Fall is the perfect time to paddle.
As the temperatures cool there are no bugs and the lakes become less crowded. Plus you can catch some of our beautiful fall colours!
But fall weather can be fickle. Hitting the lake too late, failing to respect weather conditions, or paddling beyond your skill level isn’t just risky — it’s downright dangerous.
We chatted with Paul Smith, Superintendent of Kawartha Highlands Signature Site, to get some top do’s and don’ts for fall paddling safety:
Today’s post comes from Joanie McGuffin (paddler, author, and executive director of the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy (LSWC)), and Holly Drew (LSWC Marketing and Communications Coordinator).
For thousands of years, people paddled birchbark canoes along the shores of Lake Superior to get from place to place. Travelling and trading, hunting and fishing; these were the activities of the historic Lake Superior Water Trail, now being celebrated as part of The Great Trail by Trans Canada Trail.
Continue reading The Lake Superior Water Trail: the greatest of trails
Today’s post comes from Lise Sorensen, Quetico’s Atikokan Entry Station Gate Attendant and off-season Trails Officer with the Path of the Paddle. If you’re planning to paddle the Maukinak Trail, this info will be indispensable.
Follow the path. It will lead you through boreal rivers and crystal-clear lakes, and past silent, watchful cliffs. Your guides will be eagles and your destination endless.
An integral segment of The Great Trail (Trans Canada Trail), the Path of the Paddle is a ribbon of water that stretches from Thunder Bay to the Manitoba border.
The Maukinak segment of the Path of the Paddle transects vast tracts of uninhabited crown land and connects the small communities of Atikokan and Dryden.
Continue reading The Maukinak Trail: paddling from Dryden to Quetico
Surrounded by shining waters and cloaked in towering pines, Finlayson Point Provincial Park lies just south of the Village of Temagami.
Sharing a shoreline with the Lake Temagami Skyline Preserve, a protected ring of pine forest that surrounds the lake, Finlayson Point provides visitors with access to Temagami — a treasured part of Ontario that many travellers see only a glimpse of as they head north or south along the highway.
If you love the great Canadian outdoors then Missinaibi Provincial Park should definitely be on your bucket list!
Today’s post comes from Michelle Halstead, a travel, tourism and eco-adventure placement student with Ontario Parks Northwest Zone.
Canada is proud to be the home of the greatest recreational trail in the world. A 24,000 km trail of land and water that stretches across 10 provinces and three territories.
The Great Trail (formally known as the Trans Canada Trail or TCT) is a project that started in 1992 and with the help of various donors and volunteers working together across the nation has become one of the greatest trails in the world. The trail offers a variety of outdoor recreation activities and scenery throughout Canada’s urban, rural and wilderness areas.
Continue reading Exploring the Great Trail in northwestern Ontario Parks
Gary Fiedler is a Minnesota-based photographer about to undertake a 365-day journey in Quetico Provincial Park. In this post, Gary shares his passion for Quetico and his underlying motivations for this journey of a lifetime.
On June 21, 2018, I will embark on a 365-day solo canoe and winter camping adventure of a lifetime in Quetico Provincial Park.
Experience the life of a voyageur at the height of the fur trade by paddling a voyageur canoe on the beautiful Mattawa River.
Our knowledgeable guides will help you discover part of our Canadian heritage.
Continue reading Paddle like it’s 1796 at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park!
“If it is love that binds people to places in this nation of rivers and in this river of nations then one enduring expression of that simple truth, is surely the canoe.”
— James Raffan, adventurer, acclaimed author and Director Emeritus of the Canadian Canoe Museum
Through the stories of five paddlers across Ontario, “THE CANOE” underscores the strength of the human spirit and how the canoe can be a vessel for creating deep and meaningful connections.
Set in the lush boreal forest with wide-open skies, there’s a definite “northern feel” to Fushimi Lake Provincial Park.
During the day, Fushimi Lake’s horizons look like prairie skies because they seem so wide. At night, the stars are so bright and so numerous that you feel like you’re in a snow globe.
