Shawnee Trails Wilderness Outfitters

04/07/2026

Just drove down to Sikeston, MO to meet up with Ben from Tennessee. Ben special ordered a sweet Northstar Canoes ‘Polaris’ in Blacklite (Carbon) with a few extras thrown in.

Be like Ben, and get yourself a Northstar Canoes tandem or solo canoe. I currently have a handful of solo canoes from Northstar, waiting for their forever home. Stop by and feel free to touch one and drool over it… 😉.

Shop a small business today! Your business keeps the doors open!

03/10/2026

Nice write up about one of my old employees, Brian Hall. Brian left C’Dale a while ago and worked at Midwest Mountaineering in Minnesota for a while, then on to designing footwear for Vasque Boots, in Red Wing, Minnesota. After leaving Vasque Boots as a designer, Brian put his design background into creating a bad-a** line of steel framed bicycles, called ‘Rare Earth Cycle Craft’. Sweet bikes and frames!

05/31/2025

Well, what do you know… a customer from years ago has reversed a bad act from her/his past… 😳

Apparently this has been eating on someone’s conscience since 1993. He/she made good on a shoplift from 32 years ago! Wow.

Whoever you are, thank you for correcting your “poor decision” made as a college student back in the early 90’s… 👊. I truly hope life is good for you out in Portland, OR., or so says the postmark on the envelope.

05/28/2025

Just a heads up folks, Shawnee Trails will be closed today the 28th and likely tomorrow the 29th, so I can get some remodeling work done around the house. Best to call between noon and 6pm before coming over to see if I’m back to work yet. I’ll be back asap, Rick

05/03/2025

Kudos to the shops old friend, Jim Thurmond!

Developing and maintaining climbing access in the Midwest is usually the result of grassroots activity by local organizations like the Illinois Climbers Association (ICA) and Beta Fund. Sometimes, though, it happens on an even smaller scale. In these cases, it’s often due to the verve and vision o...

01/07/2025

Cold feet 🦶?

Shawnee Trails has some really nice, really warm socks for you! Check out our selection of Merino wool ‘Darn Tough’ socks for men, women & kids, and warm those cold dogs up! Hike, ski, work & tactical socks available, as well as more styles and colors than shown below!.

Shawnee Trails Wilderness Outfitters, next to Quatro’s Pizza in Carbondale. Get you some… 👊

09/17/2024

Hey folks, Shawnee Trails is going to be closing from Friday September 20th till Tuesday October the 1st.

Y'all are always in here talking about the cool places you're heading too, so now it's my turn. I'll be heading up to northern Wisconsin and the U.P. to absorb some fall color beauty.

If you'll be needing any gear before then, you'll have to get in here before Friday the 20th!

11/05/2023

Well lookee here folks...

Last night we received our spring '24 Northstar Canoes order earlier than expected! Stop in and take a gander at the Blacklite (Carbon & Aramid!) Northwind Solos with Alum, wood or Carbon gunwales, Blacklite Magics with Alum, wood or Carbon gunwales, the Blacklite Phoenix with Alum Gunwales, the IXP Phoenix with Alum or wood gunwales, or the Blacklite Trillium with Alum gunwales!

Every Northstar solo canoe we order will have the invisible internal Kevlar skid plates, and Carbon footbraces if the solo is set up for sitting. The IXP Phoenix with Alum gunwales will also have whitewater tie down loops installed under the gunwales. All of our Phoenix solos come with kneeling seat drops for stability in moving waters.

Do yourself a favor... and come by Shawnee Trails Wilderness Outfitters for a look at some of the finest solo canoes on the market! Nothing but sheer beauty to see here folks!! 👊

09/06/2023

Here's a short Jackson County tourism survey being done by U of I...

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09/03/2023

Heads up my friends, Shawnee Trails will be closed Monday the 4th for Labor Day.

Rick will be laboring at catching Bass.

See Rick catch Bass. See Rick smile.

06/10/2023

Thought I'd share this recent article/interview about one of our ex-employees from the mid-early 2000's, Mary Metcalf. Mary was the first woman to complete the ultra-distance 'Tour Divide' mountain bike race that traversed the Rocky Mountains starting in Canada, and ending at the Mexican border, for a total of around 2,745 miles in length. Bad-a**ery.
https://www.theproscloset.com/blogs/news/the-first-ever-tour-divide-with-racer-mary-metcalf?fbclid=IwAR2ZMquIEtgjtetJxov4kxAkfNmoagAZmdQZMwNXoDA10hAkH58_6oL7deU https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=5756042631163206

Mary Metcalf rode in the inaugural Tour Divide in 2008, and she was also the first woman to complete it. To kick off Tour Divide this year, Mary tells us about what it was like to race the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 15 years ago.