On the Water in Naperville

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From paddle boating to paddle boarding, getting on the water in Naperville this summer is a lot more accessible than some may realize.

Aside from the already popular Naperville Quarry and Knoch Knolls Park locations, options like kayaking and paddle boarding have expanded beyond the center of town.

Kayaking at Whalon Lake

“Whalon Lake is bigger than the quarry, which is why we added that, because people who have done the quarry before are looking for a new experience, but they may not feel comfortable going on the river,” said Amanda Ray, an assistant manager at Naperville Kayak. “So that’s why Whalon Lake is that good middle ground. It’s bigger and it’s more of a challenge. There are some wind spots there, which give people a great workout when they’re paddling.”

Naperville Kayak has partnered with the Forest Preserve District of Will County to bring single and tandem kayaking to the 85-acre lake on Fridays through Sundays.

“It just is easy, it’s accessible – we’ve got a great location with the Naperville market and we’re right here in Bolingbrook. So it’s really a wide range of people that wouldn’t have access to do something like this anywhere else nearby,” said Founder and Owner of Naperville Kayak Troy Cooper.

Paddle Boarding at Silver Lake

Or if you’re more of a paddle boarder, there’s another option for you on the north side of town.

This summer the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is piloting a paddleboard program at Silver Lake at the Blackwell preserve.

“As far as Silver Lake being one of our bigger lakes [at] 60 acres, we do have a lot of water sports already. Standup paddle boarding was a kind of a natural fit to the area as well as another recreational opportunity,” said Jay Johnson, manager of site operations with the forest preserve.

Right now you’ll need to bring your own – but if the program takes off they may add rentals, as they currently do with canoes, kayaks, and rowboats.

Plenty of choices to get outdoors and on the water in Naperville.

More about Kayaking & Paddle Boarding

You can go to Naperville Kayak’s website to get pricing information for kayak and paddleboard rentals.

Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.