Hackensack River Boating

Hackensack River Canoe and Kayak Launches. View in a larger map.

Feel free to pay back the effort of creating this map by picking
up trash or joining the Hackensack River Keeper for clean-ups.
They often rent canoes during from Laurel Hill Park.

The Hackensack River Canoe and Kayak Club occasionally leads
trips on the Hackensack and provides guidance and camaraderie.
turnpike bridge and nyc from the Hack
Disclaimer: Boating is inherently dangerous. Boating on the Hackensack
includes the usual dangers (drowning, speedboats) and the less common
(toxic waste). Boat and use this information at your own risk.
BE PRO-LIFE JACKET AND BOAT!

Surrounded by suburbia, boating the Hack opens up a beautiful and relaxing natural world. Full of life, this rich tidal estuary is home to eagles, herons, snapping turtles and muskrats. Granted, at low tide the mud flats emit much of this life, and the lower river seethes with the river's former glory as a garbage dump and industrial wasteland.
The Hackensack is canoeable (unimpeded) as far north as northern River Edge where a log boom (and the garbage it collects) often blocks the river. Another boom just above Elm Street and 100 yards below 3' dam in Oradell is often impassable, but the mile of River above the dam and below Oradell reservoir is beautiful. Due to garbage in booms, as of fall '09 the highest recommended start is the River Edge Boat launch*.
For those of you new to the Hackensack and tidal rivers in general, it's easier and more pleasant to launch at high tide. Floating back and forth with the tide is pleasant, but nowhere is the tide strong enough that most paddles can't go against it...tide chart below. Please contact us with corrections or suggestions.
Full size Tide Chart in new window.

A few more miles of river and reservoir are accessible from Western Highway south of West Nyack in New York. A flow of about 20 cfs at the USGS Gauge (01376800) HACKENSACK RIVER AT WEST NYACK NY shouldn't be too scrapy. Since you'll have to go back upstream a significantly higher flow will have you working to get back to your boat. Note that Gertler's Garden State Canoeing (2nd edition aka the Jersey Paddlers bible) mentions a put in on 5th Avenue that was heavily posted by United Water.