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 wa ...

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 Mississagi River Provincial Park is a protected area on the Mississagi River in Algoma and Sudbury Districts, Ontario, Canada. It has an Ontario Parks Ontario Parks is a branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Ont ...

Additions in the north, and linked to

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.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of Algoma District Rivers of Sudbury District

Tributaries

River aux Sables Provincial Park

See also

References