Spanish River
Information for planning a canoe trip down the Spanish River in Northern Ontario.
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The Spanish river is a highly recommended canoe trip experience. Overall, it's the best river for introducing longer whitewater canoe tripping. The Spanish has plenty of class 1 and 2 rapids that go on and on. Many of the Spanish's long rapids are easy enough to run with young kids aboard. The draw of this river is the rapids, the views, and the cool experience of the train. A lot of the campsites are a little lacklustre though and many of them are right in the middle of a portage.
The Spanish River has two main branches that are both named Spanish River. One of them, the Duke Lake access point, is accessible by car, and the other branch is only accessible by train—which is pretty cool.
Split Rock added the campsites to Google Maps to make planning easier for everyone.
West Branch to Elbow
Nights: Depends on where you put in. 3-6 nights.
Paddling distance: Several options. See the list below.
Portages: All depends on what you're willing to run and how high the water levels are. There will likely be around 3.
Put in: Several options. You can buy train shuttle tickets to however far up the river you'd like to go. Biscotasing (on Biscotasi lake) is the farthest.
Sinker Creek to the Elbow (72 km)
Forks to Agnew Lake (101 km)
Biscotasi Lake to Agnew lake (164 km)
Take out: The Elbow
East Branch to Elbow
There aren't really any rapids from the launch until you get to the forks. It's mostly a series of numbered lakes in a very straight line. Some get a little bored by this stretch.
Nights: 5-6 nights
Paddling distance: 95 km
Portages: No mandatory portages
Put in: Duke Lake (no train needed)
Take out: The Elbow
Elbow to Agnew Lake
This section can be done on its own or added to the West or East branch route. This section has some larger rapids, but also a 20 km section of delightful swifts.
Paddling distance: 50 km
Put in: Elbow
Take out: Agnew Lake
Resources
Spanish River Provincial Park: You'll need to book campsites for the section of the river that is in the park.
Outfitter: Fox Lake Lodge. The shuttle part of this company is known as "Spanish River Outfitters". They can shuttle your cars from the trains station to the take-out. You can also arrange to stay the first night at their lodge. You can also book the park campsites through them.
River data: There aren't currently any official water meters that we're aware of, but you can always call Fox Lake Lodge and ask them what the water levels are like at any given time.
Train info: VIA's Sudbury to White River line (known as Budd's train) still operates and offers one of the best canoe shuttle experiences in Ontario. The train will meet you in a town called Cartier where you can load up your canoes and gear and get dropped off at your choice of put-ins, all depending on how many days you want on the river. You'll need to use the old-school telephone to pay for the canoes (VIA: 1-888-842-7245) don't bother with the online booking for that. As of November 2025, Budd's runs three times a week—Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Other resouces:
Custom Map
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