Kayak rental business opens at Beaver Creek in Johnston

Kim Norvell
Des Moines Register

Kayaks are now available to rent at the metro's first waterway access point of the Central Iowa Water Trails project in Johnston. 

Quarry Springs Outfitters has set up its kayak rental business for paddlers on Beaver Creek. The rentals will be available at a newly built boat ramp near the intersection of Northwest 86th Street and Northwest 70th Avenue.

The $350,000 boat ramp gives kayakers and canoers easier access to a four-mile stretch of Beaver Creek, from the ramp to Merle Hay Road, and is the first in a series of projects that will transform 150 miles of waterways in central Iowa into a recreational amenity.

Kayaks are rented from Quarry Spring Outfitters at Terra Park in Johnston.

Quarry Springs Outfitters, which started in 2017 in Colfax, will offer kayak rentals each summer from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Memorial Day through Labor Day. Daylong rentals are $25 for a single kayak, $35 for a tandem and $10 for a cooler. 

The business also offers rentals at Johnston's Terra Park, 6400 Pioneer Parkway, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Reservations can be made on Quarry Springs Outfitters' Facebook page

In a news release, owner and operator Greg Rhames said he is trying to introduce more people to water recreation.

"When you're floating down the river, you are taken completely out of the urban environment where you got in," Rhames said in a news release. "You leave the city behind, like you've been transported out, and you escape into the backwoods of nature. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, and it’s beautiful."

When fully complete, the $117 million Greater Des Moines Water Trails project will create a regional trail system in which a paddler could put-in at the Des Moines River just south of Madrid and eventually reach the Red Rock Reservoir near Knoxville. 

The plan's centerpiece is a series of whitewater features that would replace three dangerous low-head dams along the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers and draw kayakers, paddlers and even surfers to the downtown waters. It also includes out-of-water activities like zip-lining and rock climbing. 

Kim Norvell covers growth and development for the Register. Reach her at knorvell@dmreg.com or 515-284-8259. Follow her on Twitter @KimNorvellDMR.

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