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Canada, the Great White North! I live in Saskatoon, which is smack dab in the middle of Saskatchewan. which is smack dab in the middle of Canada. This means I am about as far from the oceans as you can get.
Saskatchewan, Canada Saskatchewan is one of the prairie provinces, which means we have lots of wide open flat areas. Good for farming. But, as soon as you go 2 hours north of Saskatoon the land changes from open prairie to the Canadian Shield. Looking at a map of Northern Saskatchewan, it looks like the place is half water!
Saskatchewan Most of our canoeing has been done north of La Ronge, that bunch of lakes right in the middle of Saskatchewan. From Saskatoon and this area, we can paddle into rivers which empty into every ocean except the Pacific. The rest of these maps are in northern Saskatchewan and are mostly 1:250,000. You don't really want to use these for canoeing, especially since they are only half size here. We always have the 1:50,000 maps with us. That said, these maps do give you a good idea of where we went, which is the whole idea. The grid on these maps is 10 kilometers (about 6 1/4 miles). These are sorted alphabetically, by the names that I choose to use to describe a canoe route: This is in Prince Albert National Park. This is the usual short little route with 2 portages.
This is where we extended it to a 4 day trip, by going all around Kingsmere Lake.
This is the top half of the whitewater Clearwater river trip from maps 74F and 74C. This is a trip for more experienced paddlers. The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for this trip (#58) is here.
This is a trip that I "invented", mostly as a way to avoid paying $400 a person to fly in and do the Geike River. It involved several unknowns, but everything worked out well, and this is valid trip. Our route is marked in red, along with several side trips which can be taken to make the trip longer. Note the 3 kilometer portage, joining the two watersheds. No trails here! The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for the bottom portion of this trip (#38) is here. Geike and Johnson Rivers (from maps .74H and 64E)
The Haultain River was a trip that we discovered in 1974, examining maps, looking for something different. This was not a trip for beginners. We portaged at least 4 major falls, all of which were incorrectly located on the maps, even the 1:50,000 maps. But it was a dramatic trip, especially when the river was in flood. Haultain River, from map 74B.
This is the generic MacLennan Loop, from map 73P (it can be done clockwise or anti-clockwise). The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for this trip (#31) is here.
This trip starts as a lake trip, and then changes to a rapids trip for the last day. It includes a 2 kilometer portage that tends to make it less travelled and a little more private. It can be extended to continue on to Missinipe, another 5 km. This trip combines two Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guides. The first is the end of #37 done backwards until you get to Nipew. Then you switch to any of the routes which go from Nipew to Missinipe ( #16, #57, #1 ) McKay Lake to Missinipe (thru Donaldson Channel) from map 73P
We first planned on doing this trip in 1996. We decided it was too expensize and did the Geike (in a novel, cheap way) instead. Then, we planned to do it in late June, 2000. And failed again. This time work got in the way for one of our group. I still plan on doing this trip one day... The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for this trip (#55) is here. It is an old fur traders route. If you are interested in some history of the area, take a look a few of Selmer Ausland's pages:
He has lots more stuff if you want to start from his main Index page. Mudjatik River, from maps 74G, 74B and 73O
This map is from our 1993 trip, in which we started at the very northern-most part of the lake, and then went over the the western-most before starting south. This greatly increased the length of the trip. We have also done the trip as a pleasant, slow, co-ed (and novice) trip. The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for this trip (#36) is here. Paul River, from maps 74A and 73P
This is one of the standard canoe routes published for recreational canoeists by the Saskatchewan government. It starts out with a big lake crossing, then "6 Portages" to the Churchill River, followed by more lakes, then rapids, (and more rapids if you do it our way). The Saskatchewan Documented Canoe Guide for this trip (#16) is here.
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