Though not an exclusively Missourian past time, I think that float trips are one of Missouri’s most popular summertime recreations. If you’ve never heard of a float trip, it’s exactly what it sounds like – a trip that centers on floating in a river.
Floating the Courtois, photo by MilliGFunk Photography
Float trips are typically day-long events, although overnight floats are also common. Steelville, Missouri is Missouri’s float trip capital. The Huzzah River, the Courtois Creek and the Meremac River all lie just outside of Steelville, and a substantial industry has been built around floating these bodies of water.
Missouri Bluffs, photo by MilliGFunk Photography (taken on my iPhone)
Huzzah Valley, Bass River and Ozark Outdoors are just three of the area’s float trip resorts. Ten years ago, most of these resorts offered basic campgrounds and canoe rentals. Today there are lodges, cabins, tent camping, RV hookups, horseback riding and swimming pools. Thousands of acres of mid-Missouri land is owned by float trip-oriented resorts.
While Missouri is home to a few rivers that offer class III and IV rapids during the rainy season, those rapids aren’t what locals think of when you talk to them about floating. We don’t need helmets or life jackets for our kind of floating; we need a cooler full of cold drinks, some snacks, and a canoe.
Friends, Food and Floating, photo by MilliGFunk Photography (taken on my iPhone)
Families or bigger groups sometimes rent larger rafts that can hold coolers and several people. I usually rent a canoe for two people, and plenty of other folks rent funyaks or bring their own kayaks.
What you’re floating on doesn’t matter as much as your attitude. Floating must be fun and relaxing, so a beer and some good friends are pre-requisites. And dare I write a post about float trips without pointing out that it’s not a real float trip if at least one canoe or kayak doesn’t tip over. A good spill is a requirement for any larger group of folks floating down a Missouri river together…
Come back tomorrow for more on floating in Missouri
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When me and Zach S. get our gang together for the annual summer float trip, we usually get two or three rafts and bungee them together to make a giant drunken flotilla. 9+ hours on a floating platform with copious amounts of the worst beer ever brewed by mankind = one of the most fun things you can do in the summertime.
We usually hit up the places near Steelville, but this year we found a pretty fantastic place down close to Jack’s Fork a little bit outside of Eminence. I think it was called Twin Rivers or something like that. A mountain lion tried to roll up on our campsite.
I just went floating last weekend at Ozark Outdoors in Leasburg (only about an hour drive from STL!) and had a blast! We did rafts instead of canoes, which was slower, but it was fun to be able to sit and chat with our friends. AND I only flipped myself overboard once, so I would say it was a success!
I hope next summer I make more time to float on the weekends!
Floating is so much fun. While the Current River seems to get most of the press related to floating, there are tons of other great rivers and float areas around the state that are just as fun. Glad to see you got to experience a unique Midwestern pasttime!