Petawawa River
Information for planning a canoe trip down the Petawawa River.
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This is some of the best whitewater in southern Ontario (yeah, we consider Algonquin still southern Ontario). For river paddlers, this is the best Algonquin has to offer, and it delivers. The best experience is at least five nights, putting in at Brent on Cedar Lake and taking out at Lake McManus. Or, you could put in halfway down at Lake Traverse. If you really boot it, you can do Traverse down in two nights.
The Petawawa has plenty of class 1-3 rapids that are a lot of fun. Most of the runnable whitewater is 'drop and pool', which means fun but short rapids. The river switches it up for the last third, offering you some long ongoing swifts and class ones to help you on your way, including one aptly called "Five Mile Rapid". You'll finish off with two very long lakes that will feel like forever, but are still quite stunning.
There are several portages that we've marked on the map below. You'll need to zoom in to see some of them, but we recommend George Drought's guidebook for this river. It has everything you need.
Route options
Lake Travers to Lake McManus
While this route may have less serious whitewater overall, it still has the best rapids on the river and fewer portages. This section is accessible through the Sand Lake gate coming from near the town of Petawawa on the east side of the park.
Nights: 3 to 4
Paddling distance: 47.4 km
Shuttle distance: 47 km, (54 minutes)
Resources
Outfitters
For gear rental or shuttling, Algonquin Bound Outfitters, Algonquin Portage, Dennis Blaedow (message this guy through Facebook).
Water level data
The best water meter for all the paddleable areas is Petawawa Real-Time Hydrometric Data near the town of Petawawa.
The Wilderness Canoe Association says, "Low: 13 cms (2.3 m online gauge). Ideal: 25 cms and up (2.45 m online gauge). High: Unknown. It does get significantly harder at flows above 40 cms, with more of a bigwater feel.
Maps:
Jeff's Algonquin Maps (Use Algonquin east if you're purchasing)
George Drought's Petawawa River Whitewater Guide
Video
Great example of Travers to Lake McManus at low water from the Passionate Paddler.
A day hike
We highly recommend that you stop at the bluff known as "The Natch" (along with the rapids that precede it) and hike up to the top. It's a glorious view so we won't spoil it with pictures here—you need to go see it yourself.
It takes about 15 minutes to get up to the top at a reasonable speed. The route isn't an official Algonquin Park trail; otherwise, it might have taken a much longer and easier route. There are places that are a bit of a scramble up rocks, but you don't need to be a climber. There are two lookout points, so when you think you're there, keep going up.
The location of the start of the trail is marked in the image here. It's on river-left past two campsites (the second of which is a stellar campsite to stay at).
The start of the trail to the top of the Natch bluffs.
Petawawa guidebook
I highly recommend the classic guidebook for the Petawawa by George Drought. You can remove a lot of the guesswork around what is runnable and what is not. It's available from The Friends of Algonquin Park site. Note that due to the age of the book and how the spring flow can move sediment and change rapids, not all of the rapids descriptions are accurate. Read what it says, but still rely on your own scouting.
Custom map
Photos
Other Petawawa Facts
Many of the scenes in Bill Mason's Path of the Paddle whitewater series were filmed on the Petawawa.
Petawawa is the only river in Canada (that we're aware of) that has a section not protected by the Navigable Waters Act and canoeists are forbidden to access it. A military base begins right at the end of the Park with a large sign that says, "No access - Live Artillery Fire" (at least so I'm told. I haven't paddled that far past the take-out).
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