Boating the Illinois and Kankakee River
 

How big of a boat can you run with?
What are the water depths like?
In the Morris & Ottawa pool do you have to worry about hitting anything at all?
Would I need to worry about hitting anything in the Kankakee River?
How far could I boat on the Kankakee?
Are the channels well marked?
Boating in May would I need to worry about hitting any debris at all?

I don't know the answer to any of those questions...except the last one. And the answer to that one is YES. Especially after rains.

Don't worry about it. That's good to know about watching out for the heavy rain which can cause debris.

The Kankakee is not marked well... There some islands out there that if you go between at he wrong place you will be in trouble. After heavy rans I have seen refrigerators float by. The Illinois is a navigable shipping way. It is marked well with red and green bouys. After rans there is stuff floating down it to.... To be honest there is always a chance to hit stuff. It's a flowing body of water so it's good practice to always be mindfull of that.

How good is boating on the Kankakee? I have a friend that slips his boat next to mine on a dock on Clinton Lake that lives in Bourbonnais and is a member of the Kankake Boat Club. He'd rather drive an hour and a half than boat on the Kankakee. I don't boat the Illinois North of Starved Rock but from there South to LaGrange I boat all the time and never have an issue. I've hit more crap on LOTO than the Illinois. You've just got to monitor the river level closely.

The part by Bourbonnais is not good at all... The part that connects to the des plains and Illinois is a lot of fun.

Wow you guys got 1 like already :lolhit: fwiw We used to run our drag boats at sanctioned cirlce boat races years ago in Kankakee. It was a blast . We ran every year, So it must have some clean spots

I'm sorry I should of been more clear. The area of the Kankakee River that connects to the Des Planes River.

Mptrimshop, thank you for giving me the heads up on what to look out for.

You can run as big of boat you want. There are 42 ft fountain's on there sometimes, I used to run my 36 outlaw there some. Although either is way to big if you want to stop at a beach.
Il river is typically 15-20 ft as it's barge traffic, and decently marked. Kankakee is 10-15 ft in the main channels but the "side" channels can get pretty shallow. There's an area known as "lilly pads" that isn't very deep in and out. Bottom line both are a river and river's have typical shallow spots in them. Most notably the turn from il river south onto the Kankakee -gotta go west almost past it then turn back in.
You can only go about 5-10 minutes south on Kankakee, but there are a few spots to stop, not really beaches though. Il river in morris pool has several beaches.
An yes again being a river, it floods with rain and thus gets a lot of debris. check again when you are ready to go.
if you still have your 25, that's the most common size boat out there on either. no worries.

paulb32, thank you for letting me know about the depth of the river as well as the size of boat. Yes I do still have my 25. Wish I had a truck to tow with though. I might actually keep my boat on the Illinois River next year. Have it at a marina and do the in and out service.

What marinas are you looking at?

Either the Channahon or Morris Pool as far as marinas go.

They have a few nice places over there.... I can not comment to much on what ones are better as I don't have a ton of time on that side. But if ya have any questions about one pool east I can prob help.

I just thought of something I completely forgot about. Would my boat be able to fit under the I-55 bridge while being on plane?

My friend smoked some sort of concrete abutment that is underwater on the north end of the narrows in peoria pool, just outside the channel markers on the east side. Happens regularly when the water is low apparently.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7323.../data=!3m1!1e3

Early last year when the water was high, we drove anywhere. Later in the year when it got low, you can barely go out of the channel anywhere.

. The bridge over the DesPlaines or over the Kankakee. The DesPlaines bridge is probably 60 to 80 ft off of the water. The water that goes under the bridge on the Kankakee river is not navigable at all. DO NOT try to boat that section or you will hit nothing but rocks. You should not go any further up river than the launch ramps which are down river about a mile from the bridge that crosses the Kankakee on I55. The upper pool of the Kankakee/DesPlaines River has a lot of problem areas. If you are going to boat there you should take someone experienced in that area the 1st time. Personally, I prefer the lower pool down by Morris. There is about 30 miles to run in between locks and much more scenic. The DesPlaines upper section is full of industrial facilities.

The man speaks truth!!!

Enough... What boat do run around there in?

Sorry I should of been more clear. I meant the bridge on the Kankakee River. Thank you for giving me the heads up there. I have a 2001 Baja 25 Outlaw.

Just be carefull anywhere on the Kankakee.I farm about 40 miles up river from Kankakee and we send trees down your way everychance we get. Well we don't really send them, but they sure head your way. Sometimes all you see is a couple of sticks piking up out of the water.Then when the hook on a bridge or something you see they are 40' long. Up here the bigest boat I see is a 18' bass boat..

Looks to be right around the water intake area just North of the Rt. 24 bridge? Why on earth would you run outside the channel markers even when the river is up?

He runs a 42' Outerlimits Legacy out of New Buffalo Michigan. One of the nicest ones around!

Mike P....here's Gary (Enough 4 Play)'s boat...but I don't think you'll see it too much on the river...

You will have no problem running underneath the bridge that crosses the Kankakee River. Again, I cannot stress this enough that you should not run that section of the river without someone with experience showing you around. I have hundreds and hundreds of hours over 25 years of boating the sections that you are referring to and you can boat it with no problems if you know where you are at.

When did you get that shot.

You will not see my 42 on the river. It is a Lake Michigan boat.

Driver beware if you run outside of the channel markers. I would not recommend you doing it at anytime no matter how high the water is. You can go from 15ft of water inside the channel markers to less than 2 feet deep just outside of the markers. There is also an underwater wingdam down by Ottawa Illinois on the Illinois River that is not marked very well.

2010...the year we did that Miller Run before the races at Michigan City.

Captain was on the tube! Someone else was driving. And it was literally 20' or less on the other side of a marker. Someone said there used to be a structure there. It was on the east side of the channel in the narrows.

The rivers around here are a jinx, whenever I`ve hit or scraped or sucked up anything it was always on the river.
I avoid em and only go for testing and the river cost me 3 drives, one bravo, 2 SSM, how does that happen on flat water !? JINX I tell ya!!

I boated on the Kankakee and Illinois river, the water in this pic is definitely out on Lake Michigan not on the river. What I remember about the water on the Kankakee was that is was NASTY.

You must have left your reading glasses in New Buff as thats what i wrote. ;)

I think it would be wise for me to be a passenger in ones boat. This way I would be familiarized with the river seeing that I've never boated it before.

LOL nope don't think I would forget that ride!!

I think it would be cool to puck a weekend to get a lot if power boats to take over the river!! Prob Morris side as there are hotel rooms not far away..... And most times when your on the river ya finish you day/night up with a few cocktails!!

Just take it slow... And remember don't go where you have not seen a boat your size or bigger go before. Tie up talk to the locals they will help ya out!

Thank you there mptrimshop I'll keep that in mind.

Floating in the Illinois down by the LaGrange lock South of Beardstown. I believe I could see all the way down to my nipples! :lolhit: