Before you canoe or kayak to the Toronto Islands, read this
The urban paddling route we get asked about the most is from the city to the Toronto Islands, and those requests have only increased recently. Now that the warm weather is upon us, Torontonians are looking for safe activities they can do outdoors while getting some physical distancing space from their fellow city dwellers. While […]
2020 Paddling Film Festival World Premiere Roundup
One of our favourite “hard water season” traditions has become attending the premiere of Rapid Media’s Paddling Film Festival. Hosted by The Complete Paddler at The Royal Cinema in the heart of Little Italy in Toronto, the film festival often feels like the unofficial kick-off to trip planning season. It gives us permission to look […]
Urban Paddling: Canoeing the Humber River in Toronto
When spring appears in Toronto in early April, it can be tempting for the backcountry enthusiast to continue hibernating until the season finally changes up north – much, much later. However, spring is actually the best time to paddle the Greater Toronto Area’s creeks and rivers because these waterways are often too shallow to paddle later […]
Bottle Lake in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park
Bottle Lake is admired by canoe campers for its ease of access, sandy beaches, and nearby waterfalls. Join the Urban Paddlers as we set out to explore the lake and the waterfalls at the north end of Bottle, and on Catchacoma Lake as well.
Potter’s Creek and Tom Thomson Lake loop in Algonquin Provincial Park
What could be more Canadian than backcountry canoe camping through Tom Thomson Lake over the Canada Day weekend? That’s the question I posed to my friends when I was organizing a four-night trek into the Algonquin backcountry, starting July 1. Though judging from their responses in the negative, I guess it did little to stoke […]
Kayaking to Billy Bishop Airport near the Toronto Islands
Usually paddlers are looking for a little bit of peace and quiet when they set out in a canoe or kayak. But when you live in the heart of a high-density urban area, that’s not always an option. Sometimes, rather than trying to squeeze the best nature experience you can get out of a city, […]
Book review: Paddle to the Amazon
In the summer of 1980, Don Starkell set out from Winnipeg, Manitoba with his two sons – Jeff, 19, and Dana, 18 – with the goal of canoeing to the mouth of the Amazon River. It seemed impossible and many told Don he would never make it and was foolish for trying, but he spent […]