Where are your favorite places to kayak in Arizona?

Public Comments

1. Monument Valley,The Grand Canyon
2. Grand Canyon
3. Around Phoenix, the lakes on the Salt and Verde rivers are not bad for kayaking (Canyon Lake, Bartlett Lake, and Apache Lake). On Canyon Lake especially, you have to watch out for water-skiers and jet-skis. Apache Lake (half-way to Lake Roosevelt) is not too bad. In northern Arizona, Lake Powell has some great kayaking if you go with a larger boat (houseboat, etc) to get into some of the side canyons. Just south of Winslow is McHood Reservoir which backs up into Clear Creek Canyon (ie: you are paddling through a cliff-walled canyon). This is a great little half-day trip. Grand Canyon is great if you are an expert white-water kayaker, but it is very difficult to get permits and you would need support craft with you. My personal favorite spot in AZ is doing the lower stretches of the Colorado River, especially the area above Martinez Lake near Yuma. The dams make the river wide and slow (no rapids). You can hire a tour boat at Martinez Lake to take you upstream and then float back down at your own pace checking out the beaches, old mines, and indian petroglphs along the way. Best done in early spring or fall (too hot and too many speed boats in summer). Depending on your skill and how much snow-melt there is, you can sometimes get in nice white-water trips on stretches of the Gila (near Winkleman and Safford), Verde (near Camp Verde) and Salt Rivers. Both the Gila and Verde have lots of rocks and overhanging trees, etc (I prefer small rafts or inflatable kayaks for them).