Find New Places to Paddle. Plan Better Trips. Stay Ahead of Conditions.
PaddleWays is your all-in-one paddling guide, built for kayakers, rafters, canoeists, and paddleboarders of all experience levels. Whether you’re chasing whitewater or looking for calm, scenic lakes, PaddleWays helps you find where to go, when to go, and what to expect once you’re there.
Free Basic PaddleWays Account
Everyone deserves access to the water. With a free Basic PaddleWays account, you get nationwide access to mapped rivers, lakes, boat ramps, public access points, and thousands of paddling-specific points of interest. PaddleWays+ unlocks additional features for trip planning, navigation, and safety.
Explore Paddling Routes Across the Country
Discover thousands of mapped paddling routes, from quiet flatwater to technical whitewater runs. Find public launch points, shuttles, campsites, and detailed river descriptions all in one place.
Plan With Confidence
Check real-time streamflows, 10-day weather forecasts, and river conditions before you head out. Use the My Waters dashboard to save your favorite rivers and see at a glance when they’re in shape for paddling.
Plan Like a Pro
Measure float distances, find takeouts and campsites, and preview key POIs like access points and boat ramps using Street View when available. Add your own waypoints and save past trips to make planning future outings easier.
Stay Prepared, Even Offline
Use cell coverage maps to see where you’ll have service. Download maps in advance to navigate without signal. Whether you're off-grid or close to town, you’ll have the tools you need.
Built for Paddlers. Backed by NRS.
PaddleWays is supported by NRS and powered by technology from onWater. We’re committed to access, safety, and stewardship. Every PaddleWays+ subscription helps fund conservation and paddling access efforts.
PaddleWays+ Unlocks Even More
Upgrade to access premium tools:
My Waters dashboard with unlimited saved rivers
Offline maps and cell coverage overlays
10-day weather forecasts by location
Advanced weather layers including wind, radar, and pressure
Lake depth maps (select states)
Private land ownership info
Download PaddleWays and turn your phone into a trusted paddling guide.
Terms of Use: https://paddleways.com/terms-and-conditions
Very cool concept. I think it has the potential to be the all in app for everything needed for whitewater paddling if a few things were improved. Continue to look for contributors to add data on rivers since the current data is very lacking. I’d say look to at least have what American Whitewater has in terms of data covered and then continue to add to that with local experts. Next, I find adding data is a bit difficult to be able to scroll down and hit submit. Lastly, in order to be in the premium category, I’d maybe consider teaming up with rain pursuit to get map overlays showing accumulated rainfall. This can help for those runs that don’t have a corresponding USGS gage. I think if the goal is to have this be one stop for paddlers this stuff is a must to get them to spend the money on the app. The ability for users to update will be helpful as well.
Developer Response
Thanks for your insightful review! We're thrilled to continue building PaddleWays and are actively addressing your suggestions. Enhancing river data with contributions from local experts is a priority. We're greatly expanding our coverage which will provide a comprehensive nationwide experience. Your feedback on the data submission process is noted; we're streamlining it for ease. Updates are also in the pipeline for improved accuracy and flow data. We're dedicated to offering essential features for paddlers' convenience. Your support and feedback drive us - thank you again!
Excited to see where this goes
Catherinepasini
Hopping into the beta test for this - so if you’re reading this review in the future and I haven’t updated it yet, keep that in mind. I have high hopes for this app! Maybe it’ll be like alltrails for paddling. Things I think need some work currently:Needs more content. Only one route near me, but I know of so many more. The boat launch drop in/out locations should have addresses and an info page for parking, restroom access (if any), fees, photos.I’d love to see the ability for users to create their own routes. Lakes should be listed too, with boat ramp info. I SUP a lot on local lakes. It’s strange to me that there isn’t much of a navigation bar - I haven’t paddled yet but I would hope that the app will be able to record my route, and save that in a log. It would be awesome if it had some functionality similar to Strava for cyclists where you have your own profile and can follow others, share your routes etc. Another neat feature would be something similar to Waze where users could mark hazards on the route or create comments for others like “if the water is low stay left here”Pros so far: The app is smooth. No ads are a big plus. The map is beautifully done.I like the list view option (but it should tell me how far the route is from my current location too)This is an awesome concept that paddlers have needed for far too long!
Developer Response
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback on PaddleWays. Your enthusiasm for the concept of the app and your input are motivating for our team. We're committed to making this app a go-to resource for paddlers, and your insights are guiding us in the right direction! Our team is working each day on adding new routes, informative content, and innovative features. We are excited to share our progress in product updates in the near future.
Has potential but needs some work
WW Alpine
This app is intuitive and visually appealing but lacks helpful content even in the membership version. There are claims about gaining more info on river details yet I only ever get the river distance in its entirety and nothing more besides a few major rivers in my state. Also when you create a route, the lines are wildly inaccurate. That being said, the gauge location/information and general map of rivers is nice to have and it is convenient to be able to save certain river gauges to keep an eye on levels.Suggestion: More river info (a lot more), allow local users to suggest/report boat launches on the map, create more accurate snap-to mapping, allow commenting so local users can share updates and info, incorporate a list of what is runnable like AW has, add important features like dams to the map.I look forward to the developers working out the kinks because someday this will be a fantastic app.
Developer Response
Hey, thanks for trying the app and leaving feedback! We do have lots of new content coming online every day, and we are also about to deploy tools which will let users submit content (like those local boat launches) from within the app (subject to approval by local moderators). When this happens we think content will grow exponentially. We also plan to incentivize these submissions with prizes, so that should accelerate content growth even further. To your point about commenting: We have user commenting (and image uploading) enabled for almost all of our POIs, and for our "featured" rivers (the orange ones), but not the blue rivers which have less content. We are changing that in the next few weeks to allow commenting on all water bodies.
Peace of mind
Veteran to whitewater VW
I have used this app for a couple years now both on the Grande ronde and the lower salmon river for multi day trips and I am truly impressed with being able to track my location with no service, upcoming rapids river flows, hazards, pictures and all around great info which gives me peace of mind and allows me to know where I am at all times. Hands down the best river app out there!! Only thing I wish they would do is add more pictures and videos of the best ways to run the rapids. The only picture and info I saw was for Snow hole with info. Other than that the best I have seen out there would highly recommend for anyone on any body of water.
We've added a new animated wind layer to help you better understand conditions before you go.
We also made usability improvements across the app to make everything faster, smoother, and easier to use.
Thanks for Paddling with us, and thanks for your help finding bugs. Please keep sending us feedback, we’re always listening.
Version 3.1.4
The developer, OnWater, LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
onwater llc
Size
202.1 MB
Category
Navigation
Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 15.1 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
Apple Vision Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Location
This app may use your location even when it isn’t open, which can decrease device battery life.
