With more than 11,000 miles of shoreline in the Chesapeake, there are countless places to paddle. If you do not know exactly where to start, visit one of our paddle sites! You will find itineraries that will include launch and take-out points, tips along the route, and if there is a suggested paddle outfitter, how to contact them. All four sites were
created with partners and expert paddlers in order to give a beginner a place to start their passion for paddling. While Find Your Chesapeake, Chesapeake Conservancy, nor the National Park Service Chesapeake Bay rent out equipment, we are close partners with groups on all of these rivers and can point you in the right direction to get out on the water.
Paddle the Chester
From the headwaters in Delaware to the river’s mouth between Kent Island and Rock Hall, the Chester River Water Trail encompasses more than 100 miles of waterways, a variety of ecosystems, and over 10,000 years of human history. The navigable portion of the Chester River begins near the town of Millington, Maryland, where the river is heavily wooded, narrow, and winding.
Paddle the Potomac
Perhaps no other body of water in America has defined our country quite like the Potomac River. From the American Indian communities who first called this region home to the American Revolution, the Civil War, and industrial progress into the 21st century, the Potomac is truly “the Nation’s River.”
Paddle the Sassafras
Just over 20 miles long, the Sassafras River traces the shores of Maryland’s Cecil and Kent counties before reaching its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay between Howell Point and Grove Point. The tributary begins near the town of Sassafras, where it is heavily wooded and shallow. After passing under the Route 301 Bridge, the river widens and the landscape transitions from woodland to farmland with a few residential communities interspersed along the way.
Paddle the Susquehanna
The Susquehanna River is the longest river in the Eastern United States and the 16th longest in the country at 444 miles long. The Susquehanna forms from two branches that meet in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. The North Branch comes from Cooperstown, New York and the West Branch that rises from the borough of Carrolltown, Pennsylvania.
