Find New Places to Paddle. Plan Better Trips. Stay Ahead of Conditions.
Available in USA, Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia, NZ, and South Africa.
PaddleWays is the paddling map built for kayakers, canoeists, paddleboarders, and rafters of all experience levels: find where to go, know when conditions are right, and keep a record of every trip.
With PaddleWays Free, you can:
- See Public Land Parcels on the map and find legal put-ins and take-outs, free. No paywall.
- Find Access Points and Boat Ramps across rivers, lakes, and streams wherever you paddle
- Check Flow Stations for real time streamflow, trends, and forecasts where available
- Open Live USGS Webcams and see the water before you drive
- Check reported hazards on the map and report what you find, so the next paddler launches informed
- Track your route with Trip Tracker and log trips in your Paddling Journal
- Measure any float, crossing, or coastal route with the Route Measuring Tool
- Plus one saved water in My Waters, live weather, Waypoints, Community, driving directions, and local gear shops
Upgrade to PaddleWays Plus for planning and decision tools:
- My Waters: track streamflow, forecasts, and water conditions for unlimited saved rivers and lakes in one dashboard. Set ideal ranges and see at a glance which water is runnable.
- 10-Day Weather Forecasts & Visuals: location-specific forecasts with visual weather layers on the map
- Paddler Intelligence: ask where to put in, when to go, and what to expect, answered with real data from maps, weather, and water conditions
- Curated Paddling Routes: vetted routes with put-ins, take-outs, distance, difficulty, and trip notes
- Saved Routes: measuring is free for everyone; Plus keeps the routes you measure and the trips you track so you stop rebuilding the same plan
- Waterbody Descriptions: character, difficulty, and what to expect, so you can evaluate new water against your skill level
- Animated Wind Maps: watch wind speed and direction move across your water
- Algal Blooms Map Layer: check for blooms that can be dangerous to people and pets before you launch
- Lake Depth Maps: know the shallows and the drop-offs on lakes in select states
- Land Ownership Boundaries: private boundaries and ownership info so you stay legal at put-ins and take-outs
- Cell Coverage Map Layer and Downloadable Offline Maps: know where service drops, and take your maps off-grid
- Plus 3D Maps, Street View for access points, Tide Charts for coastal waters, auto-filled journal conditions, and River Shuttle Services
PaddleWays puts the map, the conditions, and the plan in one app, so more of your time goes to paddling.
PaddleWays Plus is an auto-renewing subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings.
Terms of Use: https://www.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.
You can now see algal blooms on the map, check live USGS webcams before you head out, and get lake surface temperature on waterbody overviews and in My Waters.
We've also added upvotes and New, Top, and Nearest sorting to the community feed, along with sign in improvements, and bug fixes.
Thanks for Paddling with us, and thanks for your help finding bugs. Please keep sending us feedback, we're always listening.
Version 3.3.3
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:
Purchases
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Purchases
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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
171.3 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.
