Yes, we'll be back in 2016

We hope you'll join us during Riverboat Days! Aug. 20 is the big day.

Learn more or email Jarett with any questions - we are hoping to set a record!

We're back for 2015! Join Us!

The Yankton Riverboat Days Kayak Run is just one month away, and we're hopeful you'll join us so we can have more people on the River during Riverboat Days!

We start up at what locals call "The Bubble" near Chief White Crane State Park. It's a six-mile event and this year, instead of ending at Paddle Wheel Point, we'll be landing near Marne Creek, due to construction.

There's still a shuttle and plenty of fun, plus a trip through "The Chutes" so please plan to join us on Aug. 22. You can sign up today. Feel free to email organizer Jarett C. Bies if you have questions!

Online registration is ready!

You can sign up right here! It'll open a new page, fill out the form, follow the directions, and you're in!

Registration opens this week!

We'll open the registration for the 2014 Kayak Run this week.

If you're excited - like we are - to sign up now, visit this link, print the form and get in the mix!

Remember, this year we'll have people drop off their boats, then drive to the finish, board buses to come back to the start. Plan ahead and PLEASE come to register early so we can get our event started on time!

We'll begin the race at approx. 2:30 p.m., and we hope you'll be there Aug. 16!

A Most Excellent Time ...

You can really see "the Chutes" that make the RBD Kayak Run more FUN!

In just three short weeks, we'll open the registration for the 2014 Riverboat Days Kayak Run, and we sure hope you'll join us on the river during Riverboat Days.

We have a few great features, including the fact we're the only paddle-sports happening during Yankton's biggest festival in Riverside Park.

In addition, we start our event in the afternoon, so you can still see (or be in) the parade, and you can even run in one of the events held that morning before joining us for a nice paddle.

While our event is a competition and we'll have prizes for the winners, almost everyone involved is doing this event for the sake of community spirit and just to "get out and paddle." We'll open registration, still at the low cost of just $25, on the Fourth of July weekend, and you can fill out the form on our site and mail it to

210 W. Third St.
Yankton, SD 57078.

This year we are requiring folks to drive down to drop vehicles off at the Visitors' Center and take one of many shuttles back to the start. We'll have a "short-hop" shuttle to move your kayaks/canoes from the shore to your car. We just felt this method would shorten the wait to "get back to Riverside" compared to last year.

Write Jarett with any questions! We had 60 last year - let's see if we can get 160 this year!

Have a great week! Jarett Bies, founder, 605-941-4940

Fired up for the 50 - and the Kayak Run on Aug. 16

We're just under 80 days until the second-annual Riverboat Days Kayak Run, folks, and we hope you'll join us for a great event. We had nearly 60 last year - hopeful to get 160 this year!

The "Bubble" can handle that many canoes and kayaks, and if you're new to our event, you'll fit right in. This event is "fun-run" style in that few - if any - will be out there to win. You can compete or just join a paddling community that is growing every day.

We have a new wrinkle this year in that we'll have shuttle service via the Yankton Riverboat Days Committee and our staff. Come to the bubble around 1 p.m., drop off your kayak or SUP, register, then drive to the visitor's center on Fourth Street. Drop your vehicle, grab the shuttle back and BAM! You're ready to race back to your car.

The Kayak Run will have a short-hop shuttle from the water's edge to the parking area to help you wrap up your time on the river. It's going to be fun, so save the date: Aug. 16, and we'll see you then.

In the meantime, please consider our sister race on July 19, the Fort to Field 50 Paddle Battle. It's a 50-mile race from Pickstown to Springfield and you can sign up to race it, volunteer for it, or just learn more right here.

We'll be back!

The Riverboat Days Kayak Run for 2014 is a go go go! Yes, we're coming back to the festival with the most fun in the Mother City of Dakotas this year, we can't wait. Well actually, we can wait as we're busy with a pair of fun events that may be of interest to you as a paddler.

The first is the May 24-25 South Dakota Kayak Challenge, another Missouri River Race that puts the emphasis on "challenge!" This 72-mile event starts in our fair homesite city, Yankton and gives racers 30 hours to reach Sioux City, some 72 miles downstream. You can learn all about it - and sign up to volunteer or race - right here.

 The other that takes place before Year No. 2 of the Kayak Run is the brand spanking new Fort to Field 50 Paddle Battle. Like the Challenge it's a great way to explore the river in a safe fashion with a gaggle of like-minded paddlers. This event highlights the 39-mile stretch of the National Recreational River, and as an inaugural event, we're confident it'll grow over time. Your registration in the Battle is tax-deductible thanks to a partnership we've formed with the Izaak Walton League of America.

But don't fret: If these 72- and 50-mile-sized events sound like too much for you, our "fun-run" style Kayak Run will be back. Please join us on Facebook and spread the word on all three events if you would. We can use all the help we can get to keep folks paddling on the Mighty Mo.