Paddle day trip
MVFN: Paddle on the Mississippi River Upstream from CR 15 to the mouth of the Clyde River at Stewart Island (#4)
Tuesday August 18, 2026
Paddle: Mississippi River from CR 15 upstream to the mouth of the Clyde River at Stewart Island (#4)
Leader: Kathy Pilon
Directions from Almonte (36km): Take County Rd 16 (Wolf Grove Rd) west 9 km from the ESSO station to Union Hall and turn left on County Rd 9 (Tatlock Rd). Continue 9 km and turn right on Highway 7. Continue 5 km and turn right at the stone church on your right onto County Road 15 (Ferguson Falls Rd). Continue 13 km, through the town of Ferguson Falls and past Temple’s Sugar Bush to McIlquham-Blair Rd, just before the bridge over the Mississippi R. Turn left onto McIlquham-Blair Rd. and immediately turn right and down a small slope to the launch site. After unloading your boat and gear, drive back up the slope to the (free) parking lot off McIlquham-Blair Rd.
Directions from Perth: Take County Rd. 511 north from Hwy 7. Continue 14 km and turn right onto CR 15 (Ferguson Falls Rd). Continue 3 km, past Mal’s Campground on your right and across the CR 15 bridge over the Mississippi R. Immediately after crossing the bridge, turn right onto McIlquham- Blair Rd and immediately turn right again and down a small slope to the launch site. After unloading your boat and gear, drive back up the slope to the (free) parking lot off McIlquham-Blair Rd.
Time: Scheduled paddling start is 10 AM (please arrive no later than 9:40 AM).
Launch Site: Located on the east shore of the Mississippi R., opposite Mal’s Campground, at the CR 15 bridge. There is free parking on the nearby lot. There is no washroom at the launch site or at the potential lunch stop.
The paddle: We will paddle upstream on the Mississippi R. from the County Rd 15 bridge to Stewart Island and back, which is an easy 4 hour paddle. About 2 km from the launch site we paddle under the CR 511 bridge and about 2 km from there the river turns to the right, from SW to NW. At that point there is a nice wetland and the mouth of the Fall River to the south. We then paddle another 2 km NW, past Red Rock Island to Stewart Island. The mouth of the Clyde River is to the right (NE) of Stewart Island.
We may be able to have lunch on the NE corner of Stewart Island. After lunch we’ll either paddle into the mouth of the Clyde and upstream a short distance or paddle around Stewart Island, which is very pretty. We will then paddle back down the Mississippi to the launch site (and ice cream at Mal’s Campground).
From the SW corner of Stewart Island, the Mississippi continues upstream to Playfairville, beyond which there are many rapids.
Nature to see: In the past, a significant amount of wildlife has been seen along this route, including White-tailed Deer, Canada Geese, Turkey Vultures, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Kingbirds and Belted Kingfishers.
Items to bring: Lunch, lots of water, bug spray, sunscreen, binoculars, a hat, etc.
Ensure you are equipped with a life jacket, bailing bucket, whistle, heaving line, extra paddle, etc.
Registration: You must pre-register for this event by completing the form found here. Please complete a separate form for each participant (see “Submit additional responses” when you submit the form) as we need the “agree” to the waiver from each person.
Limited to 25 paddlers. In order to give everyone an opportunity, priority will be given to members who were NOT on the previous paddle until Sunday morning.
Your MVFN membership must be up-to-date. You can update and pay for your membership on the new Yapla system here: https://my.mvfn.ca/en/members/adhesion/. You may bring a friend or two, subject to the approval of the trip leader. For further information, contact Kathy Pilon.
This event will be cancelled in case of severe weather. A confirmation email will go out just before the event. If in doubt, contact Kathy on the morning of the trip at 613-285-6778 before 8:00 AM.
For more information or to volunteer to lead a trip, contact the Paddling Committee at paddling@mvfn.ca.