Most mornings on West Lake Okoboji, the water goes glass around 6:30. The ski boats haven’t fired up. The wind hasn’t decided what it’s doing yet. From our Main Beach Dock, the largest dock on the lake, you can see clear to the sand bottom, and the loudest thing you’ll hear is the rope rigging on the sailboat tapping its mast.
That’s the hour to take a canoe out.
For guests staying with us, the canoes, paddle boats, and rowboats are right there waiting on the dock. Paddles in the rack, life jackets in the bin. No rental counter, no sign-up sheet, no hourly rate. They’re complimentary, self-serve, and have been part of staying at Fillenwarth Beach for as long as anyone around here can remember.
We’ve been doing it this way since A.T. Fillenwarth built his first cottage on this shoreline in 1918, a one-room place called Old Faithful that had no glass in the windows, just awnings and screens. Old Faithful eventually became the indoor pool. The cottages around it are now in their fourth generation of family ownership. The lake out front is still one of only three spring-fed, blue-water lakes in the world. (The other two are in Switzerland and Canada. We bring it up a lot.)
This is a guide to actually using the boats on our dock: when to go, where to head, what each one is good for, and a few things first-time paddlers tend to learn the hard way.
A quick note on West Lake Okoboji itself
West Okoboji isn’t a typical Midwest lake. It runs about 134 feet at its deepest point and was carved by the same glacier that left the boulder-strewn shoreline up at our North Beach. The water is cold, clear, and clean enough that your kids will watch fish swim under the canoe.
It also gets busy. By 10 a.m. on a July Saturday, you’ll see ski boats, wakeboard towers, pontoons, and the occasional sailboat on the move. None of that is bad (half the fun of staying on West Okoboji is watching the lake come alive), but it’s worth knowing if you’re planning to paddle. Early mornings and late evenings are the calm windows. Early afternoons are not.
What’s actually on our dock
We keep a fleet of canoes, paddle boats, and rowboats tied up at the Main Beach. Numbers shift across the season as boats rotate in and out for maintenance, but on a normal afternoon there are enough for several families to head out at once. Paddles, oars, and life jackets in every size from toddler up live in the dock-side gear box. Here’s how we’d think about which boat to grab.
Canoes
A canoe is the one for going somewhere. Two adults, an older kid, a small cooler. You can comfortably head north along the shoreline toward our North Beach docks, where the glacier-formed rock makes the water look completely different than it does down at Main Beach. You can also paddle south past our South Beach toward the public sand beach, which is one of the prettiest in the area.
Two practical notes from years of watching guests head out:
- The bow paddler steers less than they think. The stern (back) paddler does most of the steering.
- Lean into turns, not away from them. People who tip canoes almost always tip them by leaning the wrong way.
Canoes handle wind better than paddle boats. If there’s a 10-mph breeze on the water, take a canoe.
Paddle boats
Paddle boats are the family boat. Two pedalers up front, two passengers in the back, and a rudder you steer with a stick that one of the kids will fight you for. They’re slow, stable, and almost impossible to flip, which makes them perfect for the eight-year-old who has decided this is the day they captain something.
The race we see most often: two boats, one family in each, first one to the swim platform. A 70-yard sprint that ends in laughter and a cramp in everyone’s quad. We don’t recommend it for sustained exercise. We do recommend it.
A note about wind: paddle boats get pushed around when it picks up. They sit high and the pedal drive doesn’t bite the way a paddle does. On breezy afternoons, take a canoe instead, or wait for evening.
Rowboats
Rowboats are the boat people overlook. They shouldn’t.
A rowboat takes 30 seconds to figure out and gives you the best workout of the three. It’s also, honestly, the most peaceful. You sit facing the wake you’ve already made, watching the dock get smaller behind you, with nothing to do but pull and listen. We have grandparents who take a rowboat out every morning before coffee. Some of them have been doing it for forty years.
Tip: shorter, smoother strokes track straighter than long ones. Rowboats want to zigzag in the hands of someone trying too hard.
When to go out
The best paddling windows on West Okoboji, in order:
- Sunrise to about 8:30 a.m. Flat water, no boat traffic, fish visible under the hull.
- An hour before sunset until dark. We’re located on Sunset Beach for a reason. The west-facing shoreline gets the full color show, and most ski boats are off the water by 8 p.m.
- Cloudy weekday mornings. Underrated. Cool, calm, no glare.
Skip a paddle on Saturday afternoons in July, anything with a small craft advisory from the National Weather Service, and the half-hour after a thunderstorm passes. The wind clocks around and gets sneaky.
What to bring
Life jackets and paddles are on the dock. You should bring:
- Sunscreen, applied before you launch. Reapplying mid-canoe is comedy.
- Water shoes or sandals you don’t mind getting wet.
- A water bottle.
- A dry bag, or a Ziploc, for your phone. Phones in canoes is how phones become memories.
- A hat with a strap.
If you’re going out for more than an hour, throw in a snack. If you’re going at sunset, throw in a light layer. The lake cools off fast after the sun drops.
How a paddle hour fits into the rest of your day
A canoe or paddle boat isn’t really a whole-afternoon activity. It’s an hour, maybe an hour and a half, easily slotted around the rest of what’s happening at the resort. Combinations our guests run all the time:
- Morning paddle, then breakfast on your patio.
- Afternoon Sun Runner cruise (45 minutes around the lake with a complimentary drink), then a lazy paddle before dinner.
- Sunset rowboat, then the Monday Beach Party with the live band.
- Water skiing in the late morning (also complimentary, on our tournament boats), then a paddle boat session with the kids while parents rest a sore wakeboard knee.
The dock is small enough that you’ll see the same staff and guests over the course of a week. By Thursday, somebody’s helping you tie up.
A few things first-timers ask us
Do I need to know how to swim to use a paddle boat or canoe at Fillenwarth Beach?
You need a life jacket. Non-negotiable, and we have them in every size. Knowing how to swim helps your confidence, but the life jacket is what keeps you safe.
Can kids take a paddle boat out alone on West Lake Okoboji?
Anyone in the boat needs to be wearing a properly fitted life jacket, and a parent or guardian needs to make the call about whether their child is ready to handle a boat without an adult aboard. The paddle boats stay close to our protected swimming area, which helps.
What if the wind picks up while I’m paddling on West Lake Okoboji?
Head back early. In a canoe with the wind at your back, paddle into it for the first half of the trip so the return leg is the easy one. In a paddle boat that’s losing the wind fight, pedal toward our shoreline at any angle and we’ll see you in.
Where’s the best spot to paddle from Fillenwarth Beach on West Lake Okoboji?
We like the shoreline north toward our North Beach docks for scenery, and the channel south toward the public beach for distance. If you’re new to the lake, stay within sight of our dock for your first outing. There’s enough to see in a half-mile loop along Sunset Beach that you won’t run out of view.
Push off whenever
We’ve been welcoming families to this stretch of shoreline since 1918. The cottages have been rebuilt, the office has been added, a tornado knocked most of the place down in 1968 and we put it back up. But the canoes, paddle boats, and rowboats have always been right where they are now, free to use, paddle in your hand the moment you walk down to the dock.
If you’re already staying with us, head down whenever the mood hits. If you haven’t booked yet, our cottages, studios, and apartments are open all season, and a paddle on West Lake Okoboji is included with every one of them.
Reserve a cottage at Fillenwarth Beach, or see what else is on the dock.