We reserved our kayaks online a few days before our trip…read more The morning of our reservation, the staff at Nachand emailed us to see if we'd like to reschedule since the weather forecast was predicting a chance of rain for the last two hours of our reservation time. We decided there to keep our original reservation since it there was only a small chance of rain. The staff on-site was super nice. They helped us load into the water & helped us get out. They had life jackets & various sizes so you could choose one that fit. Unfortunately for us, it rained about 45min after we got into the water but we found some trees to hide under until the rain stopped. It was actually pretty cool experience to watch it rain. Super relaxing. It was a nice kayak trip! Definitely will be back!

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Nachand Canoe & Kayak
Nachand Canoe & Kayak
Nachand Canoe & Kayak

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Morgan's Outdoor Adventures

Morgan's Outdoor Adventures

4.4(31 reviews)
77.8 mi

First time canoeing. Family of 4 ( 2 adults & 2 kids)…read more 1 star: Friendly staff. 1star: Loading onto the boat was super easy and no issue. The river was maintained with nice spots to pull off for a rest. --1 star: the bathrooms at the front building were the dirtiest bathrooms I have ever experienced. Only 1 working toilet in the women's ( arrived at 9am) . --2 stars: unloading area at the end was not maintained. ( the staff member said what they had washed away in the spring) no where to pull your canoe to get off . Steep muddy hill to climb up. Someone in our group got hurt trying to get out when unloading . Young children were struggling to get up the steep hill.

Are you looking for fun and safe activity to do with friends or family while staying socially…read moredistanced from others? This is an awesome activity that checks all of the boxes! We visited Morgan's yesterday for the second time this summer. It's a great meeting spot for friends that live in Cincinnati and Indianapolis. Our first visit was on a Thursday and the second was on a Sunday. There was a big difference in the amount of people when going during the week versus the weekend. I would highly suggest a weekday visit if you would prefer less people. After a brief safety talk, you grab a life vest, paddle, and boat and you are off! We did kayaking on both of our visits, but saw a lot of people out on canoes and rafts. It is about a 7 mile trip and both times it took us about 3 hours doing a relaxing trip down the river with minimal paddling and a lot of floating. We packed a picnic lunch and pulled our kayaks out on a shady spot and ate lunch. This is not a technically different kayaking route. There are a few sections that are rocky, have some tiny rapids, or tree roots that you need to navigate, but all in all, it is a beginner level trip perfect for the novice and fun for all. The equipment is good, staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The price is also good for a budget activity ~$30 per person! Let's talk about COVID-19 precautions: Morgan's takes this seriously! They are by reservation only and have designated checkin times. For our weekend checkin when it was busy, a man greeted us when walked up and directed us to an empty table to fill out our group's waiver. Once done, we took to a table with one staff member to checkin. All of this was outside. During the week, this was done in the building, but we were the only group. There are social distance markers on the ground, limit to 3 people per the changing room/restroom, social distance on the bus to bring you back, and all staff wore masks. Thank you for keeping us safe!

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Morgan's Outdoor Adventures
Morgan's Outdoor Adventures
Morgan's Outdoor Adventures

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Tippecanoe and Kayaks Too - This is a picture from the Harrison Ave., Bridge the beach area UC is our take out location

Tippecanoe and Kayaks Too

4.2(13 reviews)
63.8 mi

HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IF YOUR CONSIDERING DOING ANY BUSINESS HERE!I have gone to Tippecanoe and…read moreKayaks Too twice. The first time I went was for my dad's 50th birthday with about an 11 person party. We arrive that day and the bus for our trip runs over an hour late to take us to the start point when they did there was a soccer tournament going on at the drop off point so we all had to drag our kayaks a good distance across multiple soccer field areas to start our trip. When we talked to the staff about our experience they told us the owner would reach out to us then he didn't and we called him asking him to give us a call then he still didn't. Hoping that was just a bad day for them I decided to try this place one more time with a smaller group of me, my boyfriend and my dog. During our trip our canoe flipped about .25 miles from end of the trip when my boyfriend moved to grab something out of the bag we brought. Once we flipped we tried flipping the canoe back over but their canoes don't have plugs to let the water held in the boat back out so the boat started to sink which we were holding onto to help us float in heavy current water that was about 15 ft deep. We were saved by people who don't work for the company who were fishing off to the side after about 8 minutes of us floating down the river. They thankfully had kayaks to come save us and our dog. After we were recused they attempted calling tippecanoe multiple times with no answer so they kayaked to the end to finally get a worker to help rescue us. As the staff got us to the landing area they were immediately only concerned about their money. Absolutely not their traumatized customers who lost all their personal belongings and almost so much more than that. I highly recommend if you care for your safety to not do business here as they have zero staff along the river to ensure you don't drown in the very possible situation like Green Acres and many other local Kayaking places do. Attached are photos of their email response to my trip (also asked them to call me and only got an email saying this) and my response back to that email. I have never left a review I had to make an account to even do this but after my experience with this company I would hate for anyone to experience a similar situation or worse one because of the neglect and unawareness of this company.

Staff was very friendly and helpful. The 5-mile was a lot of fun. Nice e kayaks as well.read more

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Tippecanoe and Kayaks Too
Tippecanoe and Kayaks Too
Tippecanoe and Kayaks Too

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The Gorge Underground - Our group after the tour.

The Gorge Underground

4.7(106 reviews)
72.7 mi

I was a bit apprehensive since I've only kayaked once before and really wanted the deluxe tour, but…read moreit was booked so I did the classic--and I'm so glad I went anyway! Billy and Pierah were awesome guides--patient, encouraging, and fun. I stayed toward the back while getting the hang of paddling, but got to enjoy the underwater views with Billy's lit-up kayak. I was surprised it's man-made, flooded limestone mine but it's still definitely worth checking off the bucket list. Just be prepared--it's VERY cold! Equipment was in excellent shape and store staff were helpful. Would absolutely recommend!

Our group booked an 8pm boat tour and it was the best end to our day! Everyone was so friendly…read morethere from the sweetest gift shop employee to our fun and funny captain! Very knowledgeable staff and very organized. Definitely recommend you fill out your waivers online ahead of time, gives you more time to look around the gift shop. No formal restrooms on site but the port a potties were clean and there was a handwashing station as well. Dress comfortable as the caves are a bit chilly but not very cold, depends on your tolerance of the cold. Take caution and hold onto your things securely, if it's dropped in the cave waters it's gone. We were told they will not retrieve lost items so bring phone and keys at your own risk. :)

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The Gorge Underground - Grandsons posing with our boat tour guide.

Grandsons posing with our boat tour guide.

The Gorge Underground - Seating on boat was comfortable.

Seating on boat was comfortable.

The Gorge Underground - Chimichanga!

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Chimichanga!

Red River Adventure

Red River Adventure

3.1(22 reviews)
71.3 mi

Took a weekend trip to Red River Gorge and decided to go kayaking one day. Didn't do my research on…read morethe river water levels...so my bad. Only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because all the employees were super nice and helpful. It'd be more of a 3 honestly. I called Sunday morning and reserved 2 kayaks for my fiancé and I, gave them my name and picked the 1pm time. Got a bit lost and called their office, told them exactly where we were and they gave us clear directions. This probably happens often lol. We ended up being about 20 mins late but parked, paid, checked in and got our life jackets and paddles quickly. Water levels are low. I repeat, water levels are low. They make it clear if this happens...once you get there. So definitely check online! If the levels aren't high enough you don't do the 7-8 miles...you go 2 miles up river and then back. With many areas where you have to get out to carry your kayak over the rocks because it's so shallow. Wear something on your feet that aren't old navy flip flops! It's much easier on the way back. But do your research and be prepared. At the turn around point there were a bunch of people hanging out at the big rock. Maybe too many for us still, but looked like a good time. We both enjoyed it and hope to be back when the levels are higher! Kudos to the friendly staff!

The experience was absolutely terrible. There were 4 of us and one kayak had a hole in it We…read morewerent able to finish the trip. The kayak had to be drained of water every 15 minutes. The customer service was terrible when we got back and explained what was wrong. The lady we spoke to said we didnt care if we were not happy. They have 3 people outside. No one inspected the kayaks even though they stated they know they have holes in them. They didnt adjust the paddles and show you how to adjust the seats. I would not recommend it. Poorest kayak trip we have ever been on.

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Red River Adventure
Red River Adventure
Red River Adventure

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Canoe Kentucky - rafting - Updated May 2026

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