Magnetawan River

The Magnetawan River is a long river in Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada. The river flows 175 km from its source of Magnetawan Lake inside Algonquin Provincial Park to empty into Georgian Bay at the community of Britt on Byng Inlet.

Magnetawan River
Magnetawan River as seen looking downstream from the Highway 11 bridge at Burk's Falls
Location
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
DistrictParry Sound
Physical characteristics
SourceMagnetawan Lake
 • locationAlgonquin Provincial Park, Nipissing District
 • coordinates45°39′45″N 78°59′12″W
MouthByng Inlet (Georgian Bay)
 • location
Britt, Parry Sound District
 • coordinates
45°46′22″N 80°30′25″W
Length175 km (109 mi)

The name of the river means "swiftly flowing waters[1]" in the Ojibwa language.

At the end of the 19th century, the river was used to float white pine logs to sawmills downstream. The river gained recent renown when it was featured in Bill Mason's film Waterwalker.

The River has numerous rapids, such as, "The Thirty Dollar Rapids", "The Fourteen", "The Ten", the "Potato Rapids", "Poverty Bay Chutes", and "Cody Rapids".

The town of Magnetawan is located on the river between Lake Cecebe and Ahmic Lake. Locks were built here on the river to allow steamboats to travel further down the river from the railway station at Burk's Falls. The locks officially opened on July 8, 1886 and are still in use today.[2]

There is an Ojibwe community with the name Magnetawan First Nation, the same name as the river. The community is on reserve lands on the river just east of Byng Inlet.

Canoe routes

The Magnetawan River also provides great canoe routes for novice and more experienced canoe tripping. Canadian Canoe Routes lists three Magnetawan River Canoe Routes:

  • Upper Magnetawan
  • Canoers on Upper Magnetawan River
  • Magnetawan River flowing through Magnetawan

See also

References
  1. Municipality of Magnetawan Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Municipality of Magnetawan Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
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