The Mattawa River: A Historic Canoe Route

[@ThePursuitofPassion]

Nice trip guys! Wow, water levels were low! Brought back memories of my trip many many years ago. Take about timing with the rain the last day. 😄 You guys should have taken the 🍉 with ya!

[@madformaple]

Thanks! We have nothing to compare the water levels to but expected more class 1/ swifts than the rock gardens that we got :( Next time we come here it will certainly be in higher water!

[@VoyageurTripper]

Another amazing vid guys! Looks like it was a great trip (despite the low water levels - I haven't seen the Mattawa that low before!)

[@madformaple]

Thanks Mikaela! Absolutely a fun one. We will have to go earlier in the year next time to hopefully have some higher water

[@TheGreggyJ]

Hey guys! There's no way to DM you, but my buddy and I are planning a trip based on your Kukagami Lake Sturgeon River Loop trip on Tripreports! We've done several big loops in Algonquin prior to this, but we don't have any experience on whitewater and we're trying to gauge difficulty of the river/rapids. What's your opinion? What time of the year did you take your tipr? We're looking at mid-late May (higher water levels). I also contacted a Temigami outiftter for local knowledge, and he strongly advised against the rapids in a Tuffweave boat (Wenonah Prospector 16.5). What are your thoughts? Thank you!

[@madformaple]

Thanks for reaching out! We did that trip in the second week of June. If I remember correctly we had some slightly low water (nothing more than a class 1- maybe 2) so a bit earlier would be beneficial. It is a good route to get used to whitewater, which also was our goal. From looking up the make of that boat online it sounds suitable for whitewater. When we did that route we rented from the Sportsman's Lodge (new management there is very nice). If you didn't find the route from Kevin Callan's book I'd recommend taking a look as it has campsites, portages, and rapids marked. If you do end up paddling this route, keep an eye out for the Kelly's Farm portage since it is up high on the river bank and there is no physical building there anymore so it could be easy to miss. Remember to bring painters, helmets, and to scout if you can't see the end of a set. Enjoy!