Eighteen Mile Island Loop
Total Distance: 73 km
Duration: 5 days
Number of Portages: 10
Total Portage Distance: 1100m (the longest portage is 400m)
Level of Difficulty: Novice (though some knowledge of running rapids would be beneficial)
Map provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
It had been a couple of years since my old high school friends, Jason and Scott, had joined me on a canoe trip. The Covid-19 virus had prevented us from doing so, but in August 2021, Jason made his way from his home on Vancouver Island back to Ontario for some paddling. Scott and I joined him at his family cottage near Gravenhurst for a fun night of catching up before heading north the following morning to tackle the French River's Eighteen Mile Island Loop.
We were pumped for it, because during a summer with quite a bit of temperamental weather, we actually had a great forecast for the week.
Day 1 - Dry Pine Bay to Wigwam Islands - 17 kms
Shortly after 11 am the following day, we were pulling into Loon's Landing, a marina on the west shore of Dry Pine Bay. I had called ahead earlier in the week to arrange parking for our vehicle and to obtain use of their boat launch. By noon, we had the boats loaded, had paid the owners for their services, and were paddling across the bay -- Scott and Jason in my Scott Wilderness and me, alone, in my Swift Prospector. We were excited to start our trip.
The bay was a little gusty, but not enough to hamper our crossing to Meshaw Falls.
The people at Loon's Landing had told us that the owner of Meshaw Falls Cottages was no longer allowing canoe trippers access to the short portage past the Falls. Indeed, when we paddled up to the resort, we saw a massive 'No Trespassing' sign where the take-out to the portage was.
I can only assume that any portage at this location would be one of historical significance given the fact that we are talking about the French River and therefore, under the Public Lands Act, allows canoeists access to it. I mean, seriously, if there was ever a canoe route holding historical weight, it is the French River Route; however, the owners of Meshaw Falls Cottages were denying these rights at that time. As in other similar cases in Ontario, these issues often find their way to the courts to be solved.
Well, I was told by the people at Loon's Landing that it was a no-go, and the sign was large and clear, so we decided that the only battle we wanted on that lovely August day was the one of getting upriver and getting to a nice campsite. So, we reluctantly paddled south to the Stony Rapids portage. Not only did this add an extra hour to our trip, but we were denied a view of the interesting swirl hole found at Meshaw Falls.
The portage past Stony Rapids was on river-right and it ascended a couple of hundred meters over a pretty run of whitewater.
We got into our canoes off of a steep bank, paddled for a couple of minutes, and then disembarked again on river left. There, we made quick work of the 70m portage through a campsite, but stopped to have some lunch wraps before getting back in the canoes and moving on.
I resisted the urge to stand up in my canoe and moon the good folks over at Meshaw Falls Cottages as we paddled past their fine establishment for the second occasion, this time from above the falls.
As we paddled out into Eighteen Mile Bay, I gawked at the number of cottages there. This only spurred me on to paddle harder in an effort to find wilder locales.
As we rounded a bend and headed north toward Cow Bay, we saw an old cross on the point that most likely holds some historical significance. We couldn't make out what was written under it but didn't want to get out to investigate as it was private land. We were curious, so if anyone reading this trip report is aware of the story behind this cross, kindly share if you feel up to it. Drop me a line in the comment section at the end of this trip report.
A short time later, we found ourselves in the northern end of the bay and we could see Gibraltar Rock to our east.
By 3:30 in the afternoon, we found ourselves in the North Channel heading east and the cottages that dotted the shoreline got fewer and farther between. By 4 pm, we were approaching Ouellette Rapids.
Reaching the rapids, we half-lined, half-portaged up the left bank. Just as we were about to reload our canoes, a jet ski came flying up behind us and jumped the rapids! It sped away upriver. That certainly wasn't something I was used to seeing on a canoe trip, but this is what can occur when tripping through cottage country.
Just upriver from Ouellette Rapids, the river narrowed as it passed under a bridge. There, we had to paddle hard to fight the current. At one point, my boat was pretty much at a standstill as I was giving it all I had. Perseverance won the day though; I eventually made it through. Scott and Jason had an easier time as they were fighting it in tandem.
We found ourselves in another cottagey area again as the river widened into a massive bay dominated by massive cliffs on the southern shore.
I was aware of a couple of campsites adjacent to the cliffs, so we made a beeline for them. It was getting late, and we were getting tired and hungry. We were looking forward to setting up camp and relaxing over dinner.
We approached the campsite to the left of the cliffs. There was a motorboat pulled ashore and a young couple was relaxing and having a picnic. We didn't see any camping gear or equipment, so we asked them if they were planning to camp on the site. They said that they were just about to leave and we could have it. Yippy-skippy!
Good news for us because it was a great site, despite the view of cottages across the bay and the number of motorboats flying about in the late afternoon. Here is a shot of the site taken the following morning from the water.
After setting up camp and collecting some firewood, we enjoyed a steak dinner at the fire and ate it atop the cliffs facing the western skies. The views from there were amazing as the sun went down.
The moment was so spectacular, it inspired Jason to do an amazing little jig in celebration.
We spent the rest of the evening relaxing by the fire and enjoying the clear skies as the moon rose over the cliffs.
Hello Canoe Trippers and Wilderness Lovers. Canoe tripping in the Canadian backcountry is a strong passion of mine. I thoroughly enjoy writing about my experiences and sharing them so that readers can benefit in their own trip planning. However, publishing these trip reports takes an enormous amount of time. Kindly consider buying me a coffee for my next trip out! Thank you for your readership and happy paddling!