|
DIFFICULTY:
-Easy flat water |
START
/ FINISH:
-12 km west of Cobden, at Muskrat Lake on Hwy
17 |
|
DISTANCE:
- Variable, there and back.
- NO PORTAGES
|
WEATHER/WATER
CONDITIONS:
-
Pembroke |
NEARBY
ATTRACTIONS:
-Osceola
(Walking Guide) |
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Muskrat River
Information
This flat water canoe day trip, 12 km north
of Cobden, travels from Muskrat Lake along Muskrat River to Mud Lake and
further if you desire. Be sure to bring binoculars to view: Great Blue
Herons, Kingfishers, American Coots, Gallinules, Black Terns and the occasional
Osprey. This canoe route follows a section of Samuel de Champlain’s
1615 expedition into the interior of Canada. (see Points
of Interest).
How
to get there
Travel about 12 km
west of the village of Cobden on Hwy 17. Turn left onto Cornerview Rd
and follow the road to the next intersection. Directly ahead is the put
in. Turn right at the intersection and park your car on the shoulder of
the road.
 Directions
- Canoe up the northwestern end of Muskrat
Lake past the permanent summer camp. Muskrat Lake, 14 km long, lies
in a pre-glacial valley that occupies an old fault line. The western
shore of this long, narrow lake abuts a clay plain while, to the east,
an escarpment of Precambrian rock rises more than 60m.
- Enter the Muskrat River at the end of
the Lake. Pass under the bridge on Hwy 17 and the railway bridge where
Barn Swallows nest and race between the steel girders. For those seeking
a shorter trip, put in the canoe at the launch beside the bridge just
off Hwy 17 and continue upstream.
- Close by the river flows through a Silver
Maple swamp where there is a small stand of Ostrich Ferns along the
left (southern) shoreline.
- Kingfishers, Great Blue Herons and the
occasional Osprey survey the shoreline of the river which are lined
with Willows and Silver Maple trees. Follow the river to Mud Lake.
- Mud Lake is a great place to view American
Coots, Gallinules, Cormorants and rare Black Terns which frequent the
area in summer.
- For the half-day trip head back the way
you came.
- For the longer trip cross the 3 km wide
lake and rejoin the Muskrat River. Paddle down stream until you run
out of steam. The trees on the shoreline are a good place to rest, lie
back in your canoe
and have lunch.
|
Up
the Ottawa River
We
rested on the shore of a pond, which was rather pleasant, and made
a fire to drive off the mosquitoes, which tormented us greatly ...
The next day we ... went by land ... by a harder country than we had
ever seen, in that the winds had beaten down the pines on top of one
another, which is no slight obstacle, for it is necessary to pass
sometimes over and sometimes under these trees. In this way we came
to a lake [Muskrat Lake] very full of fish; and the people of the
country about come there to fish. Near this lake there is a settlement
of [natives] who till the soil and raise maize.
