Canoeing in Eramosa River

Posted on July 14, 2008

The Boathouse in Guelph always had canoe and kayak rentals. A lot of people canoed in the summer, filling the river with bright yellow boats. The people on the boat always seemed to have so much fun. Today, I got a chance to try it.

Map of the canoeing route from the boathouse

Jas and I canoed twice. First time up to Victoria Road bridge, the second time to the furthest point possible. The river took us up to the recycling centre on Dunlop Drive, where the river turned into rapids, forcing us to dismount to drag the canoe. We couldn't go far, as the rapids stretched as far as we could see.

We managed to reach the terminus at 8pm. We had to get back by 9pm. Having only 1 hour to get back to The Boathouse, I rowed as hard as I could. We managed to get there in 45 minutes, but my back hurt so bad I had to see a chiropractor. 

Rental rates were $10/hour for canoes, which could seat up to 3 adults or 2 adults with 2 children, and $8/hour for kayaks, which were single seaters. Canoes were $12/hour on the weekends. If you spent more than 2 hours on the river, the flat fee was $25.

You'd need to canoe at least an hour to make the trip mean anything. Rates are charged in parts of 15 minutes, so if you canoed for 1 hour and 15 minutes on Tuesday, you'll pay $12.50.

To protect my camera gear, I bought a water resistant bag from MEC. If the bag did drop into the water, it will still take about 10 seconds before water starts seeping in.