Map Food Drop Key:

Route Idea:

Throughout history, there have been numerous impressive cross-Canada canoe trips; however, these trips generally favour a southern route heavily involving the St Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and prairie rivers. These routes typically cross the Rockies by walking along the side of a highway through a mountain pass. While these trips are certainly impressive beyond belief, when I began planning Canada by Canoe, I wanted to do things differently.

The route of Canada by Canoe has been designed to take a more northern approach in an attempt to avoid major cities and maximise time spent on the rugged Canadian Shield lake lands. Additionally, the route incorporates the Peace River and Williston Lake, the only waterway which crosses the Rockies.

The Route

Canada by Canoe will start at The Dunes of Tadoussac—one of Canada's oldest towns. From there, we will head inland, ascending the picturesque Saguenay Fjord to Lac Saint-Jean and our first food drop at Saint-Félicien. We will then battle the vicious spring current of a historic fur-trading river, the Ashuapmushuan, before navigating its tributaries westward to the Gouin Reservoir and our second drop at Obedjwan. Our short third segment will see us zip down the mighty Mégiscane River to the town of Senneterre for a food drop. We will cross through ZEC Kipawa and take the historic "Portage du Sauvage" to the Ottawa River, where we will bid farewell to La Belle Province and cross into Ontario. We will then paddle up the nearby Montreal River to end our fourth segment in Latchford. We'll continue westward, navigating familiar lakes, rivers, portages, and bushwhacks of increasing difficulty until reaching the lumber town of Chapleau for our fifth food drop. Afterwards, we will traverse the Missinaibi area to Lake Superior, the greatest of the Great Lakes. We will paddle along the breath-taking Pukaskwa National Park to the town of Marathon for re-supply. Resuming, we will hug the north shore to the Nipigon River—Superior's largest tributary—where we will ascend nearly 80 metres, portaging around four hydro dams to reach Lake Nipigon. Venturing northwest we will reach the serene, untouched wilds of Wabakimi Provincial Park, and eventually our seventh food drop, near Savant Lake. Our next segment will see us descend the Marchington River, cross Lac Seul, and then ascend upstream to Red Lake.