Ellison Park Canoe & Kayak Shuttle

• You should plan for about 2.5 hours to include your bus ride to Ellison Park and your paddle back to BayCreek. 
• The ride, itself, to Ellison Park, takes about 10 minutes. 
• It can take from 5 to 15 minutes to get all the parties in the water and on their way. 
• Once underway, most folks take from 1.5 hours to 2 hours to cover the 4.5 miles of the creek. You’ll be going with the current and often with the wind to your back, so the paddling can be pretty easy.

• For the shuttle, you have a choice of solo kayaks, two-person (tandem) kayaks and canoes that hold 2-4 people.  The maximum capacity is 300 pounds for the solo kayaks, 400 pounds for the tandem kayaks and 600 pounds for the canoes. If undecided, talk to us and well offer some guidance.
• Sorry, we do not take paddleboards on the shuttle. In some places, the creek can be shallow and not deep enough for the fin of the board. 

• It all starts with your making a reservation by phone. You do NOT need a credit card to make the reservation.  Just tell us how many are in your party and what boats you’d like to reserve for the shuttle. The shuttle runs regularly, twice a day, on weekends and holidays.
• On the day of the activity, plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to register, sign the waiver, make your payment, pick up your lifejacket and take a seat on the shuttle bus. Our staff will take care of loading your boat(s) and paddles on the shuttle trailer. The bus generally leaves on the scheduled times.

• Life happens, we get it. If you have to cancel, there is no fee, no tax, no charge. We hope you won’t, but if you do, please give us as much notice as possible to allow us to offer your reserved space to others.

• The flora and fauna on the creek change with each season. In the spring and early summer, we see redwing blackbirds, kingfishers, Canada geese and their goslings, mute swans and their cygnets, deer and fawns and sometimes beaver, mink and muskrat. The grandest treat is seeing an American bald eagle on a tree limb over the creek or circling above. The flora of the wetlands will be dominated by cattails and phragmites (giant reeds). 
• In the summer and early fall, we see the same as above plus turtles, dragonflies, swallows, white pond lilies, wild yellow iris, and purple loosestrife. We sometimes see migrating egrets and even white pelicans on the creek. The cattails and phragmites will be 6 feet tall. The wetlands are an amazingly beautiful area and very important ecologically. 

A sense of adventure, wonder and excitement are all highly recommended. But, we also recommend... 

• water in a durable, reusable container
•  sunscreen
• a hat and perhaps gloves if your hands tend to blister
• Bug repellant is optional. We see very few mosquitoes during the day and only an occasional deerfly. 

• Well, we can’t say it’s impossible, but it’s very unlikely. The current flows downstream right back to BayCreek and while there are branches in the creek, in every case, the correct decision is the most obvious one. We can lend you a map of the creek if you ask. Also, cell phone coverage is good, so you can always consult the map app on your phone. 

• We love groups – families, corporate, friends.  Our bus holds 14 passengers, so any group small than that is certainly possible. For large groups, it’s best to plan ahead a week or two. Call us and we can help you find a date and time that will accommodate your group.

• The price is $60 per boat, plus $2/person. As an example, a family of two adults and two children in one canoe is $68.00, including tax. 

• If your canoe or kayak is 12 feet or longer, we can transport your boat for $30.00 plus $2/person. Sorry, but boats shorter than 12 feet do not fit our trailer.

• Yes indeed. Give us a call and as long as we have a driver available, we’ll be happy to arrange it. The minimum number of boats for a private shuttle is four.