History of Canoe & Trail Adventures
Canoe and Trail is a business that specializes in offering outdoor adventure trips and wilderness skills classes primarily to residents of the greater New Orleans area.

We began with the establishment of the Canoe and Trail Shop on New Orleans's Bayou St. John in the early 1970s. The store was a specialty shop for the retail of canoes, paddling accessories, quality outdoor camping equipment , functional clothing, and maps and books. To promote the sale of such equipment, an outing program gradually developed. The store after 15 years in existence closed in 1988 but the outings program continues to this day.

For the local outdoor community, a wide selection of outings are offered.

Destinations locally are moonlight paddles to the Manchac Wetlands north of Laplace and to Honey Island Swamp near Slidell. Weekend trips include canoeing/wilderness camping trips to such streams as the Bogue Chitto River and Black Creek. During the cooler months, there are weekend backpacks on national forest trails such as Black Creek and the Wild Azalea Trail.

Out of state destinations for canoeing in past years have included the Ozark streams in Missouri, Blackwater River in Florida, Buffalo River in Arkansas, Allagash River in Maine, Everglades National Park's Ten Thousand Islands, and the Rio Grande in Texas. For the backpackers, there have been in recent years backpacks to the Tetons and Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon in Arizona, Smokies in North Carolina, and in Canada - Jasper and Banff National Park.

Besides the outings for the public, there are numerous outings for schools, youth groups such as the scouts and indian guides, groups of friends and relatives, businesses and clubs. These can be one day or week long adventures.

There is also a series of wilderness skills weekends - either map and compass in Homochitto National Forest or river skills on the Bogue Chitto river. These are intensive days to learn how to navigate cross country or to paddle with competence on a river.

Wilderness skills courses have been taught for approximately 20 years as part of the adult education programs of UNO's Metro College. During the six weeks of evening classes and outings, individuals learn backpacking, paddling and wilderness camping skills. These courses are taught four times a year.