WHITEWATER
Dumoine River
Information for planning a canoe trip down the Dumoine River in Quebec.
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Dumoine is an incredible whitewater river in Quebec that flows into the Ottawa River just north of Algonquin Park. It vies for the top spot in our list of favourite whitewater canoeing rivers. There are only two mandatory portages (and a few carryovers) and many surprisingly long and ridiculously fun rapids. The river provides an exceptionally beautiful experience of the Canadian shield and is a mix of both open lake and tight river paddling.
The Dumoine is considered an intermediate-level river, so please don't start with this river if you're just getting into whitewater and don't have an experienced guide with you. Many of the rapids are drop-and-pool, but there are still several that will eat your canoe if you screw up. Including, incidentally, a rapid called "Canoe Eater."
The campsites on the Dumoine are excellent—most have beautiful exposed granite features and conifer needle flooring. You won't find any sandy sites along this river. Split Rock has added the sites to the public Google Maps for easy planning. Please use it to review sites and add pictures to help others out.
Note that it's a long paddle between site 16 and the Chute, so you'll need to plan accordingly.
There are three main put-ins, described below. Unless you get a boat shuttle at the end, you'll end the trip by crossing the mighty Ottawa river and land in Driftwood Bay, Ontario, which is a cool experience itself. The exact take-out location depends on your outfitter or wherever you left your car.
Route options
Lac Dix Milles to Driftwood Bay
We don't recommend this route unless you really want to add some extra flatwater, some nasty portages, and a couple extra small rapids. Do this route if you really want to see the upper area, otherwise, start at Lac Benoit (see below).
Put-in: Right at the bottom of Lac Dix Milles.
Take-out: Driftwood Provincial Park on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River (parking arrangements can be made with your Outfitter or the park). Or at Pine Valley Resort and Campground.
Length: 93 km, 6-7 day trip.
Rapids: Plenty of class 1-3. Some rapids might be class 4 in higher water, but they have easy portages. And of course some crazy 5's at the giant Grand Chute, but that's just for those crazy kayakers.
Shuttle distance: 98 km.
Portages: 2 with a few carry overs around large ledges. See the note below about portaging around the Grand Chute.
Lac Benoit to Driftwood Bay
Put-in: Lac Benoit near an abandoned bridge. Note that a long set of rapids will start right after the put in. If you're with a group, the canoes launched first should paddle upstream and wait, then run it when everyone is loaded and ready.
Take-out: Driftwood Provincial Park on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River (parking arrangements can be made with your Outfitter or the park). Or at Pine Valley Resort and Campground.
Length: 65 km, 4-5 day trip.
Rapids: Plenty of class 1-3.
Shuttle distance: 77 km. The last couple of hours of the shuttle road are pretty rough and slow going. It's not for little cars.
Portages: 2 with a few carry overs around large ledges. See the note below about portaging around the Grand Chute.
Bonus tip:
If you're launching at Lac Benoit, you'll pass over the Grand Chute bridge on the shuttle drive. It's a perfect place to hide a cache in the bush near the take-out since you'll be back that way in a few days, portaging around the chute. We hid some beer that would otherwise be very heavy to carry that far and it was a delight that evening. Technically, you could do this with food as well, but risks some animal getting into it since it will be there for a while.
Grand Chute to Driftwood Bay
This might be great for locals over the weekend, but if you can, at least start at Lac Benoit to really experience the Dumoine.
Put-in: Grand Chute bridge
Take-out: Driftwood Provincial Park on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River (parking arrangements can be made with your Outfitter or the park). Or at Pine Valley Resort and Campground.
Length: 23 km, 2-3 day trip.
Rapids: Some class 1-3. Many of the best rapids are upriver of this put-in.
Shuttle distance: 27 km
Portages: 2. You start with the 1.1 km portage around Grand Chute. See the note above about portaging around the Grand Chute.
⚠️Portage notice
Please note that there are two portage trail options around the Grand Chute (1.16km)—an easy one and a brutal but scenic one. When leaving the take-out loaded with gear, turn right when you get to the road with the bridge. The portage trail is now well-marked. Follow the signs up the hill, past a few buildings and watch for the marked left turn to portage down a very reasonable dirt road. The second part of the portage is back through the bush on the left and is also well marked.
For your return trip, take the scenic trail along the river—it's a real delight. There are some excellent lookout points along the way to take in the incredible power of the Chute's massive rapids. Definitely don't make the same mistake Tim did on his first Dumoine trip and carry his gear down this one.
While you're there, don't forget to take some photos from the bridge. It's pretty impressive.
The ideal way to take this portage.
Resources
Outfitters
Dumoine River Expeditions (Location) (This is the fellow that we use. Remind Noel of your booking a few days before your trip).
Dumoine Valley Guides (starts cheaper but gets pricey with additional canoes)
There's a boat shuttle service across the Ottawa. If you don't want to do the last paddle across the Ottawa River, which we think is pretty awesome, you can hire an outfitter to come pick you up in a boat at the last rapid (Ryan's Chute). (Feels a little like an embarrassing finish though!)
Water data
The Dumoine is always paddlable, but it gets kind of scrapey and more technical in August.
Water level data:
Physical maps
Take a map. You need to know where the rapids are that will kill you. There are no warning signs.
Rivière Dumoine (foldable map)
Information about the river
Everything you need to know to paddle the Dumoine… and fun bits you didn't need to know. (By Wally Schaber)
ZEC: Part of the river flows through a ZEC, which is Quebec's unique conservation area system called "zone d'exploitation contrôlée". You'll need to stop at the ZEC gate just as you start your shuttle and pay the fee for the number of days you'll be in the ZEC part of the river.
Blogs and trip reports
Dumoine River Canoe Trip: Route, Report & Video by Voyager Tripper.
Video
This video by Martin G serves as a great example of what the river is all about.
Custom map
Guidebook for the Dumoine River
We highly recommend the classic guidebook for the Rivers of the Upper Ottawa Valley by Hap Wilson. You can remove a lot of the guesswork around what is runnable and what is not, and learn a great deal about the river. It's available on Hap's website and at other booksellers.
Photos
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