Mattawa River

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Pimisi Lake on the Mattawa River.

The Mattawa River is a river in central Ontario, Canada. It flows east from Trout Lake east of North Bay and enters the Ottawa River at the town of Mattawa. It is 72 km in length. The river's name comes from the Algonquin word for "meeting of waterways".

Two provincial parks are located along it: the Mattawa River Waterway Provincial Park stretches along both sides of the river's banks for almost its full length; and the Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, located about 10 km from the river's end.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Canoeing the Mattawa River
- 3.1 Mattawa River Canoe Race
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Geography

The river follows an ancient fault line through the Algoma Highlands. From Lake Talon to Mattawa the river flows through a rock-walled canyon up to 500 feet in places.

Tributaries include the:

An interesting feature is the Porte de l'Enfer (Hell's Gate). This is a peculiar cave in the river's bank speculated to be a native ochre mine. As far back as 1761, Alexander Henry reported on this cave and the myths surrounding it. It was said to be inhabited by an evil and fierce demon, hence its name (source: Hap Wilson, Rivers of the Upper Ottawa Valley, 1993, ISBN 1-895465-05-2).

[edit] History

Map of the La Vase Portages.

The Mattawa River was an important transportation corridor for native peoples of the region and formed part of the water route leading west to Lake Superior in the days of the fur trade. Canoes travelling north up the Ottawa turned left to enter the Mattawa, reaching Lake Nipissing by way of "La Vase Portage", an 11 km stretch of water and portages.

In the 19th century, the river provided access to large untouched stands of white pine. The river was also used to transport logs to sawmills. While logging is still an important industry in this region, almost the full length of the river has been designated as a Canadian Heritage River, and as such, its shores are now protected from further development and logging.

Today, the river and lakes are mainly used for recreation.

[edit] Canoeing the Mattawa River

The Mattawa River is a popular destination for weekend canoe camping trips. Because of well maintained portages, the river can be travelled in both directions. The route description below follows the river's flow from west to east.

Public access is on Trout Lake. Continue east on the river. Some older maps may still show the Tortue Rapids but these were blasted and no longer present. Turtle Lake follows.

From here the river goes north through several sets of small lakes (requiring a lift-over or short portage between each), before looping back and flowing into the north end of Lake Talon. But the historic canoe route bypasses this section by going to Lake Talon through Pine Lake, via Portage de la Mauvaise Musique and Portage Pin de Musique.

At the end of Lake Talon, portage around the dam. After Pimisi Lake, there are a few Class 1 rapids until the Paresseux Falls. Shortly after follows the Porte de l'Enfer (Hell's Gate) on the north bank.

There are 2 sections inside Champlain Park where the river becomes shallow and in low water is a rock-garden. The last portage before Mattawa and the Ottawa River is around the Hurdman Dam.

[edit] Mattawa River Canoe Race

The Mattawa River Canoe Race has been held each year since 1976, usually to coincide with the Mattawa Voyageur Days Festival in late July. The race runs the full length of the river from Olmsted Beach in North Bay to Mattawa, some 64 km. This popular race is open to several classes of competition, including solo and tandem canoeing, recreational, and "voyageur".

The record times for the racing classes are: