TRIP REPORT: BEAVER RIVER – KIMBERLEY TO CLARKSBURG

The route cuts north in the Beaver Valley, through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the southern edge of Georgian Bay. The upper portion of the route, from Kimberley to Heathcote, is known for its easy, scenic paddling through flooded silver maple forest and farmland, while the bottom portion, from Heathcote to Clarksburg (and beyond to Thornbury), is characterized by thrilling rapids, especially early in the season.

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TRIP REPORT: NAHANNI NATIONAL PARK RESERVE – VIRGINIA FALLS TO NAHANNI BUTTE

Few wilderness canoe destinations, the world over, have been documented and celebrated to the extent of the fabled South Nahanni River in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The river valley and its surrounding wildlands – the rugged Mackenzie Mountains – are famous for their immense natural beauty. This is a land of towering 3,000 foot canyons; cathedrals of limestone, castles of sandstone; of Virginia Falls – one of the largest waterfalls in the world; a land of spectacular karst terrain, cave systems, hot springs and gemstone lakes; northern lights, wild rapids, roaming grizzly bears and wood bison. This is a place with a river that flows through a greater diversity of landforms than virtually anywhere else on the planet. 

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TRIP REPORT: WABAKIMI PROVINCIAL PARK – ALLANWATER – WHITEWATER – CARIBOU

Grey vapours loomed above us as we stood on the edge of Mattice Lake in Armstrong, Ontario. The cool, early morning air held a faint scent of smoke; a manifestation of record-breaking wildfires raging just to our west that would claim some 800,000 hectares of boreal forest by the end of summer, 2021. Under the hazy, overcast sky, a slight breeze tickled the surface of the lake. The water was cold and dark and the forest was dark too. The scene held a magnetic gloominess that stoked my sense of anticipation. We were about to begin an adventure through the heart of Wabakimi Provincial Park – a land of some 10,000 lakes and 2,000 kilometres of canoe routes…

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TRIP REPORT: HALIBURTON HIGHLANDS – HERB AND GUN LAKES

I have always loved paddling the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails (HHWT). Here, outside the town of Dorset, on the southwest edge of Algonquin park, lies a diverse, interconnected web of canoe routes over a swath of 28,000 hectares of beautiful wilderness. The mixed forests and exposed Precambrian rock that characterize the area are typical of the southern Shield and support rich habitats for an assortment of wildlife…

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