Canoe Van Buren is history for another year.  All will tell you that this was the best year yet.   The scenery is more beautiful, the people more friendly, the volunteers more energetic, the attractions more historic, and the accommodations more inviting each time we return to the Villages of Van Buren.

If you were on this year's 2004 float, your picture may very well be in here (there are 30 photos and 14 videos of this year's event).  If you are a volunteer, we love you.   If you have not been on Canoe Van Buren, do not miss it next year.  Canoe Van Buren (July 2004)

Van Buren County is putting up water trail signs.  They applied  for and received a water trail grant to improve the access points and provide maps and brochures for paddlers.    To request updates on the trail, contact Van Buren County Trails Assn., Villages of Van Buren, P.O. Box 9, Keosauqua, IA 52565.

The Federal Recreational Trails grant review committee was impressed with the Van Buren grant at its meeting on 11/18/02.    I have transcribed the wonderful Cultural and Geographical history that was included in the grant.  This document takes you back to the 1830's, when Iowa was opened for settlement by the Blackhawk Treaty, but was a land shared by whites and Indians.  This was a time when the best land was along the creeks that flowed into the Des Moines, and there was a town on either side of every creek.

The superb Van Buren County Water Trail Grant is a public document.

Read about old Van Buren and the Mormon Trail,  by Ralph Arnold

Visit the Villages of Van Buren

Riverview Campground, Canoe Rentals and Lodging

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