Day 1

A wilderness get-away

The Rite of Spring for paddlers in southern Manitoba -- a 3-day trip on the Manigotagan on the May long weekend. The river becomes free of ice in early May, and spring run-off usually peaks around May 15 to 25. The trip usually starts at Caribou Lodge on Quesnel Lake. Three days of paddling takes you back to highway 304. Arrange with the folks at Caribou Lodge to shuttle your car to the take-out. Start at Long Lake or the bridge on highway 314 for a 5 day trip.

The Manigotagan River has its headwaters in Woodland Caribou Park in Ontario. It flows into Manitoba as a small stream, and plunges over a large waterfall into Gem Lake. From Gem Lake to Long Lake the river can only be paddled in high water. There are some difficult portages in this stretch, and some challenging rapids.

In 1921 an attempt was made to bring an ore crusher upstream from Lake Winnipeg to the gold mine at Bissett. To hoist the crusher over the portages, a winch was attached to trees, with the idea that the crusher would pull itself over the portages. Apparently the crusher, later to become known as the alligator, was great at pulling trees out. When the cook of the expedition quit, the alligator was abandoned. It can be found to this day in the bush downstream of Sand River Rapids, on the south shore. See the "Bird-Manigotagan Waterways" canoe route map, by R. Berard, published by the Manitoba Department of Natural Resources, Parks Branch, for more information.

source: Paddle Manitoba

4 Days 5 Nights  (2008)

June 17-22
August 26-30

Price: $699.00 CAD + taxes
Skill Level: All levels
Access: Shuttle van
Egress: Shuttle van