Canoeing on the raccoon river near linden, Iowa

We have been curious about the Raccoon River after riding alongside it on the bike trail between Redfield and Panora, iowa. Today, we finally rented a canoe and tried out a five mile stretch. Nice. The river is fairly narrow and bends gently this way and that, with long stretches of placid waters broken up by short fairly mild rapids. The banks are lined with woods and corn fields, with the occasional muddy sandbar. Much of the time we had the river to ourselves until we neared the end and ran into a half dozen rowdy kayakers. we rented from Linden rentals, a guy with some canoes and kayaks who lives on the tiny Main Street. Worked out well. We stopped on the way back at the busy Dairy Shoppe in Redfield. next time we will are to put out a little further along, at the Redfield dam.