Ottawa River Kayak Camping: Ottawa to Montreal

[@hoser7706]

Beauty trip! Tres bien! Now on my list of kayaking to-dos.

[@larrya.boyd.6784]

awesome vid, thankyou, am looking forward to exploring this route.......

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Glad you enjoyed it hope you have had a chance to try it.

[@chantalrochon3566]

Happy to find your channel, your video is superb for kayaking info. Thank you for this video 🌈👍❤️🍁✌🏼✌️✌🏿✌🏾

[@theironrhino110]

Have a bucket list item to do the Voyageurs route from Montreal to Thunder Bay, thanks for giving me a piece of what I hope to come next year.

[@guyrichard2030]

Thanks for the vid...relived my Ottawa-Rimouski trip of 2019🛶🤗👌 Merci, Eaux plaisirs de vous croiser 🛶🇨🇦✌

[@steevoridgeline]

wow that was epic, so glade i took the time to watch the whole thing ! it was very generous of you guys taking the time to share so wonderfully your trip. very helpful tips as well... im now looking forward to navigate there based on your advices ! hope to see more from you guys in the future ! thx again !

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thanks so much for watching and sharing such nice comments! There will be more vids coming as we are hoping to do a couple more trips like this this spring/summer. There’s interest from others in joining us this time so might be more characters in the next video. Kingston to Ottawa is likely next on the list for us via the Rideau river, stay tuned!

[@georgedanova5679]

@@ccwildlifekayaking Did you ever get to it--Kingston to Ottawa? I did it last year (partly inspired by this video of yours) and it was a great trip. The Rideau is really beautiful.

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

@@georgedanova5679 Unfortunately not yet. I started a side business offering tours and that has taken up most of my paddle time the past two summers. Hoping to try it this year or the Mattawa. Glad to hear you tried it though! Which end did you start from?

[@georgedanova5679]

@@ccwildlifekayaking Kingston to Ottawa is generally preferred due to predominant winds. If you live in Ottawa, it may also be easier to plan a shuttle on a known starting date rather than an unknown finishing date. I'd love to do the entire Mattawa, but I think there are too many portages for a kayak.

[@bennysworld16]

Wow thanks for Sharing this video and Good spots for camping kayakaking

[@brissonfishing2990]

Super Kool!!! looks so fun!

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thanks!! It was a blast, and certainly worth a repeat paddle. Highly likely we will do at least part of it again this spring.

[@vibrolax]

Epic paddle. I felt the heat of the day on that one segment.

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thanks! Ya that afternoon was a killer on the open water, made it extra disappointing when we couldn’t take a dip at sandy beach.

[@mytwosense]

Great trip dude! That was an awesome adventure!

[@donwilcox-outdoorsmore5829]

Thanks for sharing gents. Nothing like a pandemic to bring out the adventure in folks. Spend most of my time on the upper sections of the river (a lot less boat traffic up there) so it was nice to see a paddle vid from the eastern section of the Ottawa River.

[@kylodamian9981]

i realize I am quite off topic but does anyone know a good site to watch newly released movies online ?

[@MxRider1997]

Good info on the camping spots thanks i was looking on google maps but its hard to say and they probably vary a lot depending on the month.

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thanks Julien. Something that I may not have stated clearly enough in the video is that once past Voyageur PP & Carillion generating station & boat lock the camping options became very limited. However, a few options not mentioned in the video are: There was some land to the left just before Carillon Island I found a small path through the reeds to a little clearing, if dry, it could be a spot well hidden from the water. Also the the photo at 13:55 is on the tip of Carillon Island, it’s small but doable.(both make for a short day from VPP) There is also Parc National d’Oka (makes for a long day from VPP and a much shorter day to MTL island) if you go this route be sure to book your site at the start of the season it was completely filled up for weeks when we went. If you have any other questions shoot. Safe paddling and fun adventures!

[@MxRider1997]

Hello i went from gatineau to montebello in 3 days a month ago. The first night i camped at the masson angers ferry there is a long beach in the forest just 1 minute from the ferry and the second night i camped right where you were in the video at 2:57 but on the island just across the little canal in front of the beach. It has been cleared for a camping spot for 20 people with a composting toilet installed. 10/10 camping spot

[@carinaalvarez6]

Love your video!! I've always wanted to go kayak camping!

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thank you! You absolutely should it’s a great experience and there’s nothing better then a quiet campsite after a hard days paddle. If you live in the Ottawa area and want to get out for a paddle I do offer private tours. Check out www.ottawakayaktours.com Thanks for watching!

[@AGTMIB]

Merci pour l'idée..... me voilà à préparer le même trajet que vous!!! Superbe vidéo et MERCI!!! :)

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Vous êtes les bienvenus! Bonne chance avec votre voyage, c'est très amusant!

[@theroadnottakentravel]

Man I think kayaking 12k from manotick to kars is far.... great job! Saint Anne’s was my hometown before Ottawa!

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Haha thanks! It was a lot of paddling but such a beautiful trip we hardly noticed. Saint Anne’s was such a nice place to finish and wait for our ride. That boat launch was in a Really cool neighbourhood.

[@WaterborneCamper]

Wow, that was quite a trip! Bravo! Jealous!

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thank you! 😁

[@didierpitre9858]

You’ve inspired me I think I’m going to do this

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Awesome!! You defiantly should it’s a trip worth taking 👍🏼

[@Habsolutely]

Thanks for this. Im considering this trip in canoe. You think it’s doable?

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Yes but try to contact the Carilion locks ahead of time, they were closed for us and more recently for someone this year (2024) who tried it. If you are not solo you can portage around it like we did but if you are solo it will be a hassle. Good luck hope it goes as well for you as it did for us.

[@habibestyle7556]

Super nice amigo :)

[@TheMarquette10]

Great video! Thanks for sharing your experience. Can you detail the gear used? specifically the one person tente (orange). Thanks

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thank you! For most of the gear details check my site link here: ottawakayaktours.com/ottawa-to-montreal-kayak-trip/ For the orange tent that was my buddies and it was a alps mountaineering 1.5 person tent from Amazon. I also have the 2-3 person lynx tent from them and it’s also great Highly recommend their tents and fold up camping cots.

[@auslander1026]

Nice video and wonderful trip - always wondered regarding logistics. Somebody lives in Montreal? How do you split cars between point A and B for the route?

[@CarpeOdyssee]

Hey, pretty cool trip! I was wondering how you made this little Google earth animation. Can you explain ? thanks

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Its been a little while but I believe if you apply for google earth pro, it is free but you need to tell them why you want to use it, then you can create recordings of routes or tours.

[@CarpeOdyssee]

@@ccwildlifekayaking thanks!

[@chantalrochon3566]

Can you tell us about your gears please.

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Gear list can be found here ottawakayaktours.com/ottawa-to-montreal-kayak-trip/

[@jayhome2715]

ok so Ottawa to Montreal. How did you get home....with the kayaks?

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

See 20:00 in the video for that answer lol we did not paddle back.

[@jayhome2715]

@@ccwildlifekayaking ya the ride. But someone literally dropped you off in Ottawa then picked you up in Montreal. What a really nice someone......

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

@@jayhome2715 me and my buddy are from Ottawa so we just walked out my parking garage down to the river and away we went. But ya two VERY nice someone’s drove down to retrieve us. They were rewarded with a trip to beaus brewery on the we back.

[@KronikSkateboarding]

This looks awesome! How do you find the Tsunami 125? I keep going back and forth between the 125 and the 140. Do you find it spacious enough?

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

I am 5’8 165-170lbs and for me it is perfect. I always have a bag between my legs with my gear and camera in it and on this trip it held all the gear for the five days with nothing strapped to the hull, all stored inside. In my experience plenty spacious 👍🏼

[@howieziegler3110]

What kayaks are you guys using? Very nice video by the way!!

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thank you 🙏 Wilderness systems tsunami 12.5 kayaks. Can’t recommend them enough. Great boats👍🏼

[@georgedanova5679]

Really interesting video about our historic waterway. I hope to do a similar trip some day. A few questions around the Carillon Dam if you don't mind answering: Did you have reservations at Vouageur Campground? It looked like you tied up around here 45.56160396888188, -74.40050756058668 for the night and then walked in to the "Portage" area of the campground. If you didn't have a reservation, why not paddle directly to inner channels of the park? Also, couldn't you just have gorilla camped nearby, like here 45.56456816211237, -74.42082152795486 or here 45.561276861018335, -74.398302352476? Do you think you would have benefitted from portaging on the Ontario side, say here 45.56061195273619, -74.39467424215817 or here 45.564441308900605, -74.3881286989363, and then down to put in here 45.56358765767993, -74.38149700748819? (Paste coordinates into Google Maps/Earth to see where I mean.) Thanks.

[@ccwildlifekayaking]

Thank you! We did have a site booked. It was a little up from where you have marked on the map. We tied up directly at our site. Overall it was the only booked campground and it was our least favourite campsite, primarily do to the inconvenience of the short steep hill from water to site (Also after a couple quiet nights the busy campground almost feels like your back in the city.) There were a couple of sites we passed before ours that had better water access that would be worth trying to get. Regarding going to the inner channels of the park, at the end of a 38km day it was more then we would have wanted to do at that point. It adds another couple KM at least and once in there (cant say from experience, but from gmap) it looked like we would have had to beach the boats and leave them there or carry them into a campsite, so the outer sites at portage feel like the best bet for Voyager. It is likely very possible to have done more stealth camping around here sure, but we weren't looking, again very tired at that point, (only night I didn't talk to the camera or film much of anything) and we already had the site booked, the idea was we had one night we didn't have to worry about finding something and it was the only park on the route we could get a site in. As for portaging the Ontario side, absolutely not, the Quebec side is the only way to go, the Ontario side on gmaps looks easier and I was pushing for that as well when we realised it was closed but its actually much, longer and would be much much harder on the Ontario side. This was confirmed by my friend who spoke to the person working at the locks (12:24 "The other way is worse" is a clip of a larger conversation referring to the Ontario side crossing). Over all the Quebec side is actually pretty easy thanks to the grassy hills!