View Full Version : Canada "explorer" canoeing trip
I'd like to plan a canoeing trip with my girlfriend to Canada, but have never traveled there, so I have no idea where to start and how to proceed.
My idea of a canoeing trip to Canada is paddling in very lonesome and remote large rivers, where one does not encounter a village or settlement for 50 miles or so, amidst primeval nature, with bears, elks and all kind of wildlife around.
Now is this image I have in my mind related to what I will find there , or is Canada different now ?
How should I plan this trip, considering that I am coming from overseas, should I go through an agency with a guide, or do it by myself ?
I am envisioning a 1 month or 1 month and a half trip.
Until now, I did canoe trips of up to one week on "civilised" rivers here, in France. Gorgeous rivers but not so large and where you would cross villages everyday, even if you are also crossing wild areas where you can set a tent or hang a hammock and make a fire.
My canoes were different types. I have canoed on "Old town" canoes on several occasions.
I am 40, and I like to primitive camp and cook over a fire.
I have a book by David Conover, where he describes canoeing much like exploration, also using a pole or lines to push or drag your canoe upriver, occasionally.
Is a "wild, exploring" trip like that still compatible with our modern time or do you always have to go to "designated camping areas" and buy and display permits to guards encountering you on motorised boats?
Thanks for the advice.
I'd like to plan a canoeing trip with my girlfriend to Canada, but have never traveled there, so I have no idea where to start and how to proceed.
My idea of a canoeing trip to Canada is paddling in very lonesome and remote large rivers, where one does not encounter a village or settlement for 50 miles or so, amidst primeval nature, with bears, elks and all kind of wildlife around.
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there's a LOT of places where you can paddle for days and not see anyone
the Church hill river trip from Manitoba, and thru Saskatchewan will definitely make you feel like you're the first one ever in that part of the world, at parts
also,sometimes it's hard to grasp the size of things here. Saskatchewan is the 4th largest province in Canada, and is bigger than France. you could spend a lifetime here alone, just hitting the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers, Churchill, and then all the smaller stuff up north (there's 100k+ lakes)
There's a TON of stuff to see/do along the Canada/USA border in Manitoba/Ontario and Minnesota/michigan/etc
well - you have 5 and a 1/2 time zones to pick from. Newfoundland / Labrador or Norther Quebec in the east, wild Rocky mountains in the west, and above the tree line tundra across the north.
Check out Nahanni river in the territories There are guided trips or supply only for just about anywhere. In the west, The Rockies in Alberta and BC offer great backcountry camping ( I used to live in Edmonton) but for my money, if I were you, Yukon / North West Territories or Nunavut across the north, or Newfoundland / Labrador.
Niagara
I only know Ontario which has a huge watershed for canoeing.
Right now the best maps (which are downloadable) are from Jeff's maps https://jeffsmap.com/
But Jeff has moved on to unlostify (www.unlostify.com) so I would get my maps from there when they become available.
I would read trip reports from http://www.myccr.com/ to get you started.
Aug is a busy camping time where ever you are (because may -july are buggy)
There is a tendency to be overly ambitious planning .. be conservative you won't have a cell signal.
I prefer Sept in Algonquin 163953
PS: Rent a very light canoe you can carry .. I've never seen anyone here drag a canoe.
PatapscoMike
04-29-2018, 20:41
You can do a trip like this for yourself, for sure! But it will be moose instead of elk, and lakes instead of rivers. You could easily paddle for a few weeks without coming upon any villages or roads. You can rent the boats and most of the gear you need for a reasonable cost. But most places you need to book a site ahead of time, and get permits. This is to limit use, to prevent too many people from being in an area at once. It's a good thing in my opinion. I did a trip like this to Algonquin Provincial Park recently. Amazing!
Lots to choose from in Canada. You could take a canoe and paddle from coast to coast and the longest portage would be 23km. That should give you an idea of how much canoeing possibilities there are. I only have experience in Ontario where I usually go to Algonquin Provincial Park. You could easily spend a month in the park and only see the occasional fellow paddler. The majority of travel is through connected lakes but there are also rivers to travel. The park is about 3 hours north of Toronto and there are outfitter you can rent gear from. Good luck with your trip planning and trip and let us know what you decide.
Thanks for the input, guys, that surely is tempting. Now, is paddling on lakes not boring in the long run? That means no current at all and a lot of paddling to get from one side to the other with sort of an impression of slow progression, does it not? Whereas going downstream on a river is not wearying and always brings new views and surprises?
D. Conover in his book "Beyond the paddle", writes about going from watershed to watershed occasionally poling and lining (to go upstream). Do you use these techniques ?
it really depends on what you want to do
it's all here tho. I'm pretty sure every province can match the list of what you're looking for, just pick a spot, start researching and go
country is big enough that there's probably not a ton of folks with a lot of experience covering the whole thing.
I've been end to end, but I've only paddled in Saskatchewan and Alberta, and alberta was 100% just white water trips. Here what I've done is closer to what you're talking about
PatapscoMike
04-30-2018, 09:09
The thing with rivers is that just about anywhere in the world, towns are built first along the rivers. So there are precious few places in the whole world where you can float a river for any length of time without coming across towns/people.
I personally can not imagine becoming bored paddling the lakes and rivers of a place like Algonquin Provincial park or the Boundary Waters- but that's a personal thing. The lakes are mostly somewhat smallish and constricted, so you tend to be close enough to both shores to see things. There is always a lot to look at. And there are wolves! I love anywhere that has wolves...
I personally can not imagine becoming bored paddling the lakes and rivers of a place like Algonquin Provincial park or the Boundary Waters- but that's a personal thing.
it's definitely a nice part of the world
1. Now, is paddling on lakes not boring in the long run?
- Could be? I enjoy a calm day with my favorite paddle .. you can really cover a lot of distance on lake!
- Be careful not to underestimate the size of some lakes and the skill required to pass them when there is weather.
You should probably watch these guys to get a perspective (Warning: they have been doing Algonquin all their lives)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSVM6R2vcY
2. Whereas going downstream on a river is not wearying and always brings new views and surprises?
- There will be a lot of beaver dams on rivers! I like both since I've had more than my fill of vanishing rivers (I am bias).
3. D. Conover in his book "Beyond the paddle", writes about going from watershed to watershed occasionally poling and lining (to go upstream).
- Yes, there are many opportunities to do this. The French River has a few places where this would be required.
The Boundary Waters is also another great place that PatapscoMike mentioned.
Here is a picture near the Western Highlands Trail in Algonquin Park (of a moose dropping by .. he swam over)
163987
Hope that helps,
Steve
Thanks a lot, guys, all this sounds really awesome. I will study carefully the places you mentioned and try to find some affordable canoe rental, some good maps, and do the trip. Maybe I will come back here for more advice once I will have narrowed my research.
If you do end up in the algonquin/boundary waters area, if you listen very carefully at night you can sometimes here the call of the wild shug "whooo buddy" drifting across the water
LuvmyBonnet
04-30-2018, 21:37
But Jeff has moved on to unlostify (www.unlostify.com) so I would get my maps from there when they become available.
That's Great! I will be getting my maps from unlostify from now on. :thumbup1:
Bothwell Voyageur
05-01-2018, 19:01
How long are you planning for your trip? You need to consider how you get to the area you intend to paddle when selecting a route. If you have money you can take local flights but otherwise you may be renting a car or possibly using a train. Both these are considerably slower and can eat into your trip time if you have to travel for two to three days t either end of your trip. This is from experience as we used to fly to Canada from the UK each year for trips. One year we flew over twice.
Consider Winnipeg as a flight destination. Westjet fly here from London direct. You can be in wilderness within three hours of leaving the city. There are several river routes with rapids that can be run or portage. Alternatively look at Whitehorse and the rivers of the Yukon but you will need to be comfortable camping with grizzled up there.
BTW in Europe elk are the same as moose in north America I seem to recall from our paddling trips to Sweden.