There’s nothing rushin’ about this river

The lazy days of summer are straight-ahead and that means it’s prime season for one of Sonoma County’s favorite family adventures, a Huck Finn type of getaway that is neither expensive nor difficult to get to.

The Russian River flows through such famous Wine Country destinations as Geyserville and Healdsburg before it makes its way out to the sea through gentle hills covered with thick redwood forests and teeming with rare birds and other wildlife. About a 10-mile stretch of the river from Forestville to Guerneville is ideal for calm-water canoeing or kayaking and a local company called Burke’s Canoe Trips helps make it even easier by providing canoes, kayaks and a shuttle service that will return you to your car near Forestville.

The Russian River, in this case, is not exactly the “rushin’” river. In fact, the water here is so tame that it’s really not all that good for inner-tubing because in some parts you can’t keep enough forward motion without a lot of paddling. For that reason, canoes and kayaks are ideal.

Once our canoe was packed with a few minimum provisions such as sunscreen and a cooler full of drinks and sandwiches, we set out tentatively from the launch point. Canoes are inherently unstable, at least if you haven’t been around them for awhile, and it took us a few minutes to get comfortable with our balance and to get some confidence we could maneuver properly. Soon we were into a calm stretch of water, barely moving but only requiring a gentle paddle to keep making good forward progress. This was when we really started to take in the natural beauty of the river — the thick forests of giant trees and the continuous ballet performed by the birds of the Russian River such as the great blue heron and osprey. Along the way we would see turtles and deer as well. We also enjoyed paddling by the charming vacation cabins that are perched above the river in many strategic locations along this stretch of the Russian. Spectacular bridges span the river at various points although most of this float was away from the highway, making it feel even more remote than it actually is.