Duke of Edinburgh Private and Open Expeditions

Canoe Trail have been an Approved Activity Provider (AAP) nestled on the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire for well over a decade. Our dedicated outdoor centre, Kempston Outdoor Centre, and Matchstick Wood, private riverside woodland on the banks of the river offer a perfect training or assessment location for your expedition. We also have a dedicated white water training facility at Bedford where we can simulate white water and rapids.

From our base at Kempston Outdoor Centre we travel further afield to many iconic river and lake locations around the UK or overseas to make your DofE experienced and expedition truly memorable. Directors Ash and Rich have completed over 15,000 miles of human powered expeditions and wrote the UK guidebook, Great British Paddling Adventures endorsed by Ran Fiennes, Steve Backshall and Ray Mears. Local rivers we use for the training or qualifying (assessment ) expedition include the River Nene in Northampton or River Thames. Further afield we use lots of beautiful locations including: the Great Glen Canoe Trail, River Spey, River Tay, River Tweed (Highlands), River Severn and River Wye (Wales), River Trent, River Ure and
Ouse (England).

Canoe Trail has huge fleet of over 300 canoes, kayaks and SUP's as well as accessories and equipment including tents, waterproofs, stoves, dry suits and more. Our professional instructors will provide structured training including camp craft, navigation, first aid, and safety and rescue for paddling. On booking your DofE choose between the training or qualifying options or the bundled deal for both saving monies.

Duke of Edinburgh

We Value Relationships

Sophie (Fun 4 Young People)

We have used Canoe Trail for many years. Run by fantastic people with some great activities on offer. Highly recommend.

Michael (Goldington Academy)

Regularly use Canoe Trail for DofE and our School outdoor adventure trips. Professional to deal with and an amazing team of instructors.

Gemma

Highly recommend Canoe Trail whether you’re looking to improve your paddling or just a fun family day out on one of the river trails.

Matthew

Just returned from a week in Scotland with Canoe Trail. It was one of the best organised trips I have done. The team were awesome, great instruction with loads of patience for those new to paddling.