This Memorial Day, my wife and I will be taking a two-night canoe trip complete with a one year old, a dog, friends, and family. We’ve done the trip many times before, but this will be the first as a family. Based on strollers, front carriers, rear carriers, bike seats, hikes, woods, wilderness, and general disposition we assume he’ll like it just fine.

My question for you all, have you brought your young’ns out for a similar trip? Any advice? Extra things to pack we might not think of?

How did you seat the baby? I told my wife I was dreaming of what his seat might look like and she said she’d figure she’d just hold him, followed by, “I mean, how much paddling do I do anyway???”

We plan to co-sleep on the big Nemo air mattress, but other than that, haven’t planned too much.


Thankful to hear any of your experiences, lessons learned, or tips and tricks!

Here's a few trip reports that detail how we handled bringing our little one along.

Brule bay baby

Big Moose and a little girl - a river less paddled

Nor-western waters

Also....if you haven't done so already? Check out the Canoeing with kids forum.

I can reply with some practical advice at some point... but my number one advice is to tune out any naysayers. The youngest we brought one of our kids in was 8 weeks. and that was with her two brothers five and three. The oldest has been in eight times before his eighth birthday. Nothing's impossible. This June we will bring our newest member of the family and have a pretty full canoe.

Looking forward to digging into these! And thanks for the link to the canoeing with kids forum, don't tell my son that his dad is a idiot! It's all right there!

TuscaroraBorealis: "Here's a few trip reports that detail how we handled bringing our little one along.

Brule bay baby

Big Moose and a little girl - a river less paddled

Nor-western waters

Also....if you haven't done so already? Check out the Canoeing with kids forum."

Love the encouragement, thanks, great pics!

THEGrandRapids: "I can reply with some practical advice at some point... but my number one advice is to tune out any naysayers. The youngest we brought one of our kids in was 8 weeks. and that was with her two brothers five and three. The oldest has been in eight times before his eighth birthday. Nothing's impossible. This June we will bring our newest member of the family and have a pretty full canoe.


"

Practical advice- feel free to email me if you have questions. If headed through Grand Rapids, you could even borrow a couple kid items.

toddler specific- a camping high chair is highly recommended. Ciao!- brand makes one. I’ll attach photos. It’s a safe secure spot you can put the toddler and not worry about them moving. Especially important if adult needs to attend to something immediately, but also keeps them in one spot to eat and not on your lap. Alternatively, and we’ve done it a couple times- skip the high chair and brought the backpack carrier with the kickstand, so the kid can be buckled in and eat there. We’ll take this if longer portage or hike planned. We did a 3 mile waterfall hike and could not have done it without the backpack. I think I also had my other kid up on my shoulders.

Diapers- really not that big of a deal- I’ve read the idea to scrape the poop into the toilet and let the pee filled diapers dry out in the sun… I’ve never felt the need to do this. Last year as we were exiting, I made a joke to my 7 year old that we brought 10 pounds of diapers in and 15 pounds of poop out and it’s the funniest joke in the world to him. He still brings it up. My spouse also got a series of photos of me saying that and him laughing….. and they are priceless.

Monkeys/ toys- undoubtedly we bring the plastic barrel of monkeys every trip- fun to hang on any paracord. Keep a couple in your pocket for a quick surprise if your kid is having a tough time. We also bring a water color paint kit with 4x6 postcards. We’ve been stuck in all day rains and it has been a great tent activity. Maybe 1 is a tad young, but I still believe she can make art! Have a carabiner to hook toys or pacifier to. My 1 year old dropped a toy into Alder…. Never to be found again.

Cooking- we always always bring a Banks Fry pan and make a cake brownies or cookie.

Tent- RIP Dan- get a CCS lean 3 now and enjoy that 10’ window to canoe country. Dan at CCs told me- why do people head into the BW to get outside then spend half of it zipped up in a tent. I can fit everyone into this single tent. Major weight savings for me.

Portaging- sounds like other adults are going with- we wanted a trip with Just the kids. Which means I tripled portage and my spouse goes across once with the kids and me. I think on the way into little gabbro I did a 4.5 portage. It was close to 5 miles that morning. But what a trip it was!

Travel- infants / toddlers lay in the front of the canoe. We do battle the sun on a lot of days. It also can be hot tucked down there with life jacket and little airflow. But it’s what we did. Some sort of waterproof mat or at least nylon clothes are highly recommended. Bilge water adds up.

Plan routes to avoid large water crossings. Be flexible. Brings kids backcountry canoeing brings me more joy than anything else in life. The naysayers will say there’s no benefit to the kid, they won’t remember, wait until they can remember- hogwash! They are a contributing team member. Include them, don’t just bring them. They hear frogs at night, with the thrill of loons singing, the bobber disappearing, the itch of the mosquito, it’s the most pure experience I’ll have with them.

Our family bond is as solid as the granite you seek in canoe country.

We have a car that we use to get from the airport to our cabin in The Range. When someone would fly back they just left the car at the Duluth airport for the next person. Never a problem. The last person would leave it a relatives place in Herman Town and get a ride from there

+1 to all that been said.

We brought ours from 7 months to almost 2 years. It is what they talk about the most through out the year. The one we took the youngest loves it the most. Difficult at times, yes. Occasional times during the trip wondering if I’m stupid for being them so young, yes. But I have no regrets. Just plan small trips be patient with them, bring lots of snacks, books or games, and most importantly, make sure everyone has their own paddle! Even if the youngest paddle is just a beaver stick.

My grandson is seven months old and he is going on his first trip with my daughter and her husband this summer. I'm passing this on to them. Thanks.

A 5 gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid is great for dirty diapers!

I just felt compelled to say, thank you for asking about this, the advice, and posting these photos! I am a year round BWCA tripper with a now 7 month old. Just seeing all of this got me pumped to take the little guy up there! I had in my mind we should wait a few years but from all of this, it sure seems doable. Perhaps my solo trips planned this spring will include a few more! Thanks all.

Just want to say, power to you, I think this is great. While my parents didn't take us to the BWCA, they took us on loads of MN/WI river trips from a very young age. I started paddling at age 3 and haven't stopped in almost 60 years. I'm incredibly grateful to them for the gift they gave me. Have a great trip!