Chesapeake Boathouse - Try It Now! (free kayaking, yoga, bike rental, and more)

[BBatesokc]

Not sure if this has been discussed before (the archaic search engine here was no help).

The wife and I were considering giving this a try....

http://riversportokc.org/p/try-it-now

Anyone here ever done it? If so, what were your thoughts?

[redrunner]

Yes, I've done it. My first experience kayaking with Riversport OKC was at the RT 66 Boathouse at Lake Overholser. It's free to try there too. It was a neat experience since it's surrounded by nature and wildlife. You make your way north on this canal adjacent to the lake and then you're free to kayak inside the Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge.

I also went kayaking at the Oklahoma River from the Chesapeake Boathouse and it wasn't as enjoyable for me. It's just a boring straight path and your boundaries are limited from the I-35 bridge all the way to Eastern I believe. There's nothing to really see except for the boathouses and downtown skyline.

[Double Edge]

It's hard to beat free, sometimes. I'll second Overholser and Stinchcomb if you like nature and think you might like paddling or know you do. I haven't used the boathouse services but take my own canoe up or down the river through Stinchcomb a couple of times a year.

eta: A few weeks ago they had Stinchcomb cut off from the canal by a gravel bar built under the 66 bridge to aid with work on the bridge AFAIK. You would have to portage over it to get into Stinchcomb. I think that may be gone now but I'm not 100% sure about that. Should be no big deal if it's not.

[Snowman]

I also went kayaking at the Oklahoma River from the Chesapeake Boathouse and it wasn't as enjoyable for me. It's just a boring straight path and your boundaries are limited from the I-35 bridge all the way to Eastern I believe. There's nothing to really see except for the boathouses and downtown skyline.

I would recommend the route 66 boathouse for kayaking too. If you try to go before but even more so after work their will be much more traffic on the docks and water at Chesapeak/Devon, plus it can be harder to park. You can get around it a little by going southwest since the rowers tend to keep to the main channel but some events will push a lot of rowers into that southwest channel that the recreational kayakers tend to use.