This growing sport is at its finest in the Keweenaw, where you have plenty of islands, rock formations, and wilderness coastlines to explore. The Keweenaw Adventure Company (145 Gratiot St., Copper Harbor, 906/289-4303, www.keweenawadventure.com) rents kayaks, guides trips, and offers lessons. Beginners should try the 2.5-hour introductory paddle, which includes novice dry-land instruction and a fine little trip around the harbor and along the Lake Superior shoreline.

The Keweenaw Adventure Company also offers some daylong trips around the peninsula—to Horseshoe Harbor, Agate Harbor, and the mouth of the Montreal River—as scheduling permits.

Rivers in the Keweenaw tend to be pretty bony, so white-water kayaking is limited (though this varies with the year’s precipitation). Sea kayaking, on the other hand, is outstanding, the perfect way to access bluffs, caves, sea stacks and rocky islands all along the Lake Superior shoreline.

The Keweenaw Water Trail, still under development, guides small craft around the peninsula and through the Portage Waterway. Isle Royale makes for an excellent paddling destination, too, and the ferries will transport kayaks and canoes for an additional fee. Canoeing is popular on inland lakes, but open boats are not recommended on Lake Superior.