"Celebrating Nature & Paddling"

Event Info:

Jessie Hadley of Woods & Water Ecotours and the Les Cheneaux Islands Community invite you to attend this exciting new paddling festival in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Les Cheneaux Islands. It will be a rich blend of the combined elements learned from the woods and water. Professionals in the kayaking and canoeing field will present an unbeatable venue for learning and enrichment. The event is designed to be fun, comfortable, safe facilitated by the very best instructors in the Midwest.

Hiawatha Paddling Festival, “Celebrating Nature & Paddling" was first conceived from the idea…..why not bring a paddling festival to a premier paddling destination? We also understood that through this event we could create a learning experience that would bridge skills between beginning recreational kayakers, family paddlers and coastal kayakers and canoeists.

Hiawatha Paddling Festival is an entry level event open to families and all types of beginning kayakers and canoers and meant to supplement other fine events taking place in the Great Lakes. We hope to give you an enjoyable peek at several paddling disciplines that make up a lifelong activity that we love to share. Our goal is help people go to water with better judgment and skills to be safe while having more fun exploring the earth’s natural and cultural treasures.

When? September 12-14, 2008 , Our Lake Huron waters can still be warm, weather settled and we’re not ready to say goodbye to summer yet!

Where? Les Cheneaux Islands, Michigan in da UP! The Les Cheneaux Island archipelago located along the northern shores of Lake Huron has a population of 2050 people. It is a quiet community that takes pride in their natural and cultural assets, including a long history of small wooden boat construction. Most residents live within the shoreline villages of Hessel and Cedarville. Here, they center their culture and life among the waterways among the islands and within the upland abundant natural areas. This 80 miles stretch of vibrant shoreline supports some of the highest natural diversity in Michigan. Artisans, boat wrights, fisherman, loggers, conservationists and naturalists, like Aldo Leopold, have made these islands a unique place to remember and for experiencing traditions of the past.

Venue? Cedar Campus puts us right on Lake Huron where classrooms, teaching sessions, food and lodging all happen in one place. Surrounded by 500 acres of boreal forest and 6 miles of shoreline, this popular up north conference center is frequented by groups such as the Michigan Audubon Society, 4H and other organized groups. Located on a secluded peninsula with meandering cedar lined footpaths and a limestone boulder-strewn shoreline; this an exquisite place for any nature lover. September is a great time to see a variety of migratory birds while on their flight south to over wintering grounds. Nature is in abundance here!