Four Day Guided River Trip

FOUR DAY GUIDED RIVER TRIP
(See more details below guest list...)
Touch the trail of Lewis and Clark on a four-day river trip through the White Cliffs of the Missouri River from Coal Banks Landing to Judith Landing. This trip includes camping at two different Corps of Discovery campsites. The guided version of this trip includes everything you need from the time you arrive in Great Falls or Havre, Montana. The guided version includes all meals, camping gear, canoes, river guides, lodging, and regional overland shuttle transportation... There are 3 paddling days necessary for completion of this river segment. The approximate time spent on the river each paddling day is from 4-7 hours.

Pricing:
$400/person/day, guided.
$200/person/day, unguided outfitted. 4 person minimum (includes the same gear, food and river access shuttle transportation as the guided version).
$45/canoe/day, self-guided.

*Receive 20% discount, with reservations for 4 or more persons by April 1, 2010*
*Receive 10% discount with all other reservations booked by April 1, 2010.*

Guided Trip Reservations Deposit
50% Nonrefundable deposit required to reserve space on a trip.
Balance due 30 days prior to scheduled departure date.
(If we must cancel a trip, we will refund all monies you have paid.)

Submit your request to join a trip by clicking here...

As of today, we are looking for other guests to join the following group(s) on a shared adventure:

Let us put your trip dates here.

Deposit:
A 50% nonrefundable deposit is required to reserve space on a trip. Balance due 30 days prior to scheduled departure date. If we must cancel a trip, we will refund all monies you have paid.

*Receive 20% discount, with reservations for 4 or more persons by April 1, 2010 (May 1, for Photography Workshop).*
*Receive 10% discount with all other reservations booked by April 1, 2010.*

Coal Banks to Judith Landing Itinerary
(Touch the White Cliffs)

Details: (The following description is specific to the guided version of this river trip. Use it as a general guideline for unguided trip planning.)
Missouri River Canoe Company strives for perfection in everything we do for our guests. With a guided river trip package, we seek to make our guests comfortable from the moment we greet them. As our guest, you can expect personalized service from our courteous staff. If needed, we will greet you at the airport or Amtrak station with a van, which brings you to Virgelle, Montana.

At Virgelle you will find comfortable accommodations in our bed & breakfast rooms and/or restored homestead cabins. On the day of your departure into the Missouri River corridor, you start with a hearty breakfast at the Virgelle Mercantile. Then some short instructions on packing your gear, followed by a 5-minute shuttle ride to the launch site.

On your river expedition, you may stop around noon to have a riverside lunch at Little Sandy Creek, some 10 miles downstream. While at Little Sandy, you can hike to the site of an old Indian encampment to view tipi rings. From here we paddle into the White Cliffs another 6 - 7 miles to Eagle Creek (Lewis and Clark's Stonewall Creek) where you set up camp for the next 2 nights.
Time spent on river canoeing is approximately 5 hours...
(There is a contingency camp just 12 miles from the launch point in case of paddling difficulties.)

While at Eagle Creek for the next 2 nights, you may enjoy hiking to other Native American sites, including a petroglyph. Another hike includes an excursion into a slot canyon, formed by snowmelt, and rain water's erosion into the white sandstone. (The amount of hiking is contingent upon time limitation and physical ability of each guest.)

On the 3rd morning, you load your canoes and paddle further into the White Cliffs. Just 1 mile downstream you pass the subject of one of Karl Bodmer's paintings, known as the Grand Natural Wall. This is an impressive exposure of igneous intrusion that seems to be the ancient remnants of a manmade dam. In a short distance, you pass the ruins of an abandoned homestead, and an earlier house made of blocks, cut from the sandstone of the White Cliffs.

Then you may sit back and enjoy the scenery as you pass Eagle Rock and approach Kipps Rapids. These rapids are maneuvered with basic skills as you approach Haystack Butte. In 2 more miles you pass Citadel Rock (Cathedral Rock, as Karl Bodmer named it).

Just downstream from Citadel Rock, you can stop at the Hole-In-The-Wall area for a hike to the top of the sandstone formation from which the name comes. This is a rigorous 2-mile round trip hike. You will encounter 2 areas along the hike, which require some short climbing. With a little help from others, these areas aren't usually significant obstacles.

From Hole-in-the-Wall you again turn your canoes downstream to have lunch as you float toward Steamboat Rock. The next 7 miles reveal the scenes of visionary enchantment, described so eloquently in the journals of Lewis and Clark. Hundreds of sandstone figures line the rim of the river valley, evoking the imagination of all who pass this way. Twelve miles past Hole-In-The-Wall you approach a campsite used by the Corp of Discovery on both their inbound and outbound journeys. This spot makes a good campsite still today.
Time spent on river canoeing is approximately 7 hours.

On the 4th morning you pack your canoes and paddle through Dead-Man rapid. This class one rapid was named by steamboat pilots in reference to a device employed to maneuver the ships upstream through faster running places in the river. It is easily maneuvered with attention paid to keeping the canoe pointing downstream. During most of the year, a paddler will barely notice that it exists.

Beyond Dead Man’s Rapid, you enter the Judith Landing Historic District. This area has been used for profit since prehistoric times. The native Americans used this site for buffalo hunting and camping. Earlier European settlers built trading posts and forts, to accommodate the westward expansion during the glorious era of steamboat navigation between St. Louis and Fort Benton, MT. Today, there are extensive farm and ranch operations in the area, utilizing water from the Missouri for irrigation.

At Judith Landing our shuttle greets you, for the return trip to Virgelle.
Time spent on river canoeing is approximately 4 hours.

At Virgelle you are treated to a hot shower and a sit-down supper prepared by the Mercantile. The final morning includes a Mercantile breakfast and a friendly farewell...

((The Guided version of this trip includes: All food (5 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 4 suppers, and 2 complimentary snack baskets in the B&B room...), all transportation, canoes/kayaks, camping gear, friendly local guides, 2 nights accommodations at the historic Virgelle Mercantile, and all necessary advanced planning for a hassle-free adventure.))

(River trips begin at the Virgelle Mercantile at 9 A.M. on the scheduled departure day. Trips end around 5 P.M. on the 4th day of this itinerary.)

Pricing:
$400/person/day; Guided.
$275/person/day; Unguided, outfitted (1-3 persons)
$200/person/day; Unguided, outfitted (4 or more persons)
$45/canoe/day; Self-guided, non-outfitted.
Guided Trip Reservations Deposit
50% Nonrefundable deposit required to reserve space on a trip.
Balance due 30 days prior to scheduled departure date.
(If we must cancel a trip, we will refund all monies you have paid.)

Related trip itineraries incorporating the above description include:
-Foto Float Photography Workshop
-Pre Festival Ornithology Workshop
-Ornithology Field Camp

HOME HORSEBACK LODGING TRANSPORTATION RIVER TRIPS EVENTS FAQ ABOUT US HISTORY LINKS ANTIQUES CONTACT
PRIVACY POLICY GIFT SHOP