Sheyenne River Water Trail

[Vollmer]

199 Contiguous River Miles​

The Sheyenne River Water Trail is in the process of becoming a Nationally delegated Water Trail. With 199 contiguous river miles from the north end of Lake Ashtabula to the east end of the Sheyenne National Grassland, the river trail caters to ever level kayaker and canoer!

At the completion of the water trail construction, there will be primitive, modern, and ADA landings along the river ranging from 1 - 8 hour paddle times.

Amenities along the water trail include camping, dining, hiking, hotels, parks, restrooms, and more.

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Has anyone here kayaked, or canoed, this area? I am in the infancy of the idea of tinkering with a kayak/camp/fish trip.

 

[Fester]

This looks like fun! Kind of like head waters in MN.

 

[KDM]

I don't want to pop anyone's balloon here, but before you dream of beautiful shorelines and birds singing in the trees, there are some realities of that river I think folks need to be aware of. Low head dams exist all along the river before and after lake ashtabula. Killers! Look them up if you don't know what they are. Fort Ransom dam killed a couple guys canoeing two summers ago I think. I don't think ANY of the dams are marked on the upstream sides by anyone and they probably don't have easements to go around if the high water mark ends before the ridges of the riverbank. Billions of downed trees and their root balls popping up at random points. Some of these tree piles cross the entire river creating a extremely dangerous obstacle if you try to go over them or under them in some cases. High water makes these death traps even better with whirlpools and vortexes that will suck a canoe/kayak down. The Sheyenne downstream of lake ashtabula to about Lisbon is always cold. We all know what cold water does to people. There are also barbed wire fences that cross the river or have been ripped out by floods and are stretched across the river. I know of two right now that are nasty. The worst part is all of these hazards move and change weekly except the dams. A stretch of river that was clean and clear this week, can and will become a minefield of hazards and pitfalls. That said, quietly floating down the river is a soul refreshing experience that I wholeheartedly hope lots of people can enjoy. However, self preservation should be paramount in any river adventure. Be Safe!!

 

[Fester]

Wonder if they are looking at cleaning up and making it passible by canoe/kayak?

 

[Jiffy]

Oh the smallies will never be safe now!!

PS: make it go through west fargay, I’ll open a beer stand!

 

[KDM]

Wonder if they are looking at cleaning up and making it passible by canoe/kayak?

Its passable right now, but has characteristics that folks need to know about before they get into a kayak and start paddling. That river IMO, isn't for rookies. Trees fall into the river every spring by the tens of thousands. It would be impossible to clean that thing for any significant stretch of river without mountains of funding and an army of manpower. Here are just a few of the hazards that I know of around the VC area. The mill dam in Valley City is a 15 ft vertical drop and isn't marked upstream that I'm aware of. The bridge at the golf course in Valley City has concrete and rocks that create a 3-4 ft drop at normal pool, higher if low water. The dam by the bubble just downhill from the two truck stops that was filled in and covered with rip rap has about 4-6 inches of water going over it with dry rocks exposed all over it's surface most of the year. Trying to kayak over that would almost guarantee a fair amount of damage to the craft if you tried to go over that baby. Oh and that pile of rocks is about 35 yards long before you reach smooth water. There are 5 or 6 very large tree piles in the river that I can see from my back yard up and down stream. That's about a half mile of river, just to give you an idea of how many are in that river. That river is beautiful and serene, but at the same time is a stone cold bitch that will kill you if you give'er half a chance. Scout the section you are considering to float. I would not recommend just launching and hoping for the best. Be smart and stay safe.

 

[CatDaddy]

^^^This^^^. Even my short adventures crossing the river while bow hunting had me on high alert for potential disaster. Doesn't take long for an unseen branch or log to wreak havoc. Awareness and preparedness is critical.

 

[Vollmer]

Well, that’s a bummer.
Might have to do a Canada run.

 

[SDMF]

There’s quite a few old bridge-pilings around where the river goes under the road going N out of VC, 5th Ave? There’s also lots of sandbars just between VC and them dam, I assume also along the rest of the river too, that don’t leave room to float even a flat-bottom duck boat anywhere through the river’s width.

 

[Vollmer]

Anyone know of any other ND waterways worthy of a kayak/canoe trip? I know I could do a run on the Souris, and wouldn't mind doing that.

 

[Slappy]

Pembina River is still on my list

https://www.ndtourism.com/walhalla/attractions-entertainment/family-fun/pembina-river-trail

 

[NodakBob]

ND Parks and Rec used to have a canoeing guide for ND waters. Missouri, Pembina, Red, Knife etc. little Missouri is only doable if you time it right after rains or spring runoff.

 

[Zogman]

Depending on the winter/spring you can get a great ride in a kayak or canoe on the Pembina River from the Walhalla golf course all the way to the Red River.

 

[Traxion]

I’ve adventured some on rivers like this and one thing I would say is ….slow. Traveling is way slower than what you think it will be. Add in low water and portages and a few hour float is actually 6-8 hours. Fun though.

 

[KDM]

Anyone know of any other ND waterways worthy of a kayak/canoe trip? I know I could do a run on the Souris, and wouldn't mind doing that.

There's a pretty good stretch right below Baldhill Dam that's usually open and fairly free of debris. That guy ndkayak or something on youtube fishes that stretch all the time. If you google map baldhill and look downstream you can probably go all the way to the fish hatchery. If you want to camp over night theres a park called Faust Park that's clean and has facilities. You can also paddle down Baldhill creek from Wesley Acres to lake astabula and have a pretty good run. Didn't want to scare anyone from using the river. I just wanted people to know what they were dealing with.

 

[Allen Gamble]

I've kayak'd various sections of the James River south of Jtown that weren't bad for debris at all. The river has so many bends/turns that it can make a very long day if the water is low/slow. There is a nice stopping/camping point at the Grand Rapids Memorial Country Club.

3-4 years ago we did a 7 mile section (straight line) that took us nearly 12 hours to kayak float cuz the river was so slow/low and again, the bends/turns...

 

[870XPRS]

I've kayak'd various sections of the James River south of Jtown that weren't bad for debris at all. The river has so many bends/turns that it can make a very long day if the water is low/slow. There is a nice stopping/camping point at the Grand Rapids Memorial Country Club.

3-4 years ago we did a 7 mile section (straight line) that took us nearly 12 hours to kayak float cuz the river was so slow/low and again, the bends/turns...

Canoed south of there during some of the same conditions.....took forever, but was a blast. Lot of years ago, good thing we had a 30 pack of schmidt with us.

 

[Jiffy]

Years ago some investment place bought the old 4-H camp down near the Sheyenne grasslands. I was a guide for Twist of Fate for more than a couple years and we used to use it for our base of operations so to speak.

Rumor has it that they (investors) were touting the Sheyenne like it was the cats a$$ for everything from pike to trout.

Does anyone know what happened down there with that? Did they ever develop anything out there? I was thinking it would be a terribly hard sell! I have never heard though

 

[tdismydog]

Years ago some investment place bought the old 4-H camp down near the Sheyenne grasslands. I was a guide for Twist of Fate for more than a couple years and we used to use it for our base of operations so to speak.

Rumor has it that they (investors) were touting the Sheyenne like it was the cats a$$ for everything from pike to trout.

Does anyone know what happened down there with that? Did they ever develop anything out there? I was thinking it would be a terribly hard sell! I have never heard though

They are not wrong. The Sheyenne and the James Rivers and all their feeder creeks are some of the most productive fisheries on the east side of the state.