There are numerous canoe route options within Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater and in connection with the adjoining waterway parks, conservation reserves and Crown land.
Facebook and Website Links
Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park website
Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park Facebook
If you’re looking for information about camping or hiking at this park, we have more information on our partner website – Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater
Contact & Other Information
Phone: (705) 569-3205
Address: 24 Finlayson Park Road,Temagami, P0H 2H0
Opening and Closing: April 29, 2022 to October 23, 2022
Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater No Main Entrance – general location of park: Latitude: 47.386069, Longitude: -80.529034
Canoe & Kayak
Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater is a haven for water lovers. The area has an extensive network of interconnected waterways, which means there are plenty of options when it comes to exploring this fascinating natural habitat and its inhabitants! You can choose from various routes that will take you through some beautiful scenery or have your journey guided by someone who knows exactly what they’re doing – either way, we’re sure glad these people live right here on our doorstep because without them Cairns wouldn’t be half as much fun
Canaanpost head out into their respective fields each day eager not only to see new faces but also to learn something fresh about themselves while tackling challenges head-on with confidence knowing
There are numerous canoe route options within Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater and in connection with the adjoining waterway parks, conservation reserves and Crown land.
Lady Evelyn River: this waterway is the central feature in the park, with a north branch that is road-accessible, and a south branch that is only reached from other canoe routes or by floatplane. The north branch starts in a chain of lakes, with the road ending at Gamble Lake. The south branch begins at remote Florence Lake. The two branches meet and the river begins to drop in elevation more steeply, with rapids and falls, skirted by rugged portages beneath the pines. The river passes through a 1990s forest fire, along with several lakes including Katherine, once known as Divide Lake, where the river splits again.
The South Channel is longer and more rugged, with several high falls and challenging portages. The North Channel is shorter, with three large waterfalls. The route either ends in a floatplane trip back to the town of Temagami, or a paddle through several large lakes, Willow Island, Sucker Gut and Lady Evelyn Lake, to the access at Mowat Landing.
Makobe River: This route is a whitewater trip on a small northern river. It begins in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater, by portaging up the Grays River from the Lady Evelyn River, or by flying into Makobe Lake, the route’s headwaters. The river is best paddled in Spring for rocking whitewater, but can be done with more portaging later on in the season. The Makobe is quite remote, but also short, good for a long weekend, ending at the Montreal River at the town of Elk Lake.
A longer version of this trip, minus the fly-in option, includes a chain of lakes west of Makobe, including Trethewey, or another chain of lakes and streams south of Trethewey. Both of these options are accessed via the former Liskeard Lumber Road.
Smoothwater Lake to Scarecrow Lake: This route provides canoe access to Ishpatina Ridge, Ontario’s highest elevation. The route begins on Crown land on the Montreal River, heads south through Lady Dufferin Lake and into the park. Smoothwater Lake is large, with a curving sandy east shore. An alternate route to the Lady Evelyn River turns east through several lakes and has very long portages. Along this route lie the “Aurora Trout Lakes”, a nature reserve and fish sanctuary, where the extremely rare Aurora trout is found, native to only this place. Fishing is prohibited in this sanctuary.
The route to Scarecrow Lake follows another chain of lakes in a broad valley, hemmed in by high hills. Ishpatina Ridge is one of these sets of hills. It is the highest point in Ontario, and can be reached by a 3.2 km trail from the shore of Scarecrow Lake. The trail leads from the site of a cabin used by the fire ranger who spent summers watching for smoke from the fire tower on the ridge, before floatplanes became the common method for forest fire spotting.
The canoe route continues through lakes and portages to join the Sturgeon River, a waterway park to the south. Paddling from Scarecrow Lake back to the put-in on the Montreal River is a good linear trip of several days.
Other routes:
The main routes described above all connect with other parks, conservation reserves and canoe routes on Crown land. The Sturgeon River and the lakes of Solace Provincial Park connect to form an almost-circular route back into Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater. Pinetorch Lake Conservation Reserve, a very remote and challenging lake-to-lake route connects Florence Lake in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater with Wakimika Lake in the Obabika Lake waterway park. In fact, routes of a week, two weeks or even three can be created linking this park with the rest of the two thousand lakes and 2400km of routes in Temagami.
Canoe & Kayak Rental
Canoes and camping equipment are available for rental from outfitters in Temagami or near park access points.
Where to Launch
this article done by northern Ontario travel has a lot of great information and a few options where you can launch your canoe or kayak click here for more information on where to launch and other things
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