Posted by msandwun

Date posted: Jun 10, 2005

Date last travelled: 2005-05-20 00:00

Eels Creek Route Description

Driving time: The total drive is three and a quarter hours to the take-out, with another quarter hour to the put-in.

Directions: To get there, take Hwy 7 towards Peterborough, and turn right onto Rd 46 before you reach the town. About 4 km up, turn left onto Rd 44, and then right onto Rd 6 towards the Petroglyphs park. Go about 4 km, then turn left onto Northey's Bay Rd. The take-out for Eels creek is the bridge over the first large creek after Petroglyhs park. The parking lot is immediately before the bridge. Total distance from Hwy 7 is about 40 km. To access the put-in, continue on Northey's Bay Rd until it hits Hwy 28. Turn right, and drive several km till you come to the bridge over Eels creek. There is a wire gate with a prominent No Trespassing sign, on the right, just after crossing the bridge. Apparently canoeists tend to park just off to one side of this gate, with access to the creek available by carrying down a slight slope about 20 feet. There would also be space for parking further back along Hwy 28, before coming to the bridge. The homestead described in Kevin Callan's book has a No launching/no parking sign now.

Description: The creek flows south east, make sure you take the main branch on river left, rather than going to the right and heading out into a small oxbow lake. There is a lift-over shortly after starting down, over a dead tree across the river. The dextrous can jump the tree, the hikers can portage, and the truly compressible paddler might even fit under. Following this, the creek runs through low forest until coming to the first rapids several km downstream. The portage is on the left, and there is a good campsite immediately after. After some small swifts, another rapids appears, this time with the portage on river left. There is a camp nearby, so you may see some fishermen here. A few more km, and you come to High Falls. The outcropping that forms this is visible from a distance - the creek turns left into a pool, with an easy portage trail leading out on river left, and then turns abruptly to the right and drops over a steep rocky incline. Almost like a water slide, except with sharp rocks. Below High Falls there are several more swifts that are easily navigated in spring conditions, but would have to be portaged in lower water. The take-out appears a few km downstream.

All in all, a short scenic run, probably best combined with another trip in the vicinity.