Launch Design

Canoe and kayak launches needn’t be expensive, high-maintenance facilities. In fact, with a little bit of determination and access to the right information (provided here), launch site design and construction can remain a relatively straightforward, easy, and inexpensive proposition.

A stable riverbank or shoreline is an adequate launch site for many paddlers. To make them safely accessible to the general public, launches for canoes and other open boats require only minimal intervention, such as a path that’s flat and hard enough to carry boats without difficulty. We’ve provided a simple canoe and kayak launch diagram for just such a scenario.

Beaches, bulkheads, and natural riverbanks that are no more than two to three feet above the water are sufficient for launching open boats—canoes, rowboats, john boats, and skiffs. However, locations with higher riverbanks or a greater distance to the water’s surface may require stairs, a path with a reasonable grade, or other form of retrofitting.

Even with modifications, though, many of these sites will be difficult or impossible to use safely for other classes of non-motorized watercraft, including rowing shells, sea kayaks, white water kayaks, Olympic racing kayaks, and decked canoes. These and other decked boats require a launch site where paddlers can stabilize the boat by holding on to it or by placing a paddle across the cockpit and a fixed surface, such as a deck, dock, or wall. For launches of this nature, consult the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Guide To Boating and Canoe Access Development in Illinois, which offers guidelines and other considerations for launch site development.

Launch sites may also require protection for the riverbank such as geo-textile grid or other methods of bank stabilization. The Northeastern Illinois Planning Council’s publication Managing and Restoring Stream Greenways: A Landowner’s Handbook addresses buffer issues, such as developing and managing riparian areas in ways that protect the natural resource functions of streams and adjacent lands.

Finally, when developing your canoe and kayak launch, please keep in mind the needs of people with disabilities. And always remember what’s most important to all non-motorized watercraft users:

• Good information about the route,
• Interesting features and potential safety hazards along the way, and
• What to expect at the destination.