80 Miles Of Continuous Whitewater

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The Bonaventure River begins as a small stream high in the mountains. The crystal clear water makes for an exciting ride as it tumbles 80 miles to the ocean.

It’s about a 4.5 hour drive from the field school to the town of Bonaventure, Quebec. We usually drive up, spend the night, and meet our shuttle driver in the morning. It’s a few hours to the put-in at Lac Bonaventure where the water is cold and clear.

The upper section of the river is a small, winding mountain stream. Snubbing around corners keeps you out of the brush.

We run most of the river without scouting, with the exception of Kicking Horse Pass, a narrow canyon with a series of ledges, waves and fast water. Here we scout and sometimes line the boats over the drops.

On the upper river we camp on gravel bars, with more developed campsites in the woods on the lower river.

We paddle to the ocean, taking out in salt water.

This is a destination Atlantic salmon fishery, with permits and named pools most of the way down. As such, we don’t fish on this trip.

We typically run this trip the week after the end of the spring Wilderness Bushcraft Semester. As it can be late in the season, some years the water is too low to run the whole river.

The scenery, the water, the mountains and the rapids combine to make this a truly epic trip.

To see why we love running this river, check out the series of videos we shot on the 2024 trip.
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