Tuscarawas River overnighter

wardie · 09-17-2012, 10:32 PM

My friend and I decided to do an overnight Kayak camping trip down the Tuscarawas River. Departing Saturday morning at 11am via the shuttle service from NTR Canoe Livery from Bolivar to Navarre we headed out for the first leg of the trip which was 8 1/2 miles down river to our campsite. We met several groups of canoers, bow fisherman and even a small boat on the river. I don't know about gages and such but I can tell you average depth was about 2-4 feet. There were some pools that were 7 feet deep but very few. I had hoped to catch a couple of Northern Pike but I didn't even manage a bite in two days :( We had to portage maybe 6 or 7 times through shallow water. The scenery was terrific. We found a spot high on a bluff overlooking the river. That night we flipped my kayak and made a table out of it. We brought along the MRE type of meals where you boil the water and pour it in the bag and let stand. Beef Stew was great. Later that night we made a fire and roasted apples. Who would ever think they'd taste that good? In the morning we ate the standard fare of Oatmeal spiced with Cinnamon and raisins. The last part of the trip was about 6 miles so we took our time got the boats on the water by noon..yes noon and meandered our way down the river finishing up at 3:30pm at the NTR Livery in Bolivar. Total cost was $34 for two people and that included transportation of boats, people and gear to departure site and private camping on the river. I thought it was a true bargain. I have pics but don't know how to post them in album. I can send to someone if they want to post them for me. I'd encourage anyone looking for an inexpensive easy to do trip to head to the NTR Livery and have some fun. My Kayak was a Futue Beach 12.4 which somehow in Canadian means 10 feet 4 inches but I managed to put two 10L dry bags, tent, sleeping bag, stool and stove plus food and water inside and keep her balanced. My friends 10 foot kayak was made by Perception and was a little higher but he had old school camping gear unfortunately not the lightest so he portaged a little more than me :) Wardie

mfdanko99 · 09-23-2012, 08:53 AM

Wardie, Thank you for the Trip report, I know I am interested in doing that section and I might actually do it in October because I got some vaction time coming.
Thank you again
Mike Danko

09-17-2012, 10:32 PM	#1
wardie Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Youngstown area Posts: 45 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0	Tuscarawas River overnighter My friend and I decided to do an overnight Kayak camping trip down the Tuscarawas River. Departing Saturday morning at 11am via the shuttle service from NTR Canoe Livery from Bolivar to Navarre we headed out for the first leg of the trip which was 8 1/2 miles down river to our campsite. We met several groups of canoers, bow fisherman and even a small boat on the river. I don't know about gages and such but I can tell you average depth was about 2-4 feet. There were some pools that were 7 feet deep but very few. I had hoped to catch a couple of Northern Pike but I didn't even manage a bite in two days :( We had to portage maybe 6 or 7 times through shallow water. The scenery was terrific. We found a spot high on a bluff overlooking the river. That night we flipped my kayak and made a table out of it. We brought along the MRE type of meals where you boil the water and pour it in the bag and let stand. Beef Stew was great. Later that night we made a fire and roasted apples. Who would ever think they'd taste that good? In the morning we ate the standard fare of Oatmeal spiced with Cinnamon and raisins. The last part of the trip was about 6 miles so we took our time got the boats on the water by noon..yes noon and meandered our way down the river finishing up at 3:30pm at the NTR Livery in Bolivar. Total cost was $34 for two people and that included transportation of boats, people and gear to departure site and private camping on the river. I thought it was a true bargain. I have pics but don't know how to post them in album. I can send to someone if they want to post them for me. I'd encourage anyone looking for an inexpensive easy to do trip to head to the NTR Livery and have some fun. My Kayak was a Futue Beach 12.4 which somehow in Canadian means 10 feet 4 inches but I managed to put two 10L dry bags, tent, sleeping bag, stool and stove plus food and water inside and keep her balanced. My friends 10 foot kayak was made by Perception and was a little higher but he had old school camping gear unfortunately not the lightest so he portaged a little more than me :) Wardie

09-23-2012, 08:53 AM	#2
mfdanko99 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Champion, OH Posts: 1,272 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0	Wardie, Thank you for the Trip report, I know I am interested in doing that section and I might actually do it in October because I got some vaction time coming. Thank you again Mike Danko