Packrafting Adventures for Inland Waterways and Lochs

There is a particular satisfaction in walking a hill pass, then inflating a boat at the far end instead of turning round. Packrafts are light enough to disappear into the bottom of a rucksack and tough enough to take a scrape on a gravel shore, and they turn quiet stretches of water into the middle section of a walk rather than a view from a car park.

Why a packraft changes what a walk can be

Most touring packrafts weigh between about 2 and 4 kg, with hulls around 240–270 cm long, and roll down to roughly the size of a two-person tent. That is the whole point: you carry it because it lets you join up two bits of land that would otherwise mean a long road walk round.

The classic shape of a day becomes a lollipop rather than a loop. Paddle across a loch, leave the boat at a bothy or a shore, walk the ridge, and float back. Or walk in from a road end, drop the boat on the water and drift out down the length of the glen with the wind, rather than into it. On the third day of a long walk, when your knees are complaining and the map shows a six-kilometre lakeside path, the packraft quietly becomes a much better idea.

Getting the kit right

A few things are worth thinking about before you buy or borrow:

• Hull style. A closed boat with an inflatable floor and a spray deck is far more comfortable in wind and chop than an open one, which will sit you in water within an hour on a breezy loch. The deck also makes cold mornings bearable.
• Paddle. A four-piece paddle of around 200–220 cm suits most packrafts. Carbon is light; alloy is cheap and fine. Take a spare clip and check the joints haven't worked loose before long crossings.
• Buoyancy aid. Choose one you can adjust over a waterproof jacket and a fleece, and wear it. Always.
• Clothing. Inland water in the UK sits between roughly 4°C in winter and 16–18°C in high summer, and lochs fed by snowmelt stay colder than the air suggests. A dry suit is the honest answer from autumn to spring; a wetsuit plus cag and a warm hat works for summer. Cotton is useless.
• The small things. Dry bags, a hand pump, a sponge or bailer, a repair patch and tape, a short throwline if you paddle anything moving. Two metres of 6 mm cord as a painter is handy for tying up at a jetty.

Pack heavy items low and centrally, and keep the bow very slightly heavier than the stern so you track straight. Test the whole load on the living room floor before you commit.

Where to go in the UK

Scottish lochs are the obvious starting point: Loch Ossian, Loch Laidon and Loch Ba on Rannoch Moor, Loch Affric, Loch Arkaig, Loch Shiel. They offer wild shores, deer on the banks and, on the bigger ones, genuinely serious fetch — a kilometre of wind can build a chop that punishes a small boat. Paddle out into the wind first thing, when it is usually calm, and enjoy the ride home later.

Canals are the forgiving option: the Caledonian, the Union, the Lancaster, the Monmouthshire & Brecon and the Llangollen. They're sheltered, have jetties and bridges, and are excellent for learning handling. Expect portages at locks and be polite to moored boats.

Quiet rivers such as the Wye, the Great Ouse, the Nene, the lower Severn and the non-tidal Thames are lovely for gentle touring, but check for weirs, and get out well above them. Weirs are the single most dangerous feature on otherwise placid rivers.

Skills worth practising before you go

Spend an hour on flat, shallow water before you trust yourself on anything remote. Learn to inflate the boat properly, to get in from a shore without filling it, and to empty it if you fail. Practise a deliberate capsize and re-entry while you can still stand up.

Then work on three strokes: a forward stroke that keeps the boat straight, a stern rudder for turning, and a ferry glide, which is how you cross moving water without being swept downstream. Read the wind — on open water, whitecaps mean stay off. Check river levels and rainfall for the previous two days, and give spate rivers a miss.

In autumn and winter, avoid paddling over shallow gravel where salmon and trout spawn; the redds are fragile and easy to damage.

Access, licences and leaving no trace

In Scotland, the Scottish Outdoor Access Code gives responsible non-motorised access to most inland water, and lightweight wild camping is permitted under the same code with care.

In England and Wales, the picture is patchier. Canals need a licence, which is often included with membership of a national paddling body. Many rivers are privately owned with fishing rights, so stick to recognised navigations, public slipways and permissive access points, and portage where you're unsure rather than arguing the point.

Whatever the water, check, clean and dry your boat, kit and boots between trips to stop invasive species hitching a lift. Keep well clear of nesting birds on islands in spring, take all litter home, and leave every shore as you found it. Do that, and the quiet places will keep welcoming small boats for years to come.