Indiana’s Elite Adventure Outfitter for Boat Tours, Kayak Trips, Kayak Sales, Kayak / Backpack shuttle service.

We make adventure happen!

Offering the “Best of Southern Indiana Water Adventures”

Kayak and Motor Boat Trips – By County/Town

Brown County/Nashville Boating and Kayaking
Bartholomew County/Columbus Kayaking
GOSOIN – Jeffersonville, Clarksville, New Albany Ohio River Motor Boating
Jennings County/Vernon Kayaking
Jackson County/Medora Kayaking
Lawrence County/Bedford Kayaking
Martin County/Shoals Kayaking
Monroe County/Bloomington Motor Boating Kayaking
Orange/Martin County/French Lick Motor Boating Kayaking
Morgan/Owen County/Waverly, Paragon, Gosport Kayaking
Washington/Crawford County Kayaking
Decatur County/Greenfield Kayaking

Kayaks and Gear Sales

Fishing Kayaks
Recreation Kayaks
Paddles
Life Jackets
Dry Bags/Other Accessories

Motor Boat Tours and Guided Fishing

Patoka Lake
Lake Monroe
Ohio River – Jeffersonville

Backpacking/ Shuttles and Support

Knobstone Trail
Tecumseh Trail
Pioneer Trail
American Discovery Trail
Adventure Trail

Pathfinder Outfitters offers exciting and relaxing kayak adventure trips in Southern Indiana. Relax and relate to family, friends and nature as you float down beautiful southern Indiana rivers. Leave the crowds behind, enjoy the beauty and get a work out at your own pace.

Indiana Kayaking

We offer the best kayak trips and local stream and lake conditions;

Trip recommendations based on current water condition
Outfitted Kayak Trips from 3 hours to 5 days duration
Private Kayak Shuttles
Special IN river trips on the fastest rives in southern IN
Special kayaking trips in the Southwestern USA and Florida
Through hiking backpacking trail shuttles
Motorboat tours of lakes Monroe and Patoka, and the Ohio River
Kayak Sales, Gear sales and Rental

Located in Bartholomew County, Jackson County, Jennings County, Washington County, Morgan County, Martin County, Jefferson County, Brown County, Monroe County, Owen County, Lawrence County, and Orange County Indiana. Explore the White River, Salt Creek, Patoka Lake, or Lake Monroe on our kayak and boat trips.

Pathfinder Outfitters features comfortable sit on top (SOT) kayaks. Our gear is top notch! Our kayaks are large, not confining, easy to enter/exit, safe, and FUN! You can paddle swiftly, lay out in the sun like it’s a raft, roll off into the water for a swim, fish, and photograph wildlife. We have comfortable life jackets designed to fit everyone from small children to XXL adults. Some Kayaks are even rated for up to 600 pounds.

Meeting Locations For Various Trips

We meet at the water! There is no need to come to our office unless you are buying kayaks or gear.

When you make a reservation, we will send you a map point with the meeting location via text message, as well as all instructions. We will also send a text message to confirm your trip details, and payment options, as well as a receipt for payment of by card, or PayPal.

Why We Use Sit-On-Top Kayaks

Kayaks vs Canoes

Greater Stability, maneuverability, and Comfort
Much Easier to handle, carry, paddle and turn
Safety. SOT kayaks never will up with water. Much higher flotation.
Speed – faster than canoes.

Our goal is to provide the best customer experience possible. We provide the best kayaks for the given trips.

We use nice big, new kayaks made by:

Jackson
Old Town
Ocean Kayak

Pathfinder Outfitters always provide high end life jackets and paddles that are clean and comfortable.

How We Are Different From Other Rentals/Outfitters:

“We provide the Best of Southern Indiana Water Adventures”

We have personally scoured southern Indiana for the best river runs, wildlife refuge, lake trips, as well as the best hiking trips. Therefore saving you a lot of time on trip research!

We are not confined to one river and one location, covering up to 12 different counties in Indiana. We ALWAYS have good water available, in spite of localized flood or drought.
Therefore we can always put you on a quality trip. Some rivers flood or go dry when others don’t. We constantly monitor water levels to always provide a safe, quality trip.
We closely monitor water conditions so you NEVER have to be on a creek/river that requires dragging your boat instead of paddling.

What Sets Pathfinder Outfitters Apart From Other Rentals/Outfitters:

We are ALL about the QUALITY of the adventure.
We are an outfitter, not a rental. This means that we match your party up to one of the 30 different trip possibilities we offer based on current water conditions, your preferred locations, group demographics (children, adults, elderly), then we match your group to one of the 8 different models of kayaks to best match weather and personal needs.
We NEVER haul you in an old school bus full of 50 window lickers.
We NEVER put you out with large groups of hard partying strangers.

Our trips are about adventure in wild places as opposed to being about the party.

Our trips require you to be “on your game” to various degrees. They are a little more challenging than other outfitter’s trips.
- Because most of our trips challenge you physically and mentally (decision making), drinking excessively and drug use on the trip is strongly discouraged.
- If partying is the goal of your trip, we have a couple trips that can accommodate that but most of our trips are about the adventure, wilderness experience, and wildlife viewing.
We know the very best wild places accessible by water and enable you to experience wilderness and wildlife.
We provide the very best kayaking gear and shuttle you in a suburban or van.

Recommended Apparel

Recommended Footwear:

River sandals with a strap across the back.
Keens or similar water shoes.
Old sneakers
In cold weather: knee high rubber boots

Recommended Clothing:

Cold Weather:

Non-cotton layers (sweatpants, underwear, shirts and sweatshirts)
Nylon or polypropylene outerwear
Non-cotton gloves

Warm Weather:

Swim attire (bathing suits, shorts, t-shirts/tank tops)
sunglasses, hat, or visor
sunblock

What to Bring

For kayaking day trips you do not need much.

Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Visor/hat
Water bottles (16 fl oz per 2 hours of outing).
Light snacks (granola bars, fruit)
Cell phone or camera (we provide a dry box for phones on request).

Regarding the Weather and Water Conditions

We do not pay any attention to cell phone weather apps or to the weather man on TV/radio, because they lie. They lie a lot.

We ONLY go off of actual Weather Radar maps to cancel or make changes to trip start times and minor location adjustments. This way, we rarely have to cancel a trip. We may get sprinkled on or a light rain at times, but that is just part of outdoor recreation. We do not go when the radar is yellow or red.

Due to the variability of river flows in spring each of our stream or river trips has a contingency plan trip in the event the Plan A reserved trip is not safe.

For example, our folks at McCormick’s Creek State Park/ West Fork White River the contingency plan is Cataract Falls. For our East Fork White River and tributaries, our contingency is a wildlife refuge trip.

Payment Options

View the pricing tab to find daily rates on kayak trips and shuttles.

We accept a variety of payment options:

Cash is preferred to save time. And I do not like giving the Silicon Valley bad guys a percentage of sales.
Debit/Credit Card prior to meeting up for the trip.
Paypal, Prior to meeting up for the trip
Venmo, prior to meeting up for the trip.
Zelle – prior to meeting up for the trip.

Cash is preferred. Most of our meeting locations have little to no internet data coverage so running a card or payment app in the field is difficult. Cash is simplest.

Debit/credit cards- If you prefer to pay with a card, we need to do so over the phone in advance of the trip.

Paypal- over the phone or by email.

Venmo- in the field with data coverage, among friends. Otherwise their fees are too high.

Upon payment, you will receive a receipt by text.

RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED!

For orderly service we require a reservation. We are an outfitter as opposed to just a rental. Trips require planning in advance to mobilize staff and equipment. Just a note, we rarely have a bad review, but every complaint has been due to trying to scramble to work in a customer that did not have a reservation.

To make a reservation, CALL (812) 340-0700

Online reservation system will be functional and operating soon.

You never have to come to our central office. We meet you right at the trip that you have scheduled.

Pathfinder Outfitters

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