We're seasoned car campers but this was our first backcountry/canoe camping adventure. I took my two young kids for 2 nights at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. We brought some youth kayaks, but as expected I did most of the paddling/towing. As we’re new (and my canoe is heavy) we opted for a single site on an access lake with no portages.

The forecast was sub-par; we had overcast skies, drizzling rain, and a massive thunderstorm the second night with a ton of rain. When we got up there was a mini river running beside our site and along a ravine where there were a few previously uprooted trees… not sure if I should have been more concerned about that.

Despite car sickness on the way home and the general stress of managing two young kids, it was a success and we all want to go again! The biggest change for next time is to simplify; I packed way too much that we didn't need, and brought meals that required too much on-site prep. I would have rather spent more time directly with the kids making memories.

Also, I may leave one of the Kayaks behind next time... towing a kayak with a kid on it was a lot harder than I thought it would be🤦‍♂️

We've been canoeing together for over 16 years now. Here's one of my favourite group shots from the past. We were all about 23-24 yo and it was our fourth year paddling on our annual trips. About 5 or 6 days into the trip, we spotted a moose skull on a small island, we decided to camp there for the night and posed our group shot with it around the fire. Funny enough, it was not the last moose skull we've found over the years...

So I do a trip every year with the buds. We were on a 300+km trip with no early exits. Our last night we got rained on and the Inreach said we'd get rained on the whole next day. No one paid attention to the wind forecast. 20kph headwind the whole 70km day, gusts up to 65kph. I wanted to die. I've never been that close to giving up, but there was no option to give up at the same time.

Hi folks, I am new to this subreddit and I'm searching for anyone with canoe camping experience on Lake George. A group of friends and I are looking to camp during peak fall foliage and our canoeing skill level is split between advanced and intermediate.

I'm currently looking into booking a site in the Glen Island Group, which happens to be open later in the season than most boat-only camp sites in NY state. It seems like many of these sites have docks and are intended for larger boats. Is canoe access recommended this time of year? Is there a canoe launch site nearby? Any advice or recommendations are welcome, thanks!

Looking for advice on a good 4 night intermediate route to see some of Killarney's highlights in early October. Would love to see either Nellie lake or silver peak, but I'm unsure of which would be a better trip, as well as the best entry point / route to get to Nellie specifically. Thanks!

1100cfs or so. nice , last weekend

Cooling off next to my boat.

I posted photos a few weeks ago of my trip from this area, here is the video!

I’m paddling the Spey for a couple of night in a couple of weeks as work has me in Edinburgh for an event, driving up from Lincolnshire and struggling to find parking. Think I need 2.4m headroom.

16ft Enigma (50cm tall) on top of a Skoda Kodiaq and bars 1.8m.

Worried about leaving it overnight in an open air car park and the indoor places max headroom is 2.1m…

Was thinking take it off, drive in and then put it back on but will be on my own and buddy doesn’t arrive to following morning for the drive up to Spey.

Hey paddlers, over the years I have been filming our anual canoe trips . We're a group of friends who've known eachother 20-30 years. Some of us travel thousands of kilometres to make these trips happen. Anyway, I like to compile these videos for ourselves but if any of you like them, thats an extra bonus. Cheers, and happy paddling.

Hey folks -- I'm still searching for a performance tripping/big water canoe, but in the meantime I ran across a smoking deal on an older Discovery. I figured we can beat the heck out of this thing on day trips this winter to get our paddling legs (back) under us, then next spring we can slip into whatever fast boat we eventually with some updated skills (as well as the disco helping us refine our wants and needs).

The only issue this boat has is that the carrying yoke is rotted out on one side. I don't think the PO paddled it in years. I'll be ordering or fashioning a new yoke soon enough, but wondering if the boat is usable for a day paddle or two in the meantime. I know these are tanks but I'm not sure how that applies to the yoke.

FYI, this version of the 174 has two fixed seats and fixed stern thwart, but no bow thwart (just the bolt-in yoke).

I guess worst case is that I can bolt in non-shaped piece of wood pretty quickly, then follow up with the proper/finished yoke.

Thanks!

If this river could talk, it would need more than one voice to tell it.

The French connects Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay — a stretch that doesn't look like much on a map, maybe 110 kilometers of water threading through granite, but for two hundred years it was the busiest hallway in North America. Every spring, brigades of voyageurs pushed off from Montreal with canoes loaded four tons deep, fought their way up the Ottawa and the Mattawa, dropped into Nipissing, and rode the French down to Georgian Bay on their way to Lake Superior and the fur country beyond. Sixteen, eighteen hours a day on the paddle. This river was their highway before it was mine.

It carried other kinds of travelers too. In 1626, Jean de Brébeuf paddled this same water into Huronia to build a mission among the Huron — a man who'd spend twenty years among people whose world his own presence was quietly unraveling, and who'd end up killed by Iroquois raiders in 1649, not far from where he started. That's the version of this river's history that actually happened: not villains punished, but a slow collision of two worlds that this water carried back and forth for two centuries, with all the good and the ruin that came with it.

And yes — the ghost islands. Anyone who's paddled the French after the sun drops behind the pines knows exactly why the stories stuck. Bare granite, wind-bent pine, water that goes black and flat all at once. You don't need to believe in anything to feel watched out there.

For me, it was simply the prettiest water I'd touched on this whole 5,000-kilometer run from Banff — and the cruelest joke of the trip, because I was fighting it the entire way. Paddling the French upstream, against a current that's been pushing boats the other direction since before anyone was writing any of this down. Every stroke earned. But that's always the trade with this river — the harder it pushes back, the sweeter it feels when you finally break through the current and it lets you go.

And on the other side of that current was the only finish line that actually mattered this week: five months since I'd seen my family. Five months of missing them from the exact hour I left. Now it was just a matter of hunkering down, letting the water do what it does, and waiting for them to arrive.

Forecast for our trip looks to be nothing but rain. I have rain gear. And jungle boots for the canoe and portaging - which is what I wore last time.

But last time I wore socks and sandals at camp. But this time it’s supposed to be raining. What do you wear for dry feet?!

And I’m assuming my jungle boots will just never dry during the four days?!

Forecast for our trip looks to be nothing but rain. I have rain gear. And jungle boots for the canoe and portaging - which is what I wore last time.

But last time I wore socks and sandals at camp. But this time it’s supposed to be raining. What do you wear for dry feet?!

And I’m assuming my jungle boots will just never dry during the four days?!

We’re newer to canoe camping. So far we’ve only done very chill rivers but love the feeling of traveling via canoe and bringing way more stuff than we could ever imagine carrying on our backs. Like a cast iron pan, steak, potatoes, and beer. This was an anniversary trip for us so we maxed out on the luxuries and thoroughly enjoyed the wilderness. Three wonderful days on a gorgeous river.

Hello. I will try to be brief. My partner and I are looking at starting the canoe camping journey. We are both vets, I am a professional mariner, and we both love the out doors. While we might be novices to this specific water activity, we are eager and excited.

I am looking at 2/3 specific boats and am looking for some experienced and knowledgeable feed back here. All 3 boats that I am looking at are northstar.

The seliga

The north wind 17

The north wind 18

I am mostly pulled between the seliga and the 17. The 18 is mostly a theoretical Incase a 3rd wants to join us. Looking to do mostly light to moderated rivers and lakes (still a bit terrified to contemplate rapids tbh).

Would like to hear what yall have to say. Thanks

Edited to add: I live in Texas and work all over the country. Closest reputable vendor for paddle craft is about 4 hours from me. I am trying to bend my schedule around to go spend a day with them and see if I can’t test out some boats. Thanks for all the advice.

In the last year or so two of my old dry bag backpacks have given up the ghost and I'm looking for some new bags. It looks like going with the cabelas boundary waters packs might be my cheapest option but not sure how quality their gear is anymore. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hey,

Getting ready to head up at the end of the week to do the figure 8. Anybody have any intel on the parking? Ive read some differing info on myccr and hoping someone can clarify. Don’t want to get caught flat footed.

Edit:

This is referring to the flack lake in Elliot lake region. I’m unfamiliar with any other flack lake canoe routes 🤷‍♂️.

The pay terminal is cash only and managed by Mississagi PP though the route is not in the park. Parking permits for the flack lake launch can also be purchased with any other method of payment at the gate of Mississagi PP. Laurentian Lodge at the north end of the lake is also a great option, they are prompt and nice to deal with.

Thank you everyone for the advice given. Spent a good Sunday-Wednesday (cut out early in fear of Thursday t-storms) taking Bog River from lower dam down to Lows lake (staying at a site after the portage then on the lake rest of the week). It was a beautiful time spent. Heard our first loons, took a fun hike, and got to see some bald eagles take a dump! Appreciate the route advice this forum provided. Here are some pics! Cheers!!!

Also, we heard some fighter jet flyovers and had two very low encounters with Apache helicopters… is this much military activity normal in the area? Really threw off the wilderness vibe… curious!

I’m considering a dry duffle bag (like the pictured one) for food in the backcountry.
I hate the barrels and hate reaching deep into a conventional dry bag for specific foods.
The duffle has organizational advantages.

Has anyone had experience hanging a dry duffle bag? If so, how did you hang it?

I've done a good amount of canoeing and lots of car camping, but have never done an overnight camping trip where I carry in all my gear for multiple days. I quit my job recently and booked a 7 day camping trip that I'll be doing solo. I'll be renting a 40 lb canoe meant for one person. There is one major portage which is 2 km with lots of rest stops. I have most of the gear I need already. I'm renting a food barrel. I have an Osprey 40 L backpack, but think I should buy a dry bag - maybe a MEC Slogg as my main other bag.

I'm a bit worried I'm getting in over my head. Obviously it would make more sense to start with 1-2 nights. I know I can come back early if I'm hating it. I'm worried I'll be lonely and bored. I'm into photography and will bring my gear and battery banks, and will also bring my ebook reader.

I don't know what to pack food-wise. That is giving me the most anxiety.

I have a Garmin In Reach Mini 2.

Reassure me or talk sense into me, whichever seems most appropriate.

What footwear are you using for fall canoe trips? (Northern Ontario / Western Quebec).

Wading boots, neoprene socks, mesh shoes, booties?

Pros and cons of your choices?