Mattawa River
Encyclopedia
The Mattawa River is a river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in central Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It flows east from Trout Lake
Trout Lake (Ontario)
Trout Lake is a lake in municipalities of East Ferris and North Bay, Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of the much larger Lake Nipissing. Trout Lake is the source of the Mattawa River and a significant body of water on a well-known historic North American...

 east of North Bay
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...

 and enters the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...

 at the town of Mattawa
Mattawa, Ontario
Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. Mattawa means "Meeting of the Waters" in Ojibwa...

. Counting from the head of Trout Lake, it is 76 km in length. The river's name comes from the Algonquin
Algonquin language
Algonquin is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the Algonquin First Nations of Quebec and Ontario...

 word for "meeting of waterways".

Two provincial parks are located along it: the Mattawa River Waterway Provincial Park stretches along both sides of the river's banks for almost its full length; and Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park
Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park
Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park is a provincial park spanning both sides of the Mattawa River. It has an area of 25.5 km² and is about 14 km west of Mattawa, Ontario, Canada...

, located about 10 km from the river's end.

Geography

The river follows inside an ancient fault line
Geologic fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces...

 through the Algoma Highlands called the Mattawa Fault. This fault line marks the northern edge of an ancient rift valley
Rift valley
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...

, called the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben , with its branch the Timiskaming Graben, is an ancient rift valley in the Canadian Shield of Northeastern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. This rift valley was formed when the Earth's crust moved downward about a kilometre between two major fault zones known as the Mattawa...

, and still causes minor earthquakes in the area. From Lake Talon
Lake Talon
Lake Talon is a lake in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada that is part of the Mattawa River system and the Ottawa River drainage basin. The majority of the water body is located in Bonfield Township with the rest in Calvin Township. The lake is a popular cottaging spot during the summer, as it is...

 to Mattawa the river flows through a rock-walled canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

 up to 150 metres (492.1 ft) in places.

Tributaries include the:
  • Amable du Fond River
    Amable du Fond River
    The Amable du Fond River is a river in Nipissing District, in the Northern Ontario portion of Ontario, Canada. It flows from Pipe Lake through Kawawaymog, North Tea, Manitou and Kioshkokwi Lakes in northwestern Algonquin Park to join the Mattawa River on the Calvin, Ontario side of Samuel de...

  • Kaibuskong River
    Kaibuskong River
    The Kaibuskong River is a small river in Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada that runs south through the Township of Bonfield from its source at Lake Nosbonsing...

  • North River
    North River (Ontario)
    North River may refer to one of five rivers in Ontario, Canada:*North River in Kenora District, in the Hudson Bay drainage basin, which flows into Marchington Lake on the Marchington River near the unincorporated place of Ghost River*In Nipissing District:...



An interesting feature is the Porte de l'Enfer (Hell's Gate). This is a peculiar cave in the river's bank speculated to be a native ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...

 mine. As far back as 1761, Alexander Henry reported on this cave and the myths surrounding it. It was said to be inhabited by an evil and fierce demon, hence its name.

Pothole
Pothole
A pothole is a type of disruption in the surface of a roadway where a portion of the road material has broken away, leaving a hole.- Formation :...

s on the Talon Portage, several abandoned cataracts and former river channels provide evidence that the Mattawa River was a much larger river at one time. It may have been a post-glacial spillway draining the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 into the Ottawa River.

History


The Mattawa River had been used by native peoples as an important transportation corridor for many centuries. In 1610, Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé , was the first of European French explorers to journey along the St. Lawrence River with the Native Americans and to view Georgian Bay and Lake Huron Canada in the 17th century. A rugged outdoorsman, he took to the lifestyle of the First Nations and had a unique contribution to the...

  and in 1615, Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....

 were the first Europeans to travel the river. For some 200 years thereafter, it formed part of the important water route leading from Montreal west to Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

. It was the primary access to the vast Canadian interior in the days of the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

. Canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...

s travelling west up the Ottawa turned left at "the Forks" (the mouth of the Mattawa) to enter the "Petite Rivière" ("Small River", as compared to the Ottawa), reaching Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...

 by way of "La Vase Portage", an 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) stretch of water and portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

s.

Other notable travellers on the Mattawa included Jean Nicolet
Jean Nicolet
Jean Nicolet de Belleborne was a French coureur des bois noted for exploring Green Bay in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin.-Life:...

 in 1620, Jean de Brébeuf
Jean de Brébeuf
Jean de Brébeuf was a Jesuit missionary, martyred in Canada on March 16, 1649.-Early years:Brébeuf was born in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy, France. He was the uncle of the fur trader Georges de Brébeuf. He studied near home at Caen. He became a Jesuit in 1617, joining the Order...

 in 1626, Gabriel Lallemant
Gabriel Lallemant
Saint Gabriel Lalemant was a Jesuit missionary and one of the eight Canadian Martyrs....

 in 1648, Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson was a French-Canadian fur trader and explorer. He is often linked to his brother-in-law Médard des Groseilliers who was about 20 years older. The decision of Radisson and Groseilliers to enter the English service led to the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company.Born near...

 and Médard des Groseilliers
Médard des Groseilliers
Médard Chouart des Groseilliers was a French explorer and fur trader in Canada. He is often paired with his brother-in-law Pierre-Esprit Radisson who was about 20 years his junior...

 in 1658, La Verendrye
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye was a French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer. In the 1730s he and his four sons opened up the area west of Lake Superior and thus began the process that added Western Canada to the original New France in the Saint Lawrence basin...

 in 1731, Alexander MacKenzie in 1794, and David Thompson
David Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...

 in 1812.

In the 19th century, the river provided access to large untouched stands of white pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

. The river was also used to transport logs to sawmills. The value of the Mattawa River as a transportation link ended in 1881 when the railroad was built to Mattawa.

Almost the full length of the river was protected as a provincial park in 1970 and has been designated as a Canadian Heritage River
Canadian Heritage Rivers System
The Canadian Heritage Rivers System was established in 1984 by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to conserve and protect the best examples of Canada's river heritage, to give them national recognition, and to encourage the public to enjoy and appreciate them. It is a cooperative...

 in January 1988. While logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

 is still an important industry in this region, its shores are now protected from further development and logging.

Today, the river and lakes are mainly used for recreation.

Mattawa River Provincial Park

In 1970, a section of the Mattawa River from the eastern end of Trout Lake to the western boundary of Samuel de Champlain Park was protected. This 33 kilometres (20.5 mi) long and 122 metres (400.3 ft) wide ribbon of land on both sides of the river was designated as Ontario's first "waterway" park. It is a non-operating park, meaning there are no visitor facilities and services. There are some backcountry campsites provided and the portage trails are marked with signs and historic plaques
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...

. However most are in various stages of neglect.

There are plans to increase the park by 108.8 square kilometres (42 sq mi) of Crown Land along both shores, and extending it on the eastern side of Samuel de Champlain Park towards the town of Mattawa. It will include Rice Bay Delta marsh communities, silver maple swamp forests, and the Talon Lake Forest.

Canoeing the Mattawa River

The Mattawa River is a popular destination for weekend canoe camping
Canoe camping
Canoe camping is a combination of canoeing and camping. It is similar to backpacking, but canoe campers travel by canoes or kayaks...

 trips. Because of well established portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

s, the river can be travelled in both directions. The route description below follows the river's flow from west to east.

Public access is on Trout Lake. Continue east on the river. Some older maps may still show the Tortue Rapid
Rapid
A rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the...

s but these were blasted and no longer present. Turtle Lake follows.

From here the river goes north through several sets of small lakes (requiring a lift-over or short portage between each), before looping back and flowing into the north end of Lake Talon. But the historic canoe route bypasses this section by going to Lake Talon
Lake Talon
Lake Talon is a lake in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada that is part of the Mattawa River system and the Ottawa River drainage basin. The majority of the water body is located in Bonfield Township with the rest in Calvin Township. The lake is a popular cottaging spot during the summer, as it is...

 through Pine Lake, via Portage de la Mauvaise Musique and Portage Pin de Musique.

At the end of Lake Talon
Lake Talon
Lake Talon is a lake in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada that is part of the Mattawa River system and the Ottawa River drainage basin. The majority of the water body is located in Bonfield Township with the rest in Calvin Township. The lake is a popular cottaging spot during the summer, as it is...

, portage around the dam. After Pimisi Lake, there are a few Class 1 rapids until the Paresseux Falls. Shortly after follows the Porte de l'Enfer (Hell's Gate) on the north bank.

There are two short whitewater sections inside Champlain Park but which become shallow and a rock garden in low water. The last portage before Mattawa and the Ottawa River is around the Hurdman Dam.

Mattawa River Canoe Race

The Mattawa River Canoe Race has been held each year since 1976, usually to coincide with the Mattawa Voyageur Days Festival in late July. The race runs the full length of the river from Olmsted Beach in North Bay to Mattawa, some 64 km. This popular race is open to several classes of competition, including solo and tandem canoeing, recreational, and "voyageur".

The record times for the racing classes are:
  • C-1 open: 6:10:18 (2004)
  • C-2 open: 5:27:53 (1995)
  • C-2 mixed: 5:46:27 (2003)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK