Many of Ontario’s most stunning and picturesque paddling routes can be found in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River, most notably in the Thousand Islands National Park.
The Thousand Islands National Park is a three-hour drive east of Toronto and is a perfect long weekend summer excursion, that I highly recommend. Pack a picnic with your swimming gear and explore the countless bays and beaches either by paddling, hiking or a bit of both!
The Thousand Islands Region is situated along a 50-mile stretch of the St. Lawrence River, just east of Lake Ontario. There are 1,864 islands in this section of the river, split about 60/40 between Canada and the U.S. FYI, to qualify as an island, the plot of land must have at least one square foot above the water line year-round and must support at least one tree. Currently, there is a concerted effort underway to save Tom Thumb Island, the smallest, as its sole tree is on its last legs.
The Thousand Islands National Park is one of Canada’s smallest national parks and comprises 21 small islands in the waterway and two mainland properties, Jones Creek, and Landon Bay.
Here are my paddling highlights!
Kayaking among the Thousand Islands
Whether you are an experienced or a novice kayaker, like me, the use of a guide in unfamiliar waters has many benefits. 1000 Islands Kayaking Company was the perfect local outfitter to guide me and my wife through the westernmost section of the islands near Gananoque, where there is a lot of large boat traffic. I signed us up for the full-day tour, in a tandem kayak, so if my wife got tired (or angry with me), I would dutifully paddle for us both. (The outfitter advised me that there’s a reason they nickname these tandems their “Divorce Kayaks.”)
Despite this foreboding, we had a great day, albeit with challenging, strong winds and choppy waters. Our excellent guide, Andrew, told us later that this was the windiest day he had taken a group out all year. Two of our six kayaks capsized, so we got to observe how to do a “wet exit,” i.e., get yourself back into the kayak from the water.
Beaurivage Island
During the day, we paddled past more than a dozen of the Admiralty Islands, including Lindsay, McDonald, Beaurivage, Bostwick, and Aubrey, some of which had national park campsites. It was a lot of fun to check out and land on some of these islands.
Andrew chose Beaurivage, one of the national park islands, for our lunch spot. We discovered the iconic Red Chairs that are placed at special viewpoints in many of the Canadian national parks.
Half Moon Bay and Bostwick Island
A particular highlight of our adventure was paddling into Half Moon Bay, a narrow, crescent-shaped cove curving tightly into Bostwick Island. High rock walls surrounded us and offered fully sheltered waters – not the least bit of wind in this bay! We learned from Andrew that Sunday church services have been held for paddlers here in this cove for over a century. So cool.
In sum, it was a great, long weekend trip, and a perfect ending to summer. We did a lot of kayaking, swimming, and a bit of hiking – a great way to explore another area of Ontario and another national park!
Carpe diem!
