Welcome to the Chicago Kayak Club
How it all began..

I had moved here from New York in 1998 where rock climbing and hiking were part of my daily routine. I soon became discouraged with the lack of outdoor activities in Chicago. Trail running became replaced by running on an indoor track. Climbing involved a 3 1/2 trip up to Devil's Lake, so not something I could do everyday.  ]

I had belonged to the Appalachian Mountain Club, a great organization on the east coast.  I missed those opportunities to get out on a regular basis, and while I had no aspiration of recreating that here in Chicago, I thought it would be nice to form a group of friends for an occasional outing. Our Club began informally in 1999 as way for outdoor minded people to get together - we didn't even have a name.  We developed an e-mail list in 2000, then became an official in 2002.

Some of our first outings were hikes, in the Forest Preserve and in urban settings like Chinatown.  Starved Rock soon followed, as well as Devil's Lake, WI, and I realized that allowing people to get out on the water, was the only real way to escape the crowds in this busy city. 

As the instructional company that I started, Chicago Kayak Inc. had kayaks, we taught many students who upon finishing class, said they had a great time, but what now? These are some comments we heard from students:

• I don't really know enough about kayaks to purchase one

• I don't have enough money to purchase a kayak

• I don't have anywhere to store a kayak

• I don't own a car to transport a kayak

• If I rent, then I have to kayak alone, so not fun, and not very safe

• I will only kayak occasionally, why buy a kayak?

Since Chicago Kayak Inc. had the kayaks and trailer, I thought, how hard would it be to organize some activities for club members, as the boats and trailers were already in place.  The idea was to give people who lived in the city an inexpensive and easy way to access the local waterways around Chicago.  That would give people a chance to increase skills in a safe environment, and meet other kayakers at the same time.

Initially I thought this would entail perhaps  23-30 people at most. With the club membership currently over 300 members, we can see that the idea has been warmly received!

Now the Chicago Kayak Club has over 100 outings and events each year.  Check out some of our trip reports for a better idea of what we do. This section is a new addition, so many of our previous years trips are not included, but you can scroll thru our yahoo group messages where many of these original reports still exist.