Base camp for the Missinaibi

Leave the truck.
Take the river.

Missanabie is where the road and the rail run out and the water takes over — the classic put-in for the Missinaibi, a Canadian Heritage River that free-flows more than 500 km north to James Bay. Paddlers have followed it for two hundred years, over the height of land that separates the waters of Lake Superior from the salt.

Park with us while you're downriver

Leave your vehicle safe at camp for a small daily fee, put in right off our shore, and count on a hot shower and a warm cabin the day you take out. Ask us about the VIA Rail Budd Car put-in from Missanabie station, too.

Downstream from our dock

  1. Missanabie

    km 0
    Put in · Dog Lake

    The end of Highway 651 — and the beginning of the water. Leave the vehicle at our dock.

  2. Fairy Point

    Missinaibi Lake

    More than a hundred pictographs on the cliff face — the “pictured waters” the river is named for.

  3. Mattice

    236 km · 10–12 days
    Highway 11 take-out

    The natural finish line for the upper river, back on the road.

  4. Moosonee

    500+ km · ~3 weeks
    James Bay

    Where the Missinaibi becomes the Moose and meets the salt water.

A group of loaded canoes paddling down the Missinaibi River past boreal forest
Loaded and downstream on the Missinaibi — a day out of Missanabie.
A few ways to go

Pick your distance.

From a long weekend that ends back at our dock to a three-week descent to the coast — these are the trips that start here.

5–6 days · rail-assisted

The Shumka loop

Ride the VIA Budd Car east to the Shumka rail stop, then paddle home to Missanabie past Fairy Point — a trip that starts and ends at our dock.

236 km · 10–12 days

Upper Missinaibi to Mattice

The classic upper river. Put in off our shore, take out at Highway 11 — big water and big country, with one road crossing the whole way.

500+ km · ~3 weeks

The full descent to James Bay

Follow the whole Heritage River north to Moosonee, where the Missinaibi becomes the Moose and reaches the salt water of the bay.

On Missinaibi Lake

Fairy Point pictographs

More than a hundred paintings on the rock face — caribou, herons, soul boats, and Mishipeshu the Great Lynx. The “pictured waters” the river is named for.

Distances and routes from Ontario Parks and Northern Ontario Travel. We're a staging point, not an outfitter — bring your own boat and plan, and we'll keep the vehicle safe and the kettle on.

Come up

The lake's been here a while.
It'll wait for you.

Plan your visit 1-800-816-8702