Upcoming in Kansas City, Mo.
Paddling the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers – Recreation and the Development of Water Trails on our Large River Systems
NOTE – This month’s presentation will be the FOURTH Wednesday of the month. We’ll return to our regular second Wednesday in September
Presentation by Bryan Hopkins, Mo. Dept. of Natural Resources
Bryan Hopkins, a self-proclaimed paddling addict who funds his need for boating gear by working on interstate river issues for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, will discuss the growth of large river water trails on the Missouri and Mississippi River.

A foggy morning on the Missouri River near the mouth of the Osage River. During the 2013 MR340. photo by Steve Schnarr
Presentation by Bryan Hopkins, MO. Dept. of Natural Resources
NOTE: This month’s presentation will be the FOURTH Wednesday (not the second Wednesday as usual)
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Westport Coffeehouse Theater – 4010 Pennsylvania Ave. Kansas City, MO
6 p.m. Social Hour
7 p.m. Presentation
The Missouri River, which means “River of Big Canoes”, is named for the historical boat of choice on this massive river. After a couple of centuries of trying out steamboats and barges, paddlecraft is making a comeback on our Great Rivers.

A photo of “Blue Moon”, Janet Moreland’s boat during her source-to-sea “Love Your Big Muddy Expedition” in 2013. photo copyright by Janet Moreland.
Bryan Hopkins, a self-proclaimed paddling addict who funds his need for boating gear by working on interstate river issues for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, will discuss the growth of large river water trails on the Missouri and Mississippi River
He’ll explore this substantial increase in paddling recreation, highlighting the newly redesigned Missouri River Water Trail which covers 550 miles of the lower river. When you add the rapid development of water trails on the lower and upper Mississippi River, things are looking up for the Great River State turning into an internationally acclaimed destination for unique paddling adventures.
Bryan will share some tips on getting started paddling these majestic rivers as well introduce the exciting race scene that has expanded in recent years.
Directions
Westport CoffeeHouse – 4010 Pennsylvania Kansas City, Mo – www.westportcoffeehouse.com
The Westport CoffeeHouse is in the Westport entertainment area, midtown KC, south of downtown and north of the Plaza. The main intersection is Westport Rd and Broadway. From this intersection, go west on Westport Rd one block to Pennsylvania. Turn north (right).
OR you can get there from the intersection of Southwest Trafficway and Westport Rd. Go east on Westport Rd to Pennsylvania. Turn north (left).
Westport Coffee House is approximately one block down on the west side of Pennsylvania. Parking can be had either south of the coffee house in the large parking lot or just north of the coffee house alongside the building. Enter through Green Room Burgers or Westport CoffeeHouse.
Downloads
Resources and Links
Missouri & Mississippi River Water Trail information
- Click to download presentation flier (pdf)
- Missouri River Water Trail website (Missouri River in the state of Missouri – managed by Mo. DNR)
- Missouri National Recreation River Water Trail (unchannelized river in South Dakota and Nebraska – managed by Missouri River Institute)
- River-Gator interactive water trail map and guide for the Lower Mississippi River, St. Louis to Baton Rouge (created by John Ruskey of Quapaw Canoe Company)
- Mississippi River Water Trail for the Upper Mississippi River, from Saverton to St. Louis (created by American Canoe Association)
Some Great River Paddling reading – articles and books
- Book – The Complete Paddler – A guidebook for paddling the Missouri River from the Headwaters to St. Louis, MO – by David Miller
- Book – Exploring Lewis and Clark’s Missouri – by Brett Dufur
- Book – Guide to Canoing the Missouri River – by Keith Drury
- Article – “Finding Flow on the Mighty Mo” – by Brett Dufur, Missouri Conservationist
- Article – “57 feet and Rising” – Outside Magazine article of John Ruskey’s canoe adventure riding the crest of the 2011 Mississippi River flood.
- Blog – Love Your Big Muddy Expedition – a chronicle of Janet Moreland’s Source to Sea expedition on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
- Facebo0k – Missouri River Paddlers Facebook group – an engaged community of local and long distance Missouri River paddlers hosted by Norm Miller, who kayaked the entire Missouri River – upstream in 2004.
Missouri River Paddling guides and outfitters
- Big Muddy Adventures (St. Louis area and beyond)
- Mighty Mo Canoe Rentals (Rocheport)
- Missouri River Rafting and Canoe (St. Joseph)
- Missouri River Excursions (St. Charles & St. Louis areas)
- River Run Rentals (Kansas City area)
Canoe and Kayak Races on the Missouri River
- Race for the Dome (Providence to Jefferson City – benefit for Missouri River Relief)
- Missouri American Water MR340 (hosted by Rivermiles – Kansas City to St. Charles) – the granddaddy of them all!
- Race for the Rivers (Washington to St. Charles – benefit for Greenway Network)
- South Dakota Kayak Challenge (Yankton to Sioux City)
- Freedom Race and Missouri River Shootout (hosted by Midwest Paddle Racing – Jeff City and KC areas)
The Big Muddy Speakers Series in Kansas City
is hosted by these wonderful partners!
- Little Blue River Watershed Coalition
- Friends of Lakeside Nature Center
- Missouri River Relief
- Healthy Rivers Partnership
- Friends of Big Muddy
- Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge
- Kansas City Digital Video
Thanks to all of our venue hosts for making this possible! Click here for a list of upcoming presentations» The Big Muddy Speaker Series is also held monthly in Rocheport and St. Charles.
Recordings of Presentations
Kansas City Digital Video has been recording Big Muddy Speaker Series presentations. These are available on their website at this link. Some contain synchronized powerpoint presentations. We will be posting these to the archived presentation pages on bigmuddyspeakers.org. Thanks Micheal Morgan and crew for putting this important archive online! The Big Muddy Speaker Series is partially funded by the Columbia Ecological Services Field Office (USFWS) and the Mo. Dept. of Conservation.