Why we exist
To explore and enjoy the wilderness waterways of the Ozarks, to share that experience with others, and to leave the streams better than we found them.
The club was organized in 1956 by families who had been canoeing together on Ozark streams and felt that someone ought to help keep those streams wild. That is still the whole idea. Trips are led by members, planned at our monthly meetings, and open to everyone from first-timers to lifelong paddlers.
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Canoeing & kayaking
Spring-fed Ozark floats, multi-day river camps, and easy day paddles close to home.
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Hiking & backpacking
Day hikes around the metro, like the Lawrence River Trail and our First Day of the Year hike at Kill Creek Park, and overnight trips into the Ozark hills.
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Bicycling
Group rides on rail-trails and quiet back roads.
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Conservation
Quarterly water-quality testing on the Blue River as Missouri Stream Team #41, and a river clean-up every year. More about our conservation work
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Campfires & potlucks
A potluck dinner before every meeting, Dutch oven cooking, and long evenings around the fire on river trips.
A year with the club
There is always something on the calendar.
Winter
Plans and programs
The year opens with a First Day of the Year hike on January 1. Members submit their trips for the new calendar by mid-January, and winter Stream Team testing on the Blue River carries on in the cold.
Spring
High water, first floats
Ozark streams run full and clear. Weekend floats and campouts start, along with early-season hikes before the leaves close in.
Summer
Long floats, warm camps
Multi-day river trips, family campouts, and lazy afternoons on gravel bars, with day paddles and hikes close to home.
Fall
The clean-up and Canoe Fest
The annual clean-up weekend in September, when we fill canoes with whatever doesn’t belong in the river, then the week-long Fall Canoe Fest on the Current in October, with bluffs lit up in color.
Streams in our logbook
- Current
- Jacks Fork
- Eleven Point
- Buffalo
- Niangua
- Bryant Creek
- North Fork
- Black
- Illinois
- Blue
Rivers the club has floated and cleaned over the decades, from the national riverways of the eastern Ozarks to the Blue River running through Kansas City.
Meet us in person
Second Saturday, every month
Visitors are always welcome. No boat required.
- When
- The second Saturday of the month. Potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m., business meeting 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- Where
- Camp Lake of the Woods dining hall, 5700 Oakwood Rd., Swope Park, Kansas City, Missouri
- Cost
- Free. Bring a dish to share if you like, or just show up and say hello.
Not every month has a meeting in the hall: when a club trip falls on the second Saturday, the meeting sometimes moves to the campfire. Check the current calendar before your first visit.
Join the club
Membership is simple and inexpensive.
Dues cover a family or an individual for the calendar year. Members get the monthly newsletter and the club calendar by email, plus access to the members-only archive of past newsletters, schedules, and forms. The easiest way to join is to come to a meeting; you can also join on any trip. Read the latest newsletter.
Questions? Club email coming soon
Annual dues
$25 per year, family or individual
- Monthly newsletter by email
- The club calendar of Ozark and Close-to-Home trips
- The members’ archive of past newsletters and schedules
- Member-led trips all year
- A part in keeping Ozark streams wild