The River aux Sables, also known as the Aux Sables River and the ''Rivière aux Sables'', is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in
Algoma and
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
Districts,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, which flows from
Lac aux Sables in Algoma District and empties into the
Spanish River near the community of
Massey
Massey may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Massey, Ontario
* Massey Island, Nunavut
New Zealand
* Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb
United States
* Massey, Alabama
* Massey, Iowa
* Massey, Maryland
People
* Massey (surname)
Educati ...
.
The river is a well documented canoe route and notable for its free-flowing drainage and challenging
whitewater
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
. In particular, the southern portion of the river, with Class III and IV rapids, is renowned for white-water kayaking.
At one time, the river was used to transport logs to
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s downstream. Just before its mouth, it flows through
Chutes Provincial Park
Chutes Provincial Park is a recreation class provincial park in Sables-Spanish Rivers, Ontario, Canada, near the community of Massey, Ontario, Massey. The park is named after a logging chute that diverted logs around the waterfall on the River au ...
, which was named after
chutes used to bypass rapids on this river. The river is now mainly used for recreational
canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
and
kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
.
Ontario Highway 810
Tertiary Highway 810, commonly referred to as Highway 810, is a provincially maintained access road, extending from Bull Lake to Richie Falls alongside the River aux Sables north of Massey. A northerly extension of Highway 553, the road w ...
follows the course of the river from Richie Falls in the north, south of Lac aux Sables, to
Bull Lake in the south.
Ontario Highway 553
This is a list of secondary highways in Sudbury District, most of which serve as logging roads or provide access to provincial parks and isolated areas in the Sudbury District of northeastern Ontario.
Highway 528
Highway 528A
Highway 535 ...
continues south from there to Massey on
Ontario Highway 17
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, west of Kenora, and the m ...
, first diverging from and then rejoining the river just north of Massey.
Tributaries
*West River aux Sables
River aux Sables Provincial Park
The River aux Sables Provincial Park protects the entire river and its banks with the exception of some private lands near the town of Massey. It was established in 2006 and is intended to provide recreational paddling opportunities. The park area is also popular for fishing, hunting, and camping.
The park is a natural corridor, abutting the
Mississagi River Provincial Park Additions in the north, and linked to
Chutes Provincial Park
Chutes Provincial Park is a recreation class provincial park in Sables-Spanish Rivers, Ontario, Canada, near the community of Massey, Ontario, Massey. The park is named after a logging chute that diverted logs around the waterfall on the River au ...
in the south. One notable feature of the park is the
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
wetland in Tennyson Township, which has a complex arrangement of
oxbow ponds and abandoned river channels with a wide variety of aquatic and marsh vegetation, and is home to migratory and breeding marsh birds and waterfowl.
It is a non-operating park, meaning that there are no facilities or services.
See also
*
List of rivers of Ontario
This is the list of rivers which are in and flow through Ontario. The watershed list includes tributaries as well.
Dee River, flows between Three Mile Lake and Lake Rosseau.
List of rivers arranged by watershed Hudson Bay
Atlantic Ocean
...
References
{{Reflist
Rivers of Algoma District
Rivers of Sudbury District