Hi- My wife and I are both hardy paddlers with lots of canoe experience pre-kids. Haven't done a trip since our oldest who is now 10 was born. Now, we are planning a trip for next summer with her and her little sister (age 7). We'd like to be out for 4-5 days.

Any advice on how to fit the two adults, the two kids and all our gear and food for that length trip in a canoe? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

There are some canoes that would work for your group. The Wenonah Minnesota III would be able to accommodate your group and gear. Souris River's Quetico 18 1/2 footer would probably work with proper packing and weight distribution. Just be careful and keep a close eye on wind conditions.

Our 2 boys are each a year behind your girls and our years are numbered but they sit side by side in the 3rd seat of our SR Quetico 18.5 and it works great. We just try to put as much of the pack weight as far forward as possible to keep the canoe balanced and have had no issues. The boys have their own paddles and will help out a little but their attention spans usually give out after 10 minutes or so and they just go back to nature watching.

DeanL: "Our 2 boys are each a year behind your girls and our years are numbered but they sit side by side in the 3rd seat of our SR Quetico 18.5 and it works great."

We do the same for my boys. They sit side by side and are now 7 and 11, but on the average to small side but our days are numbered as well with this approach.

T

Some of the Outfitters rent a winonah Minnesota IV. This is a huge 23-foot four-seat canoe. I never used one personally but had a friend that rented one for his family. At 23 ft this can be a beast on portage's.

Tony

We rented a Northwind 20 (4 seater) last summer with our 4 and 6 year old. The middle seats are really wide so they offer the option of side-by-side or one on each. It's a super stable canoe and for it's size is very light. I think it's actually lighter than most of the 3 seaters out there. We also had two dogs with us and had plenty of room.

As you can see......... you have plenty of options.

We owned a Souris River Q 18.5 for many years and just sold it because our two girls outgrew it for fitting side by side in the middle seat. We started using it when they were four and two and this year they still fit side by side at age 12 and 10. We decided next year, at ages 13 and 11, the side by side wouldn't work anymore and it's time to become a 2 tandem canoe family.

The SR Q 18.5 had enough room for the four of us, 90lb lab, gear, and was rock solid stable.

If your kids get along well enough to sit side by side, one of the 3 seaters will work well for your aged kids. If you think they'd do better in their own seat look at renting the Northwind 20 or MN 4.

We also found it helpful to give the girls each their own small paddle. Good way to keep them occupied. They paddled when they wanted and sat and enjoyed the view when they didn't want to paddle.

Watched a family of 6, up near the Lower Basswood Falls. Two parents, and four, very young kids, in a Alumicraft 18 1/2' canoe. I was Amazed, and Astonished ! All I could do was smile and wave ! It can be done !

When I took my two sons, years ago, we rented the Alumicraft 18 1/2 ' with a portage yoke. It doubled as a seat. It sucked for a portage rack, but worked great as a seat for the third person.

Start with the biggest canoe, and do some testing.

Jim

If I had kids ages 10 and 7, I would try very hard to have it set up so that they were paddling, not "non-paddling". They need to have some ownership in the trip so that they stay interested, and if you do it right, they can help, too. They won't paddle all of the time, but certainly some of the time. That Northwind 20 sounds very interesting to me, but I have never done it, so probably shouldn't give advice.

Have a great time! You are getting good suggestions here!

Wenonah Seneca is another option. It's a wider more stable version of a MN III.

We use these for 3 adults and they work well. If you could get them to sit side by side, that works. Especially if they don't have real long arms, the side by side will put them closer to their edge and be able to paddle. When I was a kid I also sat on a Duluth pack as my seat if needed.

The Souris River 18.5 three seater will work great. There is room to spare in the middle seat with two that age and plenty of packing space. I recommended the Cooke Custom Sewing youth hybrid pack to get them carrying their share.

We rented a Northwind 20 4-seater for our family of 4 (kids 12 & 10). Plenty of room for all our gear for a week.

Preferred this canoe over the MN III.

They can paddle.. They are not too young.. We took our first kid on her first BWCA trip at age two. Then she was too young to help!
We had another kid and our second trip was when the kids were eight and four. In two canoes. The four year old could be of some help. The 8 year old learned how to paddle strongly quickly. By the time they were ten and six they both wanted their own canoes. ( that didn't happen)

Get a canoe with a wide center seat and get them both paddles.. Others have commented on good canoes. Kids will benefit from the stewardship they will have from the trip. Who knows that they will do their own trips in the Arctic in their teens and plan that on their own. I have seen that happen with canoe kids near here.

Get them involved in the planning too.

Here are some photos of the ducklings in the SR Q18.5....

My kids were 4 years old and one of the things we did was packed a small backpack with their pull ups and light clothing. We took ours up every May, and my kids are now 28 and my son says it's not camping unless he's in the BWCA!

Tony: "Someone Outfitters rent a winonah Minnesota IV. This is a huge 23-foot four-seat canoe. I never used one personally but had a friend that rented one for his family. At 23 ft this can be a beast on portage's.


Tony "

A MN4 would work very well since the kids may be a little too large to sit next to each other comfortably (& without getting irritated the other one is too close, too whatever).

The 4 is more cumbersome on portages where you have to make a few tighter turns but worth it to most people who don't want to try to take 2 canoes with a younger one in the front.

Spartan2: "If I had kids ages 10 and 7, I would try very hard to have it set up so that they were paddling, not "non-paddling". They need to have some ownership in the trip so that they stay interested, and if you do it right, they can help, too."

I agree heartily with that. Certainly a 10-year-old can and should be meaningfully contributing to your forward momentum almost all the time. A seven-year-old is going to contribute a good bit less, but can still be an active contributor. My daughter has always been old for her age, but she's been my primary tandem-canoeing partner since she was 9. It meant going a little slower, but it also meant that she was an outdoorswoman in her own right, not a passenger. Now as a teenager she owns that identity and takes pride in it.

Most posts mention concerns regarding the weakest links. But what if dad or mom sprain an ankle, can one person portage the canoe? A bow to stern rope can greatly assist the balance to make it manageable. Modeled after the "Knupack", I created a pack (molle braced pack, granny's walker + aluminum topper clamps) for a Kayak expedition in the BWCA, but it's been used with success with canoes as well to displace weight much better than a yoke alone. https://youtu.be/XfGdZWsPzSo

It would be Northwind 20 for me

I've rented a MN IV for my last three trips and while it's a tank, it's incredibly stable and surprisingly light on the portages. My kids are now 10 and 12 and the expectations have been that they do any paddling they can on the trip and every little bit does help. And I have them pack some of their personal things in waterproof backpacks to get them used to portaging. Thankfully, a good friend of mine, experienced tripper and rudderman is the fourth person in the canoe so he might have some other opinions on the matter, but he keeps coming back with me and my kids. But I'd opt for the IV and not a III to make sure you have the room you need.