River guideIowa and Minnesota and New York
Cedar River
Plan a paddle across 9 paddle areas. Compare distance, difficulty, and today’s conditions before choosing your stretch.
Trip picker
Choose a route
Start with distance, then compare today’s conditions.
Showing all 29 trips.
Clear a filter to see more of this river.
Loading trip map.
End of mapRiver overview
Cedar River paddle planning
What to verify before you commit.
Water levels
These Cedar River routes use 10 gauge references depending on the stretch.
Route options
Compare 29 scored routes across Cedar Rapids Area, Cedar Valley, Eastern Iowa, Hamilton County / Moose River Plains Wild Forest, Hamilton and Essex Counties / Blue Mountain Wild Forest and Essex Chain Lakes Complex, North Central Iowa, North Iowa, Southeast Iowa, Southern Minnesota. Open a route page for put-in, take-out, distance, source confidence, and access notes.
Difficulty
Cedar River routes here are marked easy and hard and moderate, so choose the stretch that fits your group and conditions.
Quick answers
Cedar River paddling FAQ
Where can I paddle the Cedar River?
Paddle Today tracks 29 Cedar River routes across Cedar Rapids Area, Cedar Valley, Eastern Iowa, Hamilton County / Moose River Plains Wild Forest, Hamilton and Essex Counties / Blue Mountain Wild Forest and Essex Chain Lakes Complex, North Central Iowa, North Iowa, Southeast Iowa, Southern Minnesota. Compare the route cards on this page, then open an individual route for put-in, take-out, distance, and access notes.
How should I check Cedar River water levels?
Start with the route score and gauge notes for the stretch you plan to paddle. This hub includes routes watched with 10 gauges or gauge references, and each route page explains its own target range or low-water floor.
Which Cedar River route is best today?
Use the live route cards above to compare today's Paddle Today scores. The best stretch can change with water level, recent trend, weather, access, and route difficulty.