A level view across Portage Lake toward mountains beneath blue-gray clouds, with a rowing oar in the water

Guided sculling · Alaska

Row farther
into Alaska.

The water is waiting.

Small-group trips for experienced scullers who want real miles on the water and the chance to take in Alaska from the boat.

Explore 2027 trips Email me

Portage Lake, Alaska

The idea

The row and the landscape.
One inseparable experience.

Rowing Alaska brings together two things I love: a good row and the chance to experience Alaska from the water. If you can handle a single and love to row, I want to share this with you.

A sculler crossing Portage Lake beneath snow-covered mountains and a glacier A smiling sculler on calm water in Kachemak Bay A sculler rowing past forested islands in Kachemak Bay

The experience

A different kind of Alaska trip.

We’ll put in meaningful miles, but there will also be time to look up, explore, and take in where we are.

Who this is for

You need to be comfortable in a single scull on open water. Not racing-fit, not expedition-hardened—just a rower who knows what they’re doing and wants to do it somewhere extraordinary. If that’s you, let’s talk.

Group
Six or fewer rowers
Boats
Stable, coastal-water rowing shells
Rowers
Intermediate to advanced; comfortable in a single scull
Conditions
Plans shaped by weather and water

Where we row

Wild water.
Carefully chosen.

I choose routes for both the rowing and the place: protected water, worthwhile distance, extraordinary scenery, and access that makes the experience feel unmistakably Alaskan. Most locations are within a four-hour drive of Anchorage, with every trip shaped by the weather and water conditions.

Warm evening light over a calm Alaska bay

Kachemak Bay

Protected coves · Remote stays
A mountain lake beneath low clouds

Eklutna Lake

Glacial water · Mountain miles
Portage Lake beneath snow-covered mountains and a glacier

Portage Lake

Glacial water · Mountain views
Rowing shells resting above a quiet shoreline at sunset in Kachemak Bay

Kachemak Bay

Coastal routes · Sheltered water

Trip locations can include Portage Lake, Eklutna Lake, Trail Lake, Kenai Lake, Kachemak Bay, and Resurrection Bay.

2027 trips

One day or several.
Alaska is the point.

Single-day trips

A day on the water with a route chosen for the rowing, the scenery, and the conditions. Return to shore with a new perspective on a place you may have only seen from the road.

Multi-day trips

More time to row and explore. Depending on the route, a trip can include out-and-back days, remote stays, or camping.

Custom trips

Your Alaska, Your Schedule

Have a specific lake in mind? A particular window of time? Let’s build a trip around your goals, your timeline, and the conditions that make rowing here extraordinary. Choose a single day or several, an out-and-back route or a multi-day journey. Camping is optional. The same sculling experience requirements apply.

Talk with me about a trip

On the water

Gear for the conditions.
Room to row.

Every rower wears a PFD and wetsuit skin provided by Rowing Alaska. I choose this gear with both safety and function in mind: we need to be able to row in it and have the right gear for the conditions we’re in. Weather and water conditions also shape when and where we go.

Founder

Built from a love of rowing
and Alaska.

Rowing has been part of my life in more than one chapter. I rowed sweep competitively, stepped away from the sport, and found my way back years later through sculling.

I started Rowing Alaska to create the kind of trip I wanted to take—and to share my love of Alaska with rowers from all backgrounds who want meaningful miles in a boat and time to experience Alaska.

Rowing Alaska founder Samantha Smith smiling from a shell on a mountain lake

The fleet

Purpose-built for the water.

All boats are MAAS coastal boats: 24-foot singles, Aero singles, or a double.

2027 trip inquiries

Let’s plan your row.

Contact me for trips and pricing. Tell me when you’d like to go, where you’d like to row, and a little about your sculling experience. I’ll talk with you directly about a single-day or multi-day trip that fits.

Email info@rowingalaska.com