CanoeSport Outfitters

"Where Paddling Is A Priority"

Home / About Us / Products / Events / Instruction /Adventure Trips / Rentals / CanoeSport Magazine

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, John Pearson is a professional ecologist who lived in Illinois, Wyoming, and South Dakota before moving to Iowa in 1985. Among his first paddling expeditions in the early 1970s were canoe trips in the wilderness areas of Alquonquin Provincial Park in eastern Ontario and the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. John reactivated his zeal for paddling after coming to Iowa and discovering that CanoeSport Outfitters was headquartered in his new home town of Indianola. Since then he has logged solo trips in the Boundary Water Canoe Wilderness Area and winter sojourns to the Padre Island along the Texas Gulf Coast, the Withlacoochee River in Florida, and the Buffalo River, Bull Shoals Lake, and Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas. He has also kayaked in Voyageurs National Park ( Minnesota), Yellowstone Lake (Wyoming), Great Salt Lake ( Utah), Puget Sound and the Snake River (Washington), Everglades

National Park ( Florida), and two trips to Lake Superior- Isle Royale (Michigan) and the Slate Islands (Ontario).

Within Iowa, John spends much of his time kayaking on Red Rock Lake, where he also leads CanoeSport ecotours and teaches about geology and ecology. (He can also often be found on Lake Ahquabi on summer weekends teaching kayak lessons for CanoeSport Outfitters.)

John has also led interpretive paddling trips to state nature preserves along several streams, including the Upper Iowa River, the Des Moines River, and the Winnebago River and has also participated in Project AWARE clean-ups of the Maquoketa and Little Sioux rivers. Paddling on the Mississippi River, especially along the rugged blufflands bordering Iowa and Wisconsin, has recently captured his interest.

John has also written about his paddling experiences. Two of his essays are available on-line:

“Little Sioux Wild Times”, Iowa PaddlerE-Journal, Volume 1, page 5:

“Red Rock Reflections on the Windsong”, Wild Iowa Essay Project, 2006:

Currently John maintains a blog about paddling and enjoying life outdoors.

http://outaboutiowa.blogspot.com

203 West Salem Ave., Indianola, IA 50125

515-961-6117 or 1-800-257-6080 / e-mail: casey@canoesportoutfitters.com