About White River

Float section

In Marion County, it flows for 27 miles under 29 bridges and over four dams, with a score of tributaries, touching dozens of neighborhoods and feeding one 19th century canal. Those are some of the numbers that describe White River within Indianapolis.

Numbers alone can’t describe this remarkable riparian corrider, as you’ll discover on your journey. Our trip begins at the IAC public canoe launch beside the Monon Trail in Broad Ripple and ends two miles downstream at the takeout next to the town hall in Rocky Ripple. About midway, we land at Holliday Park for hands-on class sessions and lunch.

On this trip, we’ll see one of those tributaries, Williams Creek, and pass beneath three of the bridges. The river banks on this section are thick with trees and you’ll likely spot wildlife, especially blue herons, waterfowl and turtles; shyer species, like white-tailed deer and red fox, may watch us from the shadows. Damselflies and dragonflies sparkle in the breeze around us as we glide above smallmouth bass, bluegill and catfish. Water depth varies from a few inches to a few feet, and the flow is mostly gentle with a few quick riffles.

Get ready. This section is so forested and natural you may forget you’re in the middle of a million people.

Materials at this web site are Copyright 2005–2009 Friends of the White River, Inc.