Kayak Camping Willow Beach to Hoover Dam

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Күн бұрын

In this video I'll show you how planned our kayak camping trip along the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Willow Beach. I'll show you stops we made a long the way including Emerald Cove, Ringbolt Hot Springs (AKA Arizona Hot Springs), White Rock Canyon, and of course Willow Beach. I'll give you tips on everything you need from from where to park, shuttles, and where to camp.

Пікірлер: 22

@swegotech8466 2 жыл бұрын

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing this !!! Two weeks ago my wife and I did a guided kayak tour from Willow Beach to the Emerald Cove. We've never been in a kayak before, but loved it so much that I directly bought an inflatable tandem kayak after I went home. So this week we did our first tour with it. We also started at Willow Beach and made it up to the Springs and back again on that day. But, man the wind was killing us on the way back, what a workout. lol. Now I am looking for more info from people like you who made it all the way to the Hoover Dam. It's 4 more miles from the point we made it to (and 4 miles back) which doesn't sound like much, but at the springs we were already so tired that I guess these 8 miles would feel like 100 miles. lol. Not sure if this is even possible without camping overnight. Good job on making it all the way up to the Hoover Dam and thanks again for making this awesome video :-)

@copperstarkayak8072 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! You could do it in one day but that would be exhausting! Happy to hear you took the step and got a kayak. There are so many great places to paddle on Arizona. Have fun exploring out there!

@Chrisamici 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video! Yes we live in Boulder very close to Willow and kayak there often, it never gets old, beautiful there. The gate you mentioned is a National parks gate so if you have your National parks pass you can get in free. Also if you go before 7 it’s not manned. Definitely sketchy when the wind picks up. Also Sunday and Monday no motorized boats allowed upriver from Willow

@copperstarkayak8072 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and providing those great tips!

@flyyinryan 7 ай бұрын

That's a great section of river, easy and fun. I did the same, willow beach upstream to the dam, then back. Stayed at white rock also and had three sets of glowing eyes on us at night up the canyon, epic! Great video!

@copperstarkayak8072 7 ай бұрын

Very cool! It’s so pretty through that canyon. Any idea what the eyes were? I wonder if they were mountain lions! I had a mountain lion inspect our camp at night along the Colorado in Glen Canyon - scary but exciting!

@garyives1218 11 ай бұрын

A vid had just popped up in my feed that was just posted a few days ago from Willow Beach. I couldn't believe the river was completely calm and the folks were the only ones out there (I guess because it was about to get extremely hot). When I was there it was for an organized group trip using the shuttle and the trip got cancelled because of high winds.

@clippertalk 2 жыл бұрын

I really want to do this soon

@copperstarkayak8072 2 жыл бұрын

Go for it!

@armortodd5162 Жыл бұрын

Emerald Cave, I believe.

@armortodd5162 Жыл бұрын

Couple of things. The launch at the dam is a bit problematic as the shuttle services are on a very tight time frame and you have to really rush to get on the water…carrying boats and gear a hundred yards or so down a switchback path to a slippery, rocky launch. We barely had time to throw our gear in the boats and launch, all the while being berated by our shuttle driver. Thankfully there is a sandbar about 1/4 mile downriver where you can stop and re-load gear the right way. The other thing is the huge potential change in water level of the river overnight, which can dramatically affect camping. We were told ahead of time about this and, on the first night, shlepped our camping gear a hundred yards inland and up from the water…only to have the river lapping at our campsite during the night. You will need to tie your boats to a tree or something so they don’t float away. We did the same thing on our second night and the water did not rise at all…you just never know. With all that said, we had a great time and look forward to doing it again.

@copperstarkayak8072 Жыл бұрын

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!

@Brian-yx5vo 4 ай бұрын

Thank you for your video. I have a question why would someone opt to camp using a kayak with limited space other than a small canoe which should be more stable and allow more space and easier to paddle? I’m looking to get into this, so I’m just gathering info. Thank you again.

@copperstarkayak8072 4 ай бұрын

Great question! Many people camp using canoes as well. I never have camped with one but I have used one many times. I think there are advantages to each but kayaks are lighter and can be considered easier to paddle and maneuver. But ultimately what it really comes down is personal preference. I’m partial to the sit on top kayaks because they’re impossible to sink and I do like jumping out of mine when the water temps are nice. It’s a lot harder to do that with a canoe or sit inside kayak. Regarding space, honestly you really don’t want to overload your kayak or canoe more than you need to. I’ve done that a couple times and regretted it. You really feel 100 pounds of deadweight when you’re paddled for miles against the wind! So even though a canoe provides extra space I still wouldn’t max it out. But again, pros and cons to both but I do prefer the sit on tops. Have fun out there!

@Brian-yx5vo 4 ай бұрын

@@copperstarkayak8072 thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate your channel and appreciate you getting back to me. It gives me a lot of fuel for thought. I have a canoe that needs to be fixed but I can find a kayak that is priced right… you never know I might see you somewhere in Arizona lol thank you again

@joelesparza8812 Жыл бұрын

What time of year were you there?

@copperstarkayak8072 Жыл бұрын

It was around February. Cold but actually a little warmer than I was expecting.

@12jbdk Жыл бұрын

What was your total trip? Start to finish? I'm assuming this was a section of your overall trip.

@copperstarkayak8072 Жыл бұрын

We did a one nighter. We left Willow Beach at around 12:00. Got to camp about 5 hours later. It was a tough paddle up river. The next day we took our time and hit the hot springs and did a little more exploring and got back to Willow Beach around 3:00.