Posted by admin
- Date posted: Apr 5, 2003
- Date last travelled
The area consists of deep, clear lakes with marshy inlets. There are cottages everywhere, so the best time to go is in the late spring or early fall. The map to use is the Westport Sheet, 31 C/9.
There are several trips in the Chaffey's Locks area.
Getting There
Leave the boathouse and drive south on Woodroffe. Get on the Queensway and follow it to the end. Continue along Highway 7 to Carleton Place, 22 km. after the end of the Queensway.
At Carleton Place, turn left at the traffic lights and go south on Highway 15, following the signs to Smith's Falls. Take Highway 15 through Smith's Falls (it may get somewhat confusing). As you enter town, the highway makes a right-angle turn and goes under the railroad tracks. Just after the tracks, turn left onto Beckwith Street. Continue down Beckwith, crossing the Rideau Canal. Just after the canal, turn right onto Lombard Street/Highway 15. Continue on Lombard. Continue along Highway 15 through Lombardy, Portland and Crosby. Crosby is about 36 km. southwest of Smith‚s Falls.
At Crosby, Highway 15 crosses Highway 42. Continue along Highway 15. Just about 2 kilometres after this intersection, there will be signs pointing to Chaffey's Locks. Turn right off of Highway 15 onto . We will regroup here.
About 4 kilometres after turning off Highway 15, you will notice the Cross Road road turning off to your left with signs pointing to Davis Lock. Do not take this road but note it as a reference point. About 1.5 kilometres later, the Clear Lake Road, a small dirt road will diverge to the left at an acute angle. We will follow this road north about 1.5 kilometres to another intersection. We will take the Isthmus Road heading off to the left. There will be several signs denoting private cottages. We will go about 1.2 kilometres west until we get to the put-in point.
The put-in point is a small causeway. We may have trouble finding places to park.
On the Water
We will a complete tour around Scott Island, keeping it to our left at all times. Put the canoes in on the water on the right. First, we will cross Clear Lake and pass through a narrow channel called the Elbow. There will be several long inlets worth exploring. We will eventually pass through Bedores Creek and head back along the south side of Scott Island to our cars.
A Second Excursion
Another idea is to drive to the Chaffey's Locks lock station. There are places to park. Paddle upstream from the locks into Indian Lake and Benson Lake. There are lots of places to explore. Then return to Chaffey's Locks.
Wildlife
This area has some very interesting wildlife. The whole region is a transition zone; between the limestone rocks of the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the granitic Canadian Shield and between the coniferous and deciduous forests. There are many species, especially reptiles, found here that do not occur only a few kilometers way. There are lots of great blue herons. There is a big rookery not far from Chaffey's Locks.
On a sunny day, you will see lots of turtles. There are several kinds. Painted turtles live in the most quiet and weedy inlets. They can be recognized by their shiny black shells and yellow and red splotches. Map turtles frequent large, open bodies of water. They have a high, domed shell. You are most likely to see them sunning in groups on rocks beside open water. They are very shy.
Other creatures include water snakes. If you are exceptionally fortunate, you may see the Black Rat Snake. This is Canada's largest serpent; a large (up to 1.7 meters) and powerful constrictor. This is the only part of the country where it occurs in any numbers.
