Our company’s history begins back before most of our employees were born. It goes back to a time when a small junior high school student, Dick Frye, bought his first canoe. He paid $1 down for the boat and $1 per week to pay it off.

Eventually, Dick started his own livery in 1961, beginning with just 14 aluminum canoes and a few customers. “The Mohican Canoe Livery” was originally located at the intersection of Route 3 and 97. Dick’s idea grew and other canoe liveries, including another of Dick’s own, began to pop up around the area.

In 1969, a 15-year-old boy, named Doug Shannon, was hired by Dick to help after the July flood. Then, in 1974, Doug leased Dick’s second canoe livery called “Dick Frye’s Canoe Livery,” located where our canoe livery now stands. In 1979 Doug and his wife, Patty, bought “The Mohican Canoe Livery” from Dick, and combined the two businesses into its current location. The business also had an outdoor roller skating rink, which was located on the now, Level Skills Mini-Golf Course. Our present-day canoe trips offer a 7-mile trip ending at “Frye’s Landing,” named in honor of Dick for his entrepreneurship in founding the canoeing business in Ohio.

The next year, in 1980, Doug and Patty bought “Clayton’s Canoe Livery,” a canoe livery located where the Grist Mill Mini-Golf Course currently stands today. The building which Clayton used as an office became a trading post operated by Al Combs, and eventually became part of our campground, known as Al’s Cabin. Already, Doug was establishing a tradition of expansion and development within the business. 

In the early ’80s, Loudonville Go-Karts was built, and the Mini Golf courses followed shortly after. “The Mohican Canoe Livery” became “The Mohican Canoe Livery and Fun Center,” offering more than just canoeing, but a whole day (or two’s) worth of fun!

In 1998, “Mohican Campground and Cabins” was added to our family business. When first bought, the campground had only two cabins (present day’s A-frame 2, and the Century House), a picnic shelter, and RV sites with only electricity and water. Our present-day campground offers 45 cabins, sleeping two to sixteen, 185 RV sites with electric, water, and sewer, and 175 primitive tent camping sites. We have added two modern shower houses, an indoor pool and hot tub, four playgrounds, a basketball court, sand volleyball court, soccer field, and horseshoe pits, along with hiking and biking trails that start right from here. We are continually adding to the park to offer our customers the best “adventure” in Mohican.

Many of the beautiful cabins added throughout the years have been built by our own employees with logs cut, harvested, and peeled from Shannon property. While most of the cabins are new, many have a history all of their own. The Century House was a part of the Underground Railroad and no one knows for sure how far back it dates. The Chuck Wagon used to be a restaurant located near Mel’s Shelter. After it closed down, it was turned into a bunkhouse cabin that currently sleeps 15 people. Mel’s Kamper Cabin used to be the check-in building at the roller skating rink, before becoming a snack shop at Frye’s landing, and now, one of our original cabins.

In 2004, the “Mohican Canoe Livery,” “Big Boulder Falls Adventure Golf,” “Loudonville Go-Karts,” and “Mohican Campground and Cabins” all came under one business name – “Mohican Adventures.” The name change gave the company a more unified look that captures the possibility for adventure that we offer guests.

It is not all about hard work and expansion, though. Our canoe family has had a lot of fun over the years. On April Fools Day in 1986, our canoe livery, along with others in the area, built a canoe pyramid 87 feet in length and 40 feet high, using 465 canoes and taking eight hours to build! Don’t believe it? The picture can be viewed today at the canoe livery. Our canoe family also has a history of participating in company outings such as white water rafting trips and caving, along with having company cookouts during the summer.

The Shannons aim not only to make sure their guests are provided with quality service and an enjoyable stay but that their employees are treated like family. Their company has often been considered home to many employees and a landmark for our community. This may be the reason why many off-the-clock employees, and others from the community, showed up to help move boats away from the rising river during the food on July 10th, 2006.

Doug and Patty have been honored numerous times for their achievements and efforts. In 1994, Doug was given the National Association of Canoe Liveries & Outfitter’s most prestigious award – The Frank A. Jones Memorial Award. Bruce Kerfoot, president of the organization, said, “Shannon exemplifies what all outfitter and livery operators strive to achieve – consistent, safe, quality professional service to the paddling public.” Kerfoot also noted that the award belongs to two people, because “Doug and his wife, Patty, are a team.”

The company also received an award that every employee helped to earn and can be proud of. Mohican Adventures was named Mohican Area Growth Foundation’s 2005 Business of the Year for leadership in establishing year-round recreation and tourism in Mohican Country.

Josh and Michelle Gray, alongside Matt and Lindsay Carr, who have collectively taken over running the business, have continued to advance the company.

Josh and Michelle Gray have been instrumental in building the 45 cabins, the new pool and conference center, and improving the RV sites and the addition of the 40 acres of primitive camping sites. Josh and Michelle, along with the staff of Mohican Adventures, received the 2006 President’s Award from Professional Paddlesports of America. 

Matt and Lindsay Carr have taken over the Canoe Livery & Fun Center, instrumenting the construction of the Mohican Adventures Aerial Adventure Park in the Fall of 2013. The Aerial Park opened in the 2014 season, providing guests with a new “level” of adventure, allowing our guests to explore Mohican at new heights of 12 to 42 feet above the ground. This will be a staple offering to our area in times of high water when the river may be closed.

With the pioneering of our past and the foundations that this business was built upon, we can only look forward to even greater success and memories for the future.