The view is always great from a kayak.

A virtual explosion of brightly colored kayaks around Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay, where I live, seems to prove the claim that kayaking has become the fastest-growing boating activity in America. Nationwide, canoes still outnumber kayaks, but information collected by the Outdoor Industry Association shows that since 2001 kayak sales have averaged over 330,000 units annually, compared to about 95,000 canoes. Based on retail data collected by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, 6.1 million Americans paddled a kayak in 2004, up 2.6 million from 1998.

The short explanation for this trend is that paddling a kayak is about as much fun as a person can have in the outdoors, and almost anyone can participate. Kayakers don’t need to be athletic; people with disabilities that keep them from activities such as hiking or biking can enjoy paddling as much as the most-obsessed fitness buff. You don’t even need to be a good swimmer, just smart enough to always wear a vest-type Personal Flotation Device. There are activities that demand speed and strength from a paddler, like whitewater rapids and the rolling, open sea, but most recreational kayaking is leisurely—someone once referred to it as “water-hiking.”

But don’t get the idea that kayaking isn’t good exercise. Blue Cross-Blue Shield reports that paddling works all major muscle groups, and clinical studies estimate that a 180-pound man burns 10 calories for every minute of steady stroking. That equals the energy expenditure of the same person hiking with a 40-pound backpack, about 15 percent more than running at 5 miles per hour. Be forewarned, though, that the no-impact nature of the exercise makes kayaking seem deceptively easy; “hitting the wall,” that point where available blood sugars are depleted enough to cause hypoglycemia, is a real possibility. For a kayaker, counting calories means making sure there are enough snacks on hand to keep the metabolic engine stoked.

For those whose tastes lean toward adven- ture, almost any recreational kayak can be outfitted as an ideal watercraft for backcountry exploration. Voyageurs of centuries past knew untracked wilderness places are often most easily accessed by water, but the needs of modern explorers have changed. A trapper of old needed the waterborne equivalent of a four-by-four pickup truck to haul a season’s worth of goods, while today’s backwater explorers generally have only a few precious days to spend in the wild.

If the canoe is a pickup truck, the kayak is a mid-engine sports car. The tall gunwales of a canoe are great for carrying cargo, but also give the vessel a high center of gravity, especially with a light load. A kayak sits low in the water, its paddler actually seated below the waterline; covered decks fore and aft prevent rough seas from getting into the boat, and the cockpit can be sealed completely by a “spray skirt” that covers the opening from cockpit rim to paddler’s waist.

Having weight concentrated in its center enables a kayak to turn very quickly, much like a mid-engine Ferarri, which makes a kayak the most maneuverable boat on the water. Olympic and whitewater paddlers push that handling performance to the limit by leaning hard into turns, tipping the boat literally onto its side to fully exploit the kayak’s extremely tight turning radius.

From a perspective of pure performance, paddling a kayak is more than just a fun activity; it can become the means to an end for a variety of outdoors lovers.

Anglers will appreciate that a kayak can reach remote holes where unmolested fish have grown to lunker size; some models are designed especially for fishing.

For birdwatchers and wildlife photographers, a kayak is a great platform for observing nesting cranes or browsing moose.
Goose and duck hunters can slip into marshes where sharp-eyed waterfowl least expect to find them, then retrieve their own downed birds without the help of a dog.

For hardcore adventurers, a kayak really shines when a planned trip is too far to be covered in a single day. A 12-foot kayak can carry more weight farther than the stoutest backpacker in a day without causing sore feet and ankle sprains. This puts a new dimension on wilderness camping, because while backpackers count ounces and sacrifice comforts, kayakers can pull a cornucopia of luxuries from their boats to create campsites that are the envy of their sweaty terrestrial counterparts.

Or you can combine the two, base-camping from the beached kayak, then hiking overland under a daypack. Alternately, a kayak can be strapped onto a wheeled portage cart and towed over rugged trails to reach the most remote waterways. Some have even towed their laden kayaks over snow, like a toboggan, to reach open water. Should you need to portage the old-fashioned way, by carrying your boat, it may be a comfort to know that a 14-foot kayak—the popular choice for all-around use— weighs about 15 pounds less than a canoe of the same length.

Depending on make and model, kayaks cost about the same as canoes and rowboats, starting at around $300 for roto-molded polyethylene models to more than $1,000 for those made from high-tech composites. All are lightweight enough to be portaged by the number of paddlers they carry, and no watercraft is better for reaching remote, intriguing places where larger boats may not go. If your interests lie across-water, a kayak may just be the boat you want.