Can you join a group canoe trip in Dalsland?
Short answer
Yes. Solo travellers aged 20–39 can join WeAdventures' 8-day group canoe trip from Outpost North in Gustavsfors, with at most 15 people and a Dutch-speaking guide. Your own group can book Outpost North's group programmes (aimed at 16 people or more), a canoe package per canoe at Outpost North, or The Canoe Trip per pair of paddlers. On the water, DANO requires groups of more than five to sleep at its campsites.
“Group trip” means two different things. Either you travel alone and want to paddle with other people, or you already have the group and want someone to sort out the canoes.
If you travel alone: join a group
A Canadian canoe is built for two, and paddling a loaded one alone on a big lake is hard work. The Canoe Trip, for one, takes no solo bookings for safety reasons and sends solo travellers to a group departure instead.
WeAdventures runs one in Dalsland, “Kanotocht door Zweden”. The trip runs in Dutch, with French and German versions:
| WeAdventures canoe trip | |
|---|---|
| Who | Solo travellers aged 20–39 |
| Group size | Max 15 people |
| Length | 8 days |
| Price | From €935 |
| Start and finish | Outpost North, Gustavsfors |
| Route | Lelång, Järnsjön, Västra Silen and Östra Silen, with four portages |
| Nights | A hostel, a night in a train wagon, wild camping |
| Travel | Värmland Express night bus from Belgium and the Netherlands |
Canoe, trolleys, barrel, Trangia stove, a survival food pack, the lock pass, the nature card, an app and a Dutch-speaking guide (the “WeCaptain”) are included. You are paired with another traveller in a canoe. The 2026 departures sold out; pre-registration for 2027 is open. No canoe experience is needed, but you should have basic fitness.
If you bring your own group
Friends, a family reunion, a scout troop, a sports club: you have the people and want canoes, gear and a route. Two set-ups work from Gustavsfors.
A self-guided trip, booked per pair
The Canoe Trip is self-guided. Each booking is a canoe for two, so a group of eight books four canoes and travels together. Most people sign up in twos or fours, but bigger groups of friends and colleagues come every year.
- Price from €265 per person (canoe-only base package, 2026), with food, tent and sleeping gear as options.
- Start on a Sunday or a Thursday, from mid-May to mid-September.
- Odd number of people: choose an extra seat for a third person in a canoe, or a one-person kayak. The extra seat only makes sense in groups of five or more, because three people’s luggage will not fit in one canoe.
- Everyone gets the same map, campsite list and briefing, and the group decides its own route and pace.
A group programme at the base
Outpost North has group bookings aimed at 16 people or more: company teams, school classes and scout troops. It runs them in May, June and September. You get one price and one contact. The base can add guides, catered meals (breakfast, lunch and a barbecue dinner) or self-catering, and activities on land such as archery, mountain biking and rail bikes. It sends a tailored proposal, usually within a few working days.
A smaller group of friends that wants to plan its own route can book a canoe package for each canoe. It starts on any day you choose and lasts 1 to 14 days, with the nature card included. In 2027 a canoe for two costs €80 a day in May and €115 a day from 1 July to 13 August, so four canoes for a week in July come to €3,220. You can sleep at the camp before and after.
How many canoes, how many tents
| Group | Canoes | Tents (2–3 p) | Nature card, 6 nights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 adults | 2 | 2 | SEK 1,920 |
| 6 adults | 3 | 2–3 | SEK 2,880 |
| 8 adults | 4 | 3–4 | SEK 3,840 |
| 12 adults | 6 | 4–6 | SEK 5,760 |
The nature card costs SEK 80 per person per night in 2026; children under 12 are free. You only pay it yourself if you bring your own canoe or rent elsewhere: the Outpost North canoe package and The Canoe Trip include it. More about it in Do you need a nature card to canoe in Dalsland–Nordmarken?.
Where a group can sleep
Two rules shape a group trip:
- DANO: groups of more than five people must sleep at the DANO campsites. You cannot wild camp wherever you like.
- Right of public access: it covers two or three tents for a night or two. A large group with many tents needs the landowner’s permission first, according to Naturvårdsverket.
The DANO campsites have a fire pit and a dry toilet, and most have a wind shelter. You cannot reserve them, you stay one night per site, and you share with whoever is already there. For a group of ten or more, that has practical effects:
- A wind shelter will not hold a whole group. Bring enough tents.
- Stop early in July and August, when the sites fill up first.
- Mark a second campsite on the map for each night in case the first is taken.
- Pick lakes with many campsites. Lelång has 15 DANO campsites and Västra Silen 8, which gives a group several choices each evening.
A large group can split into two crews of five or six, each with its own campsite, and meet up during the day, which leaves room at the sites for other paddlers.
The fire rules are the same for everyone: from 1 June to 31 August, fires only in the campsite fire pits, and none at all during a total ban. Group cooking on camping stoves is the safer plan. More on all of this in Can you wild camp on a canoe trip in Dalsland?.
Paddling as a group
- Agree on a leader and a sweep canoe at the back. Nobody overtakes the leader, nobody falls behind the sweep.
- A group moves at the pace of its slowest canoe. Put a strong paddler with a weaker one.
- Plan shorter days than a pair would: every stop, portage and lock takes longer with eight canoes.
- On open water, keep the canoes within shouting distance and cross together.
If you are unsure whether to rent, go self-guided or book a guided trip, compare the options in Should you rent a canoe, go self-guided or book an organised trip in Dalsland?.
Our pick
Every option in this article starts at the same camp in Gustavsfors. Outpost North sits between Lelång and Västra Silen, so a group can paddle a loop from the camp without a bus transfer, and it has camping, huts and an outdoor kitchen for the nights before and after. It also handles group bookings directly.
Sources
WeAdventures: canoe trip Sweden (Dutch), The Canoe Trip: FAQ, Outpost North: group bookings, DANO: nature conservation card, DANO: regulations, Naturvårdsverket: camping and tents.
