2025 Canoemobile: Paddling, Learning, and Exploring with 30,000+ People

With the incredible outdoors as its backdrop, Canoemobile allows youth and families to explore, to stretch their comfort zones, and to build their self-confidence. It offers students the chance to see how what they learn in the classroom shows up outside of school. It brings people together in community — creating shared moments that remind us of the power of connection to nature, to each other, and to ourselves. In 2025, Canoemobile did all of this and more with 30,000+ participants from all across the country.

Connecting with Participants

Canoemobile’s travels in 2025 brought it across the country, from Boston to Atlanta and Santa Barbara to Colorado Springs. But its true journey happened right inside our canoes. In every location, we invited students, families, and community members to step into a new world — the watery, wild parts of their cities. The only requirement was an open mind and an adventurous spirit, ready to experience the profound benefits of time spent in nature.

For many of our paddlers, the moment of approaching the shore was filled with nervous excitement. And for the majority, it was the first time they ever stepped foot in a canoe.

I felt so nervous getting into the canoe; it kept moving and rocking side to side, but once my friends and our boat captain got in, I felt so much better and safer. The longer we went and the more turtles and birds I saw, it just felt like more and more fun!” — Alexa, age 13, Chico, CA

What often began as apprehension quickly transformed into a shared sense of confidence and connection. As participants settled into the large 10-person canoes, they found a powerful rhythm. Supported by our skilled Outdoor Leaders and surrounded by the sounds of the rippling water and singing birds, they left the city noise behind. They were no longer just students or community members; they became a crew, working together to navigate their own urban waterway.

This outdoor adventure is a floating classroom. Participants don’t just paddle; they discover and learn, fostering a deep sense of environmental stewardship.

We learned about the animals that live in the river. It made me want to take care of the water more.” — Amira, age 9, Baltimore, MD

Canoemobile creates a vital opportunity for participants to reconnect — with nature, with their communities, and with a powerful, capable part of themselves. They leave the water with new skills, a deeper appreciation for their local environment, and the confidence that comes from conquering a new challenge.

Paddling with Partners

Paddling alongside participants is a dedicated network of partners that is an essential pillar of Canoemobile’s success. Partners deliver localized expertise and program content that is geographically and culturally relevant to the communities we serve. Together, we provide deeply enriching outdoor experiences that advance shared goals to make nature accessible.

Across the 2025 season, we strengthened existing partnerships and deepened newer collaborative initiatives, including a continued focus on military families with our national partner Blue Star Families. Near Dayton, Ohio, Canoemobile partnered with Mad River Local Schools, which neighbors the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and where 20% of students attending are military-connected. During programs this year, Pete Williams–Mayor of Riverside, Chad Wyen–Superintendent of Mad River Local Schools, and Blue Star Families joined more than 680 students at Eastwood MetroPark to paddle on Eastwood Lagoon, learn about their local environment, and most importantly, build connections with each other.

On the East Coast, the National Park Trust — our anchor partner in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas — helped us bring more than 1,000(!) students out to paddle on the Anacostia and Gunpowder Rivers, including college students from Georgetown and Howard Universities who documented their shared paddling experience.

During the final stretch of the fall tour, Canoemobile spent more than a week with longtime partner and fellow nature-connector, the Chattahoochee Nature Center, connecting with local communities on the Chattahoochee River through canoeing, wetland and water quality education, live animal encounters — and the opportunity to just be outside, as Anna reflected:

 

I didn’t want to stop. It felt nice being outside all day.” – Anna, age 11, Roswell, GA

Leading With Purpose

At the forefront of every Wilderness Inquiry Canoemobile adventure is a team of talented and dedicated Outdoor Leaders. These hard-working professionals make the magic of Canoemobile happen for the thousands of participants who paddle, learn, and explore with us each season. They also serve as mentors and guides — near-peers who help students build the confidence and connection that are essential parts of the Canoemobile experience.

This year, Canoemobile was led by more than 85 staff, including longtime Outdoor Leader Emily Casper, who recently completed her milestone 10th Canoemobile tour this fall as she and her rig wrapped up a marathon eight weeks of programming on the East Coast. During the season, crews spend anywhere from 2-8 weeks on the road — living and working together and witnessing the impact of a shared outdoor adventure.

I’ve gotten to work with so many wonderful people and explore places that I would’ve never seen before. It’s the people and experiences that keep me coming back,” Emily recounts.

Many Outdoor Leaders, like Emily, find purpose in bringing our mission to life, and share a deep passion for introducing people of all backgrounds to opportunities in the outdoors they may otherwise not have access to.

Canoemobile is such a unique opportunity to connect thousands of people to the outdoors,” Emily said. “Being on the water can be terrifying for folks so it’s meaningful to help them overcome their fears and find tranquility on a canoe.”

While Canoembile adventures to dozens of cities, parks, and rivers across the country, it’s the participants, partners, and leaders who bring it to life each year.

 

---

 

For Canoemobile in Minnesota:

• STEM-based learning is funded in part by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR)
• History and culture-based learning is funded in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment