Replacement for cancelled trip last week. Weather looks ok and levels should be coming back down after all the rain the previous week
This is an exploratory trip on the Upper Eels Creek that is open to advanced paddlers only since I am not familiar with the river, so we will be scouting and learning the river together and keeping one another safe. As a classic day trip in the WCA's history, I have gotten a fair bit of information about the run. It is short in km but intense. It’s very winding and it’s easy to get suckered-in to rapids that start easy but get increasingly difficult as well as blind turns again starting easy but you won’t like what you find when you continue around the corner. Suitably forewarned, we will scout each rapid cautiously.
Online info: https://paddlingmaps.com/trip/Ontario/674-apsley-to-haultain. In May, the river should be at a lower level which makes it a lot more friendly than what is described there.
This is a classic whitewater day trip in the history of the WCA that I'm looking forward to exploring for the first time. It's a very nice pool & drop river where all the rapids are obvious and there are portage trails along them. The rapids range in difficulty and there are some very challenging rapids and chutes, so you can make the trip as easy or hard as you want by choosing which rapids to run vs portage. It's 16 km but a long day as a result of all the scouting and portaging, so expect to spend around 6 hours on the river.
Update Monday, 04/13: CANCELLED DUE TO HIGH WATER. The Head River is already at the 100th percentile maximum flow with more rain on the way this week. I will repost this trip later when levels have come down. If you still want to paddle this weekend, I'll probably post a trip on a local GTA river instead.
---I'm planning to do a long day trip of around 30 km starting on the Head River northeast of Sebright and continuing downstream on the Black River into the town of Washago. The first 16 km until Highway 169 a mostly flatwater section interspersed with short whitewater drops - I have not been on this section before. The next 3 km after Highway 169 is the usual whitewater play area on the Black River where the river loops around through many Class I-II rapids, ending with an optional more challenging technical chute. The final 9 km is almost all flatwater, save for a canyon with turbulent boils and large standing waves, and we will end the day by paddling against the current up the Green River, where the water suddenly transitions from dark and tannin-stained to green and crystal clear.
If you want a shorter day, it's possible to take out after the whitewater play section and cut out the final 9 km of paddling. We will arrange the shuttle to accommodate everyone's preference for where they want to end the trip.
This is my first time on the river but I have information from my friend who has paddled it several times. We should have good water levels to do a longer stretch of the river so be prepared for a full day.
This is a fun river with lots of maneuvering. This is not a novice river. There are lots of sweepers, logjams, fast water, and tight turns so you have to keep your guard up and have a good backferry, and also be prepared to get out of the canoe frequently to get around obstacles.
Will reschedule due to thunderstorms
This will be a quick 2 hours on the water
The trip is on as long as the level stays above 4.6
https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/real_time_e.html?stn=02HB029
I will be running the MAD River again from County Road 9 in Creemore to Glencairn this year. The reason that I am putting it in the WCA schedule several times is because I live very close to it and I like it so much. Because I live so close I can check it for safety at a bunch of access point bridges In previous years we liked the river to be at flow levels above 8 to 9 cubic meters per sec. (Env Canada flow gauge at Airport in Avening). The winter of 2025-26 made the ice on the river much thicker than usual so the river did a lot of riverbank scouring shore to shore in the upper sections of the part we run. . Trees, scrubs, stumps etc all moved downstream. For this reason I would like to keep the trip of the season a small group of tandems. The second and other trips can be bigger As usual I scout the river beforehand from ten different river access points. We have one log jam after the South Nottawasaga Concession 3 / Nottawasaga 6 Sideroad 6 Nottawasaga ATV Access Trail as it meets the river. We will be scouting that piece before we canoe it. If the trip fills up, I will post another trip for Sunday the same weekend. We paddle 14 km from Riverside Dr in Creemore to Glencairn Conservation Area in Glencairn. Due to the spring 2026 ice scouring, there are a couple extra kilometers of real fun Class I swifts above Carruthers Park that I know you will like a lot. 14 km of river paddling in total.
I want to run to the MAD River again from County Road 9 in Creemore to Glencairn. In previous years we liked the river to be at flow levels above 8 to 9 cubic meters per sec. (Env Canada flow gauge at Airport in Avening). The winter of 2025-26 made the ice on the river much thicker than usual so the river did a lot of riverbank scouring shore to shore in the upper sections of the part we run. . Trees, scrubs, stumps etc all moved downstream. For this reason I would like to keep the trip of the season a small group of tandems. The second and other trips can be bigger As usual I scout the river beforehand from ten different river access points. We have one log jam after the South Nottawasaga Concession 3 / Nottawasaga 6 Sideroad 6 Nottawasaga ATV Access Trail as it meets the river. We will be scouting that piece before we canoe it. If the trip fills up, I will post another trip for Sunday the same weekend. We paddle 14 km from Riverside Dr in Creemore to Glencairn Conservation Area in Glencairn. Due to the spring 2026 ice scouring, there are a couple extra kilometers of real fun Class I swifts above Carruthers Park that I know you will like a lot. 14 km of river paddling in total.
This event will run together with Gary's Rouge River Creeking event but make it a longer day by continuing on to Lake Ontario. If you are interested, please sign up for this event and unjoin Gary's event so we can keep things clear between the two groups.
The total distance will be around 26 km and we could finish as late as 6 or 7 pm. I have gotten word that the rest of the river below Old Finch is similar in character to the upper section (class 1 to 1.5 creek with lots of obstacles), with 3 km of flatwater paddling to end the day.
Leisurely canoeing and camping trip on the Lower Madawaska