Kayak Pittsburgh North Park

Advance registration is preferred on weekends as you may not find an availability for the time you need. Also, you have to book online and make online payment itself. The staff were friendly and provided good information about kayaking. I had a great experience here but note that the lake is not a fresh water lake so not everyone may like it here. I will recommend this place.

My friends and I were there last week and it was our first time kayaking in Pittsburgh, it was great weather and a great experience, the staff was amazing and very patient with my friend, it was his first time ever kayaking and he was extremely nervous, the young lady got into a kayak and showed him how much it can wobble without flipping over and assured him he'll be fine, 20 minutes later he got in and we all had a great time.

Fine place to go if you’re close. Kinda expensive. $27 a person for an hour and there are so many people out it is uncomfortable on the lake. Go to Racoon State Park instead.

GREAT way to spend the day experiencing the beautiful water of North Park. LOTS of watercraft to choose from. We chose tandem kayaks. Pricing available per hour/day. Clean, well maintained kayaks and equipment. Crash course available for beginners which is nice. Hard working crew gets kayaks in and out of the water quickly and safely. Will definitely do again!

I just got back from renting a kayak at North Park and had a good time despite the constant drizzle. I took my fishing rod and tackle box on the kayak and got a bunch of nibbles, but did not catch anything. I saw herons, a kingfisher, ducks, and geese. The staff with Kayak Pittsburgh were helpful and very friendly. The kayak was in good shape. The lake is the perfect size to spend 1-2 hours kayaking and then get back to the boathouse easily when your time is up. I’d definitely rent here again in the future and I recommend it as a fun activity to anyone who loves being on the water.

I will NEVER use this boat rental place again. Today one of their employees named Sam berated my friend and I when we were out on the water to the point of verbal abuse. I use my own paddleboards most of the time but we wanted to try tandem kayak, so we rented from this venue. Apparently they require you to wear life vests every single second you are in their crafts. My friend and I had taken off our life vests for about 3 minutes to remove a layer and an employee, who I later found out was named Sam, was paddling by in the water and started literally screaming at us. There was never any request by him in a friendly way. He proceeded to turn his boat towards us threatening to "take us out of the water" if we didnt immediately zip our life vests back up. I have never been spoken to so violently. My poor friend was so uneasy she wanted to turn the boat around right then and return it. The worst part is that my kids were on our paddleboards and they witnessed all of the screaming by this employee named Sam and were so affected by it. Never will I EVER use this service again!

Renting options, reserve online first. Rentals have separate dock. Public launch is on the other side of the building. It was hard to load kayaks from public dock. I prefer launching from other public docks in the park. Pretty lake that has some nice places to hang in shade or out in the open.

No rain all day today, but was closed due to "inclement weather" even when my friend put an advanced deposit down for a large party to celebrate her own birthday party. She did not receive a phone call. 9 people traveled to kayak and were standing disappointed in the parking lot. My hope is that they will offer her a free hour or two to make up for this and then I will give a new rating. Multiple people said they even called ahead and they said they would be open so don't trust calling ahead either!

This was a fun experience overall. We went on a perfect weather day, the lake was busy, people and cars all over. There was some wildlife including; great blue herons, ospreys, and fish. Some of the staff was less than kind -- not rude, but they were a bit flat. The kayak was expensive, we did a tandem kayak for two hours and we needed maybe 45 minutes to see the entire lake. I would say price ratio to what you get is not entirely worth it. The cars were constantly going by, and noisy. There was a fun bridge, a fun building with a mini bridge with nests and an island that creates a sort of loop on the lake. I would recommend checking out the other locations as they likely match the price for experience, and planning these out.

This was a really great place to rent a kayak, canoe, or SUP! Super easy process to book online (which I recommend in the summer months when it can get busy). It's easy to access in North Park and the lake is beautiful and a great quick escape from the city. Highly recommend!

I will NEVER use this boat rental place again. Today one of their employees named Sam berated my friend and I when we were out on the water to the point of verbal abuse. I use my own paddleboards most of the time but we wanted to try tandem kayak, so we rented from this venue. Apparently they require you to wear life vests every single second you are in their crafts. My friend and I had taken off our life vests for about 3 minutes to remove a layer and an employee, who I later found out was named Sam l, was paddling by in the water and started literally screaming at us. There was never any request by him in a friendly way. He proceeded to turn his boat towards us threatening to "take us out of the water" if we didnt immediately zip our life vests back up. I have never been spoken to so violently. My poor friend was so uneasy she wanted to turn the boat around right then and return it. The worst part is that my kids were on our paddleboards and they witnessed all of the screaming by this employee named Sam and were so affected by it. Never will I EVER use this service again!

You should reserve a kayak or SUP online in advance. You cannot walk inside due to Covid to register like prior to Covid. They will give you a tablet to register if you're a walk in, but it seems that this is not preferred. Their hours are limited guessing due to shortness of staff. It's mid-August and they are only open Fri-Sun. I used to like to go mid-week when the lake was less crowded. Anyway, I reserved an SUP online for Friday 1pm which is when they open. There was a line. But once I got to the plexiglass divider it didn't take more than a minute before I went to get my board. Rentals for an SUP for an hour were $27 with tax. It was a nice paddling day, but lots of folks on the water which makes it a bit less enjoyable as I SUP to relax & many people are novices to maneuvering around them can be a challenge. Still, worth a rental if you don't own your own kayak or SUP. They also rent peddle boats.

This might be my new favorite place to easily rent a kayak and enjoy Pittsburgh's summer weather. For a long time Kayak Pittsburgh's North Shore location was my #1 choice, and while I still think kayaking on the rivers and around the Point is a real treat I think paddling on North Park's lake is far more relaxing, and so worth the extra time spent on the road to get here. Like the North Shore kayaking location this area is absolutely beautiful, but in a different way. Rather than our amazing city's skylines there's lots of trees, water lilies, and other sights you'd expect from a park. Be on the lookout for birds, fish and even deer - those sightings are fantastic additions to a slow and fun paddle. You can definitely tell a lot of work has gone into maintaining this park and pond, to make it so appealing to people and animals alike. Thumbs up as well to the staff here, who handled very long and expectant lines today with total professionalism and smiles on their faces through the heat and stress of getting so many people a boat. So how to pick between Kayak Pittsburgh's two rental locations? Just be honest with what you want out of your paddle that day. Both places will give you beautiful views - this one includes more of nature (i.e. nests, birds, fish, etc.) than the very active rivers do. And with no motorboats or currents to fight the lake is the very definition of serene, and it makes for a very welcome reprieve from the hustle and bustle of my daily life. I will definitely try to come back out sometime soon!

My husband and I have grown to love kayaking over the last several years, and this is currently our favorite spot to go! Though Kayak Pittsburgh at the North Shore is very exciting with stunning views of the city, we enjoy kayaking at North Park on a calm lake with the boat traffic around being other kayaks and a few canoes (vs. speedboats and barges in the city location). I would give this Kayak Pittsburgh 5 stars except for the customer service. We have been here twice in the last several weeks, and the kids that work here could really use some better training. The process of getting life jackets and kayaks is very slow, despite my husband's and my knowledge and comfort with the whole process. There are plenty of young people working, but they often seem very distracted by one another and not at all focused on the people renting kayaks. Despite this frustration, we plan to return quite a bit throughout the summer, and I hope this issue is resolved.

Be sure to check out Kayak Pittsburgh when visiting North Park. Located right at the boathouse you can reserve a kayak online (they may take walk-ups depending on how busy they are) and hit the lake. It is $25 for an hour and there are one or two person kayaks available. The paperwork can take a bit of time to fill out so I recommend completing the forms online beforehand. This helps speed up the line as well (prepare for a wait to get your kayak). Once you have your life vest and equipment, the helpful staff will give you a quick tutorial before you sail off. The lake is calm and easy to paddle-great for those beginner kayakers.

This was my first time using Kayak Pittsburgh at this location, and the first time trying a stand-up paddle board (SUP). The staff was very friendly and helpful, and once we were fitted with our lifejackets, and got our paddles, we went down to the dock where we were given some instruction on what to do, and then we were out on the water. The SUP was actually easier to ride than I thought it would be. At the dock, you start off in the kneeling position and paddle out into the lake. Once you have a little speed built up, you slowly stand up, and then keep on paddling. Being our first time, we expected that we might fall into the lake a few times, and would get wet, but we actually stayed upright the entire time. The rental for a SUP is $25 per person, per hour. An hour gave us plenty of time to travel down to the far side of the lake near the spillway, and back, plus time to see a few of the sights while we were down there, such as a bridge that we paddled under (it was like a tunnel), and around an island also. While out on the lake, we observed many people that were renting kayaks, and a few other SUPs and even a paddleboat, so they were doing a lot of business that day. We saw a few Blue Herons also while out on the lake, plus lots of ducks, and some geese. It was a fun day, and afterwards we ate lunch right next door to Kayak Pittsburgh at the OTB Restaurant in the boathouse. Cheers!

Worst check in process I've seen at a rental. No direction that could be solved with a little signage. The staff seems to be poorly trained with maybe one or two who know something. I tried to get started in a one man kayak but the young man who push the kayak into the lake with unnecessary force caused the Kayak to flip tossing me into the lake ending my outing. He had no idea what he was doing. I have taken many kayaks out and have NEVER CAPSIZED let alone at the shore or on a calm lake! So caution when renting here and make certain your sun glasses are secured. Never again from these folks.

I love kayaking at North Park Lake. It's an ideal place to take beginners, but it's also very scenic and serene. I usually see 4-5 Great Glue Herons when I go, there's a Blue Heron Rookery in North Park. I's also nice to stop into OTB at the Boathouse, which shares the same building.

I love, love, love Kayak Pittsburgh at North Park Lake. The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable and really seem to love what they're doing. The check in process is easy. And they send you out to get your paddle, life jacket, and boat (they offer solo and tandem kayaks, row boats, canoes, paddle boats, and paddle boards). We got there a few minutes after they opened so they weren't too busy yet. We got our gear and away we went. It was a glorious day on the lake today. Beautiful blue sky and abundant sunshine with a light breeze blowing, just awesome! We paddled all around , of course, you have to stay away from the spillway and please don't get tangled up with the fishermen but other than that, it is fair game. We paddled all over enjoying and taking in the sites even seeing a few blue herons. We saw a turtle sunning himself on a log. Just the best!!! They got very busy today but it didn't seem it when you are out there and it never gets old!

No rain all day today, but was closed due to "inclement weather" even when my friend put an advanced deposit down for a large party to celebrate her own birthday party. She did not receive a phone call. 9 people traveled to kayak and were standing disappointed in the parking lot. My hope is that they will offer her a free hour or two to make up for this and then I will give a new rating. Multiple people said they even called ahead and they said they would be open so don't trust calling ahead either!

Went to celebrate a birthday, found out afterwards it would have been free with proof of birthday. After having paid, the attendant told us they wouldn't refund, even if we came with proof. 5 Stars otherwise - we'll see if they do anything for us when I email them...