Has anoyone here paddled Spendic Lake in the St Croix waterway. I am considering paddling from Forest City to the outlet into the St Croix River, and was wondering how long this would take. I have done a fair bit of river padddling but little flat water, so i'm not sure how far I can get in a reasonable day of paddling. I have a copy of the river map for the area, and it looks to be about 35 km for this stretch.

The only stretch that I have paddled is Vanceboro(sp) to the head of the first dam.This can be done in one day depending on water levels.Russels Landing in Vanceboro will be able to help you a lot more( shuttle,waterlevels,campsites,ect). I can't figure out how to post a link so e-mail me if you can't find the site. River twists and turns a lot so trip can be slow if the water is low. Enjoy.

I was on a guided canoe trip on Spednic and the St. Croix a few years ago. I believe we started near Forest City, but I could be mistaken since I didn't have a map, and was relying on the guide's knowledge. We started at lunchtime the first day, and reached the dam at the outflow into the St. Croix shortly before lunch on the third day. So about 2 days. Keep in mind that we were all paddling solo in tandem Royalex boats, so we weren't going that fast. Also, this was in October so the days were kind of short.

Hope this helps

Tom

Hello tmacneil
Sorry I have not looked at this heading for a while, but 2 years ago I did the first leg of this trip. We started at Forrest City about lunch time with a light head wind and reached Birch Island in late afternoon, making camp there at a great campsite. Over night a front went through with much wind and rain. The site is fairly well sheltered so we did well. The next day there was a pounding wind out of the North so we were land bound all day as the rollers swept by. Day 3 dawned beautiful, sunny with a good north wind still blowing so we started early and crused down the lake, taking lunch in the narrows of the lake just a short distance up from Vanceboro. We made the short, easy portage around the dam at Vanceboro and camped that night at Wing Dam Island, another jewel of a site. We worked only a half day next, camping at Little Falls so we could enjoy the rapids. The next day seemed long as we had planned to stop in Loon Bay but the sites were taken so we camped just below. This day and the next are when we say so many eagles. Our last night we watched a beautiful sunset from Egg Point, perhaps our favorite campsite as we always stop here. I have always pulled out at Kellyland, a short hours paddle from Egg Point. I once considered going farther downstream but the outfitter I was using said it is pretty much flatwater from here on down and more industrial development the farther you go (read pollution). I did not persue it any more so have no first hand knowledge. I should say that we 3 couples that did this trip are all in our 50's and enjoy our time in the back country so we don't try to go so fast as some do. Hope this helps and I will watch if you have other questions.

Hi,

We live out there about half time in the summer, and I have been through that stretch probably 10-15 times. It is about 30 km. long. There are quite a few good camp sites though it is busy in July. Can be quite windy at times. When it is from the west it helps but . . . People go through in 1 day, 2 is not bad, we, enjoying the camping, usually take 3 days. I am assuming you are a good paddler and in reasonable shape.

Good maps are available from the tourist center in McAdam, if you have trobles with information don't hesitate to contact me.

We are heading out ther for our first camping trip this wek-end.

Von