Dalton Mills to Jane Falls Via Shikwamkwa Lake and River

CanadaOntarioLake Superior basin
Submitter & Author Information
Route submitted by: 
John F Weist
Trip Date : 
9-4-2021
Additional Route Information
Distance: 
22 km
Duration: 
1 days
Loop Trip: 
No
Portage Information
No. of portages: 
3
Total Portage Distance: 
500 m
Longest Portage: 
300 m
Difficulty Ratings
River Travel: 
Intermediate
Lake Travel: 
Novice
Portaging: 
Difficult
Remoteness: 
Intermediate
Background Trip Info
Water Levels: 
Low
Route Description
Access to Put-In Information: 

Take Hwy 651 north from Hwy 101 to Dalton Camp access rd.  Put in is easy on Shikwamkwa Lake.

Technical Guide: 

Easy 5mile paddle through Shik (Shikwamkwa) Lake to the headwaters of the Shik River.  Paddle down stream approx. .4 miles to Nicholson Dam then portage RR.  Easy paddle downstream to 48.05897N, -84.27593W where you must portage around a small falls.  There is an island there and we chose RR to portage (apprx 200m)  however if I were to do it again I would spend more time scouting this portage as RR is dry with jagged and slippery boulders. Continued DS apprx .9miles to swifts that can not be floated due to low water levels where we were forced to line the canoe apprx .25 miles to the port around Jane Falls, RR.   This port is difficult to spot and is located at 48.05897N, -84.27593W.   We did some maintenece there as far as brushing but did not have flagging tape to mark it. Port wo DS of falls is approx 300m and there is a decent camp site there 2-3 tent pads and could handle several hammocks.   

Trip Journal/Log/Report/Diary: 

We put in at Shik Lake at noon on 9-4-21 - Beautiful route, caught 2 nice pike (25" and 30") and hooked into a Smallmouth while troliing across the lake portion.   Observed otters, beavers, loons, bald eagle, bear cub, owls and a red tail hawk.    The water leverls were very low and we did have to pull the canoe through several areas where we could not float but these were no more then 50-75m pulls.  Nicholson Dam is a 20m port along the RR side and an awkward put in on the downstream side.  

The river is beautiful with many sand bars and large exposed boulders.  

Once at the above mentioned small falls the river has made an island. The RR side of the island is dry but very difficult portage with walking being on jagged, exposed and due to the rain very slippery rocks and boulders.  I would scout this area better for a different port if I were to do this again as it was a slow, difficult and potential ankle breaker of a port.  There is a nice pool below the falls here that could use some more fishing attention then what I gave it. 

A little less then 1 mile DS from here is another impassible swift/ rapid which could likely be floated at higher river levels.  However we had to exit the canoe and line through this area  very carefully due to slippery and jagged rocks.   

Look carefully for the port around Jane Falls on RR (small cleared area with no visible flagging or other markings). 

This port is approx 300m long to the camp site on DS side of the falls. 

We camped here.  

We then continued the next day approx 4km DS to a friends camp where we ended our route. 

The river below Jane Falls is very low and again we pulled through severa areas where water levels were to low to float but these were short and easy. 

All and all a very beautiful trip and would be very interested in doing this again with higher water levels. 

 

Maps Required
Topo Maps (1:50,000): 
We used Gaia GPS app with the Backroads Mapbooks Canada Layer.
Topo Maps (1:250,000): 
Other Maps: 
Other
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