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 Post subject: Gatineau river
PostPosted: September 5th, 2008, 9:41 am 
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Joined: September 4th, 2008, 2:25 pm
Posts: 3
I would like to canoe the Gatineau river leading to Ottawa on a 7 day paddle. I suspect Maniwaki would be a good starting point. has anyone ever paddled the length of the Gatineau river from Maniwaki to Ottawa? If so, any advice on portages and camping? Any suggestions on good maps? Planning a trip for late september-early october 2008.

Any advice is more than welcome,
thanks!


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: September 7th, 2008, 3:50 pm 
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Joined: July 21st, 2004, 7:58 pm
Posts: 576
Unfortunately, I don't know of any canoe route maps to the Gatineau. My usual source -- Cartes et Infos Plein Air (cartespleinair.org) only yields the Gat Fest map of the sets below Maniwaki. The Gatineau Festival de l'Eau Vive site has another map of the stretch below -- but neither map is very good for your purposes.

My hat off to you if you can do this river as a camping trip -- the sets below Maniwaki are C-4, C-5. I used up my supply of horseshoes on the Gat at the festival two weeks ago!


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: September 8th, 2008, 5:50 pm 
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Joined: March 1st, 2006, 3:24 pm
Posts: 25
Location: Ottawa, ON
You'll hit the rapids just south of Maniwaki, as Peterk described. There are marked portage trails though, so it would still be possible to get through this area.

That being said, experience in moving water to get to those portage trails is a good idea, because the takeouts and put-ins are quite close to some meaty rapids that are almost guaranteed to dump a loaded tripping boat.

After this section, the rapids disappear and you have a meandering river. There are some dams (Paugan) and some swifts mainly south of Low down to Wakefield. There's camping on some of the islands in this area. I saw a map a few years ago, but it was hand-made. Apparently these sites are barely used. You may be able to get away with camping at the fringes of some of the farms that border the river.


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: September 8th, 2008, 7:35 pm 
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Joined: September 17th, 2007, 9:06 am
Posts: 15
I just paddled from lac ste marie to the paugan dam/low this weekend. It was a great paddle with many stops possible for lunches and full camp sites. It was an easy paddle and I would say that this section of the river could be done in a day however we broke it down into about a 4 hour paddle the first day and then only 1 or 11/2 the next. Great camping spots in and around the paugan dam and up to about that 1 hour mark north. If this works into your trip i would highly reccomend planning a stop in this area. We just used regular topos for maps. There is no whitewater in this area and nothing to complicated in terms of navigation.


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: October 29th, 2008, 10:00 am 
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Joined: July 23rd, 2002, 7:00 pm
Posts: 7
Location: Gatineau, Quebec - Canada
I paddled the Gatineau from Bouchette to Cantley in 2 long days. There's a pushy CII under the bridge in Northfield, be careful there since it varies quite a bit with water levels. Then a portage in Low. Take out in between the two dams and walk on the left dam road and about 1 km on river left to the put-in. The next swift is under the covered bridge in Wakefield. River right is easy, but watch for a fair size rock close to shore also on river right.

The section above Bouchette and below Maniwaki I have also done, many times, but with a different boat and purpose. Solid CIII and IV. Also varies a lot with water levels. Portages are well marked, but as mentionned be careful as you approach them.

I've never been on the river above Maniwaki and up to the Mercier dam (it's quite rough according to the map), or above the Baskatong reservoir. The section above Baskatong however is said to be really nice.

A very nice map "package" was produced a couple of years ago, and is available via La fédération québécoise du canot et du kayak at this address; www.canot-kayak.qc.ca. It's for the Gatineau from start to finish, even includes an history booklet. Very well made.

Have fun,
J


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: May 5th, 2010, 4:08 pm 
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Joined: July 22nd, 2008, 2:28 pm
Posts: 1
Thanks all for the information on this board. My girlfriend and I used it to canoe from Lac Ste-Marie back to Ottawa last fall and had a fantastic trip!

The portage at the dam at Low was quite easy however the portage at the Gatineau dam was difficult as you had to walk along the side of the highway for quite a while.

Overall, the water was really calm and the paddling fairly easy. There was some swifts before Wakefiled but nothing too challenging.

We made it to Wakefield by lunchtime after leaving from Lac Ste-Marie early in the morning. We ate lunch in Wakefeild and then set up camp a little further down the river (on the left hand side).

We made it to Petrie Island in Orleans after another half day of paddling. Paddling the Ottawa river seemed more difficult than the Gatineau but that might of been because we were a little tired by that time :)

Thanks again for the posts everyone!

Mike.

_________________
Mike.


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 Post subject: Re: Gatineau river
PostPosted: December 13th, 2021, 1:09 am 
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Joined: April 7th, 2005, 7:21 pm
Posts: 153
will try it this spring, from lake st marie to cantley, to start on pne weekend and then. bouchette to cantley,

nice trip i know the wakefield and canlthey area already


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