Topo Maps (1:50,000):
If travelling west to Hattie Cove:
42 C/5 Lurch Lake
42 C/4 Pukaskwa River
42 D/1 Otter Island
42 D/8 Oiseau Bay
42 D/9 Marathon
If travelling east to Michipicoten Harbour:
42 C/5 Lurch Lake
42 C/4 Pukaskwa River
41 N/13 Michipicoten Island North
41 N/14 Dog Harbour
41 N/15 Michipicoten Harbour
Comments
You can access the river from Highway 17 at Sagina Lake and paddle up the White River to Pokei Lake, up Pokei Creek to Soulier Lake and portage into Gibson Lake. The river can usually be done before the bugs, BTB.
Acess to the river can be obtained driving to the river where the Domtar 600 road crosses the river. To get to the river, turn onto the Paint Lake road off Hwy 17 near Obatanga Prov. Park, and drive until the first main road to the right is reached south of the power line. Turn right on this road (this is the Domtar 600) and follow it until you reach the river.
I paddled the Puk solo from June 26-June 30, 2008. I used the water guage on the Environment Canada site; http://scitech.pyr.ec.gc.ca/waterweb/main.asp
to guage the water levels. I paddled in levels from 4.6 - 5.5 m. From my experience I would say 4.5-5 m would be ideal to paddle the river. Over 5m and the water is high and may force portaging sections that could otherwise br run and lined, such as the 2.5 Km Ringham's Gorge section.
The portages were getting overgrown. Outside Pukaskwa Park they are essentially non-existant and sweepers are a real danger. Inside the park portages around significant drops are well used and only seriously grown over near the river banks by alders. The Two Pants portage around Ringham's and the Schist Falls portage have been brushed out recently and are not in too bad of shape. If maintenance isn't done soon all the portages will be in bad shape.
The campsites are small, but nice. Large sites are availble at Lafleur's Dam, Oxford Ledge.
George Drought's guide is still an accurate description of the route.
In all one of my favorite rivers. The fast water goes on for miles. Swifts connect most rapids. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous.
There is a good little guide book called "Teasing the spirit" on the coastal paddle from Marathon to Wawa, and a publication written by George Drought and published by Friends of Pukaskwa on the river route.
Beware that a substantial section of two pants portage where it returns to the river has become a bushwhack. The eginning of it will be next.
There is a water level monitoring station a days paddle up from Superior,
that must have cost plenty to install, but does anyone collect the data?
Naturally Superior dropped us off and we paddled back to Wawa.
Great trip.