Have you ever been paddling in Calabogie? It’s such a great little town, with a bunch of beautiful places to paddle. Grassy Bay is right off of Calabogie Lake, and it’s no exception. We paddled this low key route during June this year and loved it. It was super calm, super beautiful, and the perfect half day trip at 7.5 kilometres.
Calabogie is great because it’s only an hour’s drive from Ottawa. It’s short enough that you can head there for the day, but it’s far enough away that you really feel like you’re getting away!
We actually got the idea to paddle Grassy Bay from the Ottawa Valley Tourist Association. We chose to follow their route suggestion exactly, and it was pretty bang on!
Looking at Calabogie Peaks in the distance.
Getting There
We headed out to Calabogie on a day that was kind of dark and stormy looking in Ottawa. I love how Calabogie is far enough away that the weather for the day can be totally different. The closer we got to Calabogie, the sunnier it got!
We were going to put our kayaks into the water behind the visitor information centre, which I can’t actually find an address for online. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.297876, -76.717614.
Immediately before pulling off County Road 511, we crossed over two bridges. These are the two dams on the east side of Calabogie Lake. We pulled into a massive parking lot, right in front of the tourist information centre.
The cutest tourist information centre I’ve ever seen, right in front of the launch we used.
The Launch
The public boat launch was to the left of the tourist information centre. We drove right to the water’s edge, which made offloading our kayaks really easy.
The launch looked as if it had been designed for power boats to be put in the water at one point. When we went though, there was a small pile of concrete pieces in front of the launch, which would have made using a trailer impossible.
We had no problem walking our kayaks into the water though. The shore was a nice mix of small pebbles and sand, so it was pretty comfortable to walk into the lake.
This huge pile of concrete seems like it was put there on purpose, but I’m not sure why!
Starting The Route
We set out, and stayed near the shoreline to our left. The current where we were wasn’t very strong, but closer to the middle of the channel, it probably would have been stronger. I don’t think the dams were wide open either, which would definitely increase the strength of the current. This launch is totally safe, but we ALWAYS keep our distance from any dam that we come across.
We followed the shoreline for about a kilometre, heading towards the causeway that separates Calabogie Lake from Grassy Bay. The shoreline was dotted with cottages, but there weren’t many boats out on the water.
In the distance, we could see the Calabogie Peaks ski runs. The views were beautiful.
Rounding an outcropping on the shoreline, the causeway came into view. About 300 metres down the length of the causeway there was a break in the rocks that helped form it. We paddled through it, and were followed not long after by a small powerboat entering the bay.
At the very beginning of the route.
Grassy Bay
Grassy Bay is a wetland, and is separated almost entirely from Calabogie Lake by the causeway. The water on Calabogie Lake was calm, but the water in Grassy Bay was even calmer.
We decided to complete the loop of the Bay in a clockwise fashion. We paddled past a few more (stunning!) cottages before the shoreline began to appear more natural.
Grasslands on Grassy Bay.
As we paddled, the Bay became grassier and marshier. We got to see a few loons, and I found myself in the middle of a duck fight! I would have preferred to be off to the side, but the duck who was losing flew right at me during his escape.
We spent a lot of time trying to figure out which of the plants we were seeing was wild rice, because we knew that the plant was indigenous to the area. We should have looked up pictures ahead of time though, because we never figured it out!
Us in Grassy Bay: “Is this wild rice? Maybe THIS is wild rice…Do you think this is wild rice?”
Heading Back
For us, the loop of Grassy Bay was just under 4.5 kilometres. We could have added a bit of distance near the southeast shoreline, but there were some people fishing there so we stayed to the inside of their boat.
Sticking with the south shoreline, we spotted a newly built bridge on the causeway, with enough clearance underneath for us to squeeze through. We paddled towards it, and came across a cool surprise.
A new bridge on the causeway.
To the left of the bridge was a huge sunken object. It kind of looked like a sunken submarine- and I bet you could convince your kids it was!
After checking out the submarine for a bit, we paddled under the bridge and headed back to the launch. We stuck with the same shoreline that we had followed on the way towards Grassy Bay.
I won’t be convinced that this isn’t a submarine.
By the time we arrived back at the launch, we had paddled 7.5 kilometres in total. We were paddling for just under two hours, but we spent a LOT of time exploring and floating instead of paddling.
This is a great route for anyone who’s in Calabogie and is looking for a half day trip. Or if you’re looking for an excuse to get out of the city and GO to Calabogie! It’s also a fantastic route for beginners, given how easy it is to launch, and how calm the water in Grassy Bay is. Calabogie Lake and Grassy Bay are both beautiful, and made for the perfect morning on the water.
There are kayak rentals available right on the beach through Calabogie Peaks Resort. They don’t let you drive the kayaks away from the beach, so you wouldn’t be able to complete this exact route. But kayaking Calabogie Lake on it’s own would be great too!
I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!
Cloudy skies on the way back across Calabogie Lake.
Map
Our route from Calabogie Lake to Grassy Bay.
Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Gear We Brought
- Kayaks
- Bailing Buckets (with rope and whistle)
- Life Jackets
- Paddles
- Kayak Locks (to lock kayaks to roof rack during errands after)
- Nalgene 32 Ounce Bottles
- Small dry bag (for lunch and snacks)
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Hats
- Cell phones
- Coghlans Waterproof Pouches
(for cell phones)
- Olympus TG-4 Waterproof Digital Camera
Used to have a cottage near the tourist info. There used to be a trailer boat launch at the Tourist Info building. Looks like they’ve closed it and the concrete blocks would be there to prevent launching.
The current to the right of the tourist info underneath the bridge is very strong when the dam is opened but they have it sectioned off with a float wire to prevent access. You wouldn’t be able to paddle against it.
The “submarine” is a boiler off a train I think, the K & P train line went across the causeway.
Meg! What timing! I was just trying to figure out if the causeway is passable, and found this post from just days earlier with the photo of the new bridge. Amazing! Am I reading correctly that the bridge was at the southern-most of the two ‘breaks’ in the causeway? Was there any way to cross the gap at the north? Any idea who is building the bridge, or why?
Hi, that’s right, the bridge is on the south side of the Causeway. The gap on the north side is pretty wide, and deep enough for power boats to get through… So aside from going for a swim, I’m out of ideas! There were no signs that a bridge was being planned for the north side.
I have to admit, I’m curious about what you have planned! Good luck 🙂
That looks like a really nice place for a flatwater paddle and a nice day. I’m wondering if you know whether there’s a put-in for paddling downstream along the river… somewhere just passed the generating station or in the spillway but beyond any rapids. Thx.