The Amable du Fond River is a river in

Nipissing District Nipissing District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is North Bay. In 2016, the population was 83,150. The land area is ; the population density was , making it o ...

, in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

, Canada. The river is named after Amable Dufond, a Native hunter and trapper who lived in this area in the mid-19th century. At one time, the river was used to transport logs downstream to the Mattawa River. A

timber slide A timber slide is a device for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls. Their use in Canada was widespread in the 18th and 19th century timber trade. At this time, cut timber would be floated down rivers in large timber rafts from logging camps ...

was built to bypass the rapids at the Eau Claire Gorge. Many canoe trippers use the river as an access point to enter Algonquin Park. But this route is technically difficulty requiring advanced canoeing skills, due to low summer water flow and unmaintained portages and campsites. The park has an access point located on Kawawaymog (Round Lake), from the access point it is just a short paddle and portage into

Algonquin Provincial Park Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Cana ...

Geography

The Amable du Fond River flows from Pipe Lake through Kawawaymog, North Tea, Manitou, and Kioshkokwi Lakes in northwestern

Algonquin Park Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canad ...

to join the

Mattawa River The Mattawa River is a river in central Ontario, Canada. It flows east from Trout Lake east of North Bay and enters the Ottawa River at the town of Mattawa. Counting from the head of Trout Lake, it is 76 km in length. The river's name come ...

on the south side of

Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park is a provincial park in Ontario, Canada. The park spans both sides of the Mattawa River. It has an area of and is about west of Mattawa, Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Ontario Parks, which classifies ...

. It is long and drops over its course. The Amable du Fond River is the remnant of a short-lived drainage of glacial

Lake Algonquin Lake Algonquin was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed in east-central North America at the time of the last ice age. Parts of the former lake are now Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Nipigon, and Lake Nipissing ...

into the Mattawa River valley. It is the largest tributary of the Mattawa River.

Eau Claire Gorge

The Eau Claire Gorge is a cascade where the Amable du Fond flows between high rock walls in a series of rapids and waterfalls, dropping over . It is protected in the Eau Claire Gorge Conservation Area, which was purchased by the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority in 1976. There is a long trail to view the gorge and conservation area.

Amable du Fond River Provincial Park

The Amable du Fond River Provincial Park is a waterway park that protects several non-contiguous sections of the river and its banks. It also includes some portions of the shores of Smith Lake. It was established in 2006 and is meant to provide a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

route between Algonquin and Samuel de Champlain Parks. Other activities include hunting, wildlife/nature viewing, and off-roading with ATV's and snowmobiles. The park features a marsh-fen complex to the north of Smith Lake, as well as balsam fir-spruce, intolerant hardwood, and red pine-spruce scrubland on the shores of Smith Lake and near Crooked Chute Lake. Its vegetation includes black spruce-white cedar-tamarack bottomland, as well as intolerant hardwoods, mixed conifer, cedar-alder stands, and a riverine wetland complex in the southern portion of the park. It is a non-operating park, meaning that there are no facilities or services.

References

Sources

* *

External links