At the Skamokawa Paddle Center you can rent single kayaks, double kayaks and canoes. Kayak and canoe rentals include paddle, life jacket, pump, whistle and for kayaks, a spray skirt. From placid Brooks Slough and Skamokawa Creek to the broad expanse of the Columbia, the area offers waters for paddlers of all skills. No experience is necessary for Brooks Slough and Skamokawa Creek paddling. We get you equipped, provide a bit of instruction and you are on your way. Call to reserve a boat. Bikes are also available for rent.
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More than two hundred years ago on May 14, 1804, Lewis and Clark began their epic journey to the Pacific. Clark wrote in his journal, “We proceeded on under a jentle brease up the Missourie.” 18 months later on November 7, 1805, Lewis and Clark reached Skamokawa, then a Wahkiakum village, where they traded for food and Clark “purchased 2 beaver Skins for the purpose of making me a roab, as the robe I have is rotten and good for nothing.” Now you can relive their epic journey with a Lewis and Clark trail tour. Explore along the exact route they paddled, and see Skamokawa Country through the eyes of these remarkable explorers and pioneering naturalists. Historian/naturalists lead Lewis & Clark tours. Kayaks, all related equipment, and lunches are included. Two-day kayak tours also include modern rooms in historic Skamokawa Inn.

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Some of our special program activities:

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One and two-day kayak tours cover many interests and all levels of paddling skill. Kayaks and other equipment, kayaking instruction, lunches and comfortable lodging are included. Lower Gorge: Explore dramatic cliffs, 90-foot waterfalls, hidden sloughs, wildlife, and sites of movie settings. River History: Follow the old steamboat route along a shore now wild with cobble-covered coves tucked among dramatic cliffs where the towns like Brookfield - with canneries, lumber mills and quarries - once thrived, now marked only by pilings and vestiges of old docks. Wildlife: Paddle spruce swamp and tidal marsh islands, some of the best wildlife habitats of the Lower Columbia with scenes that change by the month. March features seals, sea lions, and tundra swans; April offers loons in breeding plumage; in May and June osprey can be seen feeding their young in nests low over Steamboat Slough; and river otters, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons are seen year round. On all of these kayak tours there is plenty of time for exploration and photography.

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These magical evenings offer adventure and discovery in a romantic setting - a full yellow moon rising over the river as you paddle silently along the glassy water of Steamboat Slough. Beavers, bats, owls, and Great Blue Heron are your companions, with a coyote chorus providing background music. Stay over at Skamokawa Inn if you wish to make the experience extra special.

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Get together a group of six or more, talk with us about dates, your special interests, your dinner choices, and we do the rest, offering you the best custom tour programs on the Columbia River.

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Elderhostel is a not-for-profit organization offering programs worldwide that combine outdoor adventure with learning and discovery for energetic and enthusiastic learners 55 and older. For those with a love of lifelong learning, Skamokawa Center offers five and six-day kayak-based explorations of the Lower Columbia that focus on Lewis and Clark, the changing river, and the prehistory and history of this famous waterway. Western Discovery, the unique qualities of Lewis and Clark that made this possible - courageous explorers, able woodsmen, military leaders, pioneering naturalists, cartographers, ethnologists, and diplomats. Environment and Ecology of a changing river - diverse geology and habitats, flowers and fauna, dams and dredging, issues of public policy shaping the destiny of the river; Pre-History and History of the Lower Columbia, remnants, and recollections, how the river shaped us and we shaped the river. Evening Programs range from lectures by experts and informal talks with local people to musical performances of the classics Jefferson loved and fiddle music from the time of Lewis and Clark. When the moon is right, Elderhostel programs include full moon paddles. All provide kayak instruction, including paddling techniques. Comfortable modern rooms are at historic Skamokawa Inn, considered among the best Columbia River lodging. Meals of quality feature fresh local produce.

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Relive, share, and learn - with a grandchild - the drama and adventure of the epic Lewis and Clark expedition on a kayaking tour of discovery that includes history, science, and literature. Trace the expedition’s 1805 route to Skamokawa, paddling past sites of Wahkiakum Indian villages where Lewis & Clark stopped to trade. Kayak into ancient Sitka spruce swamp. Journey along islands of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. This region offers much the same terrain, flora and fauna (seals, otters, deer, eagles) as it did in 1805. Learn the mapmaking and other skills so essential to the success of Lewis and Clark. Experts will help hone kayak skills.

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Skamokawa Center is the gateway to exploration, discovery, and experiential learning at all levels of education.Our outdoor learning center is a place where students can connect with nature and history, examine issues of the environment, and examine their personal responsibilities for stewardship. Students ranging from 5th graders to college graduate students continue to be involved in field trips, classes, workshops and stewardship programs at Sakamokawa Center. Learning resources include the Lewis and Clark Trail, wildlife in natural habitats in the 40,000 acres of the White-tailed Deer and Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuges, lines of old pilings that are visible vestiges of river history, and new growth showing how nature is reclaiming the area while non-native species such as Purple Loosestrife threaten it. There are local examples of the effects of dams and dredging, efforts to control erosion and projects to restore marshland habitats for endangered fish species. Active learning opportunities include environmental studies, environmental law, natural history, social sciences (social, cultural and economic evolution of the estuary), prehistory (Native Americans), history (before and after Lewis and Clark), mathematics and statistics (mapmaking), language arts and creative writing (journal keeping, writing from experience), and visual arts (photography and painting) Teachers define their goals and knowledgeable Skamokawa Center staff help define the program that will achieve these goals. A five bedroom shoreline hostel is available for groups of up to 24 students.

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Do the partners in your firm want the perfect meeting facility for your next corporate retreat - a stimulating environment, free of distraction with good food, good service, and refreshing paddles on the river? Does your organization want to offer its members a two or three-day discovery event of adventure and learning on the Lewis and Clark Water Trail along with workshops that tie experience on the trail to the purpose of your organization? Do you want to use the example of leadership, teamwork, vision, courage and purpose exemplified by Lewis and Clark to help people in your organization develop the leadership qualities that create a winner? Skamokawa Center has facilities, staff, and know how to achieve any or all of the above, and the facility also offers wireless internet access. And it's a picturesque site for weddings!

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This historic building on the National Register of Historic Places provides the perfect environment for retreats, small meetings, workshops and social occasions. The conference room can be set up with a boardroom conference table or in smaller groupings. It has its own service kitchen, wet bar, and a lounge area that is furnished with a leather couch and chairs. The front porch looks out to the Columbia River, islands of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge, and the hills of Oregon beyond.

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The Skamokawa Inn offers nine modern rooms in a fully restored building that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the rooms have views and two have private porches. Each room has a double bed, a twin sized sofa bed, tiled bath, desk, phone, satellite TV, wireless internet access, and the original wood floors. Shoreline One and Shoreline Three have decks and patios with brilliant views. They have fully equipped kitchens, and fireplaces. With sofa sleepers, Shorline One sleeps four. Shoreline Three has five bedrooms and twin beds for up to twenty.

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We are serious about food at Skamokawa Center. The Café is just across from the Skamokawa Post Office in the historic General Store Building. Lunches regularly feature hand-made sandwiches and delicious soups - Tomato Garlic, Roasted Red Pepper, Corn Chowder. Meals for tour groups and retreats include quiche, casseroles, star eggs and German pancakes at breakfast. Three course dinners for tour groups are based on fresh local produce and include, for example, favorites of Thomas Jefferson - Monticello Fresh Pea Soup, Strawberry Spinach Salad, and Brandied Spiced Peaches. A selection of wine and beer is available. The Cafe also offers WiFi access.

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For more information on Skamokawa Paddle Center programs, please call 888-920-2777 or email info@skamokawakayak.com

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