Do you want to get into paddling, especially whitewater kayaking,improve your skills, or meet fun people to paddle with?
The Kayak and Canoe Club of New York is your answer!
Kayak and Canoe Club of New York is one of the largest whitewater clubs in the East, and despite our name, serve New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut as well as New York. We formed in 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, as the first paddling club in the east that put Kayaks first (back in the day when aluminum canoes were the primary whitewater boat). More on our history.
KCCNY features a whitewater paddling program with novice, intermediate, or expert trips planned for each weekend of the paddling season, though the die hards paddle year round! We run rivers from Canada to the Carolinas, with most trips within a three-hour drive of New York City.
Our schedule has trips for the normal rainy seasons, most eastern water releases and occasionally ocean surfing, as well as practice and play on the ever-flowing Delaware.
KCCNY offers instructional opportunities for everyone from the beginner through advanced paddlers. The winter pool sessions are an excellent time for boaters to begin learning or sharpening up their Eskimo roll, which definitely makes whitewater safer and more fun. While on the rivers, veteran paddlers will gladly give useful hints to better boating. We even have several ACA-certified instructors who assist with pool session rolling practice and schedule various formal instruction trips throughout the paddling season.
Off the river, KCCNY is noted for our longstanding efforts at conservation and river management. We continue to be a force in negotiating with our area hydropower producers and government agencies to make river resources available for recreational use. Many paddlers are unaware of the long battles local clubs have waged to achieve recreational releases on popular rivers such as the Deerfield and Mongaup. We also raise and donate funds to organizations such as American Rivers and American Whitewater to help their programs in river conservation and paddler access keep our rivers clean and flowing.