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Paddling: Jones Falls to Chaffeys
On Sand Lake near Davis Lock     

Includes Sand and Opinicon lakes

Sand Lake and Opinicon Lake, bounded by the Jones Falls Locks at the south end, Chaffeys Lock at the north end, and including Davis Lock in the middle, makes for great day paddling experiences. Both lakes offer many islands and winding shoreline and so can be paddled even when the wind is up. The map included in the PDF version of this guide can be enlarged to any level of detail you desire.

No specific route descriptions have been given for paddling the lakes - you should explore these on your own. The detailed map in this guide will allow for travel planning. However, for those just paddling through the lakes (going lock to lock), a scenic route has been suggested. In addition, a couple of "off the beaten path" suggestions have also been made.

You can view or download the PDF file:



Jones Falls to Chaffeys Map

Water Access

Sand Lake: There are several points of access to the lake. The two municipal boat launches, one at the end of Battams Road (44° 35.110'N - 76° 14.910'W - gravel, no dock) and one at the end of Glovers Road (44° 34.040'N - 76° 14.700'W - paved, small dock), have very limited parking but do offer direct into water access. The other options are the two lockstations, Davis and Jones Falls, both require a short portage from the parking area to a launch point. With Jones Falls, if you just wish to do Sand Lake, then you can go into the Jones Falls Dam parking lot (44° 32.925'N - 76° 14.160'W) and then launch from the top of the dam (a picnic area with wharfs). You can also launch at Sand Lake Marine (44° 33.490'N - 76° 14.930'W) for a fee.

Opinicon Lake: There are two easy access points. At Chaffeys Lock, you can launch from the public ramp (44° 36.695'N - 76° 19.145'W) adjacent to the docking for the Opinicon Hotel. You can also park at Davis Lock (44° 33.825'N - 76° 17.440'W) and launch from there.

Facilities

Lodging: If you're paddling and camping, the lockstations are a good choice for camp spots (a camping fee applies). There are also several campgrounds, a host of B&Bs and several hotels such as the Hotel Kenney at Jones Falls, the Opinicon Resort Hotel at Chaffeys Lock and the Poplars and Stirling Lodge in Newboro. For information about local accommodations see: www.rideauheritageroute.ca, www.westportrideaulakes.on.ca and www.rideau-info.com (this website).

Supplies: A local source for supplies is the village of Elgin (off Hwy. 15 opposite Davis Lock Road), which has a grocery store, pharmacy and hardware store. Groceries can also be obtained in Westport.

Rentals: Canoe and kayak rentals are available in Kingston and Westport.

Etiquette
Your trip planning should include a "leave no trace" approach - carry out what you carry in. Many areas are un-serviced (no garbage cans) - so plan to be self-contained. The lockstations provide waste disposal facilities.

Preparation
Please read the trip planning information on www.rideau-info.com/canal/paddling/ While these lakes are easy paddling, normal paddling preparations should be made (all required safety gear, maps, food, water, first-aid kit, etc.). Although the map in this guide is a very accurate 1:50,000 representation of the lakes, it is recommended that you carry either the1:20,000 hydrographic chart (Chart 1513) or the 1:50,000 NTS map (31C/9). Please take all normal safety precautions, including checking the weather forecast before you head out and making sure that someone on shore knows your planned travel route and itinerary.

Distances:
Circumference distances are approximate, following the main shorelines. The navigation channel and the scenic route are shown on the map.
  • Sand Lake Circumference (main shorelines): 35 km (22 mi)
  • Jones Falls to Davis Lock along navigation channel: 7.0 km (4.3 mi)
  • Jones Falls to Davis Lock taking the scenic route: 6.5 km (4.0 mi)
  • Opinicon Lake Circumference (main shorelines): 45 km (28.0 mi)
  • Davis Lock to Chaffeys Lock along navigation channel: 3.3 km (2.0 mi)
  • Davis Lock to Chaffeys Lock taking the scenic route: 6.1 km (3.8 mi)
The Lakes

Sand Lake

This is the southernmost of the original Rideau lakes. In the pre-canal era, the lake was 8 feet lower than it is today and drained, through the Jones Falls Rapids, into the White Fish River which flowed to Lower Beverley Lake. The completion of the Great Dam at Jones Falls in the fall of 1831 drowned the rapids and raised the level of the lake to what it is today. Water levels are managed by Parks Canada (the weir at Jones Falls). The lake has a maximum depth of 15 m (50 ft) and averages 6 to 7 m (20 to 25 ft). It's a mesotrophic lake (moderately enriched with nutrients). The water temperature reaches 20°C (68°F) by early June and stays that way until mid-September (peak temp is generally 25°C / 77°F). Zebra mussels are present. Aquatic vegetation growth is present in most sheltered areas with a depth of less than 3 m (10 ft). The land bordering the lake is mostly privately owned (the exceptions being federal land in the vicinity of the lockstations). About two-thirds of the lake has moderate density cottage and summer home development, the rest remains in its natural state. Wildlife is abundant, particularly loons, herons, ospreys, turtles, frogs, muskrats and beaver. The main game fish in the water is large mouth bass (small mouth bass, northern pike and crappie are also present).

Opinicon Lake

In the pre-canal era, this lake was about 3 m (10 ft) lower than it is today. The outflow was to Sand Lake through Davis' Rapids and the inflow was mostly from Indian Lake, through Chaffey's Rapids. In the fall of 1831, the completion of the lock and dam at Davis Lock raised the water in the lake to the level it is today.

The lake has a maximum depth of 8 m (27 ft) and averages about 6 m (20 ft). It's a mesotrophic lake, slightly more enriched with nutrients than Sand Lake. Zebra mussels are present. Aquatic vegetation growth is present in most sheltered areas with a depth of less than 3 m (10 ft). The land bordering the lake is mostly privately owned (the exceptions being federal land in the vicinity of the lockstations and several large tracts of land owned by Queen's University). About two-thirds of the lake has moderate density cottage and summer home development, the rest remains in its natural state. Wildlife is abundant, particularly loons, herons, ospreys, turtles, frogs, muskrats and beaver. The main game fish in the water is large mouth bass (small mouth bass, northern pike and crappie are also present).

The Locks

Most Rideau lockstations offer facilities such as washrooms, water, recycling cans, waste cans and picnic tables. Most also allow camping for paddlers travelling the Rideau for a modest camping fee. Paddlers can portage the locks for free, but you owe it to yourself to lock through at least one lock in order to get the full experience of paddling the Rideau Canal. A single lockage and return (2010 fee) is $0.90 per foot (minimum charge of 12 feet) - so if your kayak is 14 feet long, it would only cost $12.60.

Points of Interest (listed south to north)

Jones Falls Lockstation: This is one of the prettiest lockstations on the entire Rideau. It consists of an upper lock, a turning basin and a flight of three locks. It also features a defensible lockmasters house (stone building with gun slits built in the 1840s), usually open during the summer with an interpreter. A blacksmiths shop (also built in the 1840s) is also on site, sometimes with a blacksmith in attendance. At the foot of the locks is the historic Hotel Kenney (also a snack bar - offering tasty treats). The most impressive feature of the site is the Great Stone Arch Dam - the largest dam built during the construction of the Rideau Canal. It is known as the "whispering dam" since a person standing at one end, talking in regular conversational tone, can be heard by someone at the other end of the dam - the face of the dam provides a reflecting surface for sound.

The Quarters: as you paddle north from Jones Falls, you're paddling over the now flooded, Jones Falls Rapids. These rapids dropped 18 m (60 ft) over the length of 1.6 km (1.0 mi). The foot of the rapids is located where the bridge by the lower lock is today. The head of the rapids was at the first narrow constriction at the foot of Eel Bay. The south shore the pond just downstream of the first constriction is known as The Quarters. The Jones Falls Rapids were not navigable by canoe and so there was a 1,370 m (1,500 yd) portage going around the rapids. The Quarters is the head of this portage, so named since it was the location of the Officer's Quarters (Royal Engineers) during the construction of the locks and dam at Jones Falls (1827-1831). This location was chosen since any people or goods arriving by water from Sand Lake had to disembark at this location.

Sand Lake: this is a typical Rideau lake, its many bays and islands offering the paddler several choices of route. Several of the back bays feature marsh land and you'll find an abundance of birds and animals that prefer this type of habitat. The lake hosts a healthy population of loons (normally about 22 adult loons), and if you look up to the tree tops, you'll see several osprey nests. A typical cottaging lake, it offers a wide variety of architectural styles for cottages and boathouses. In 1827, surveyor John Burrows wrote, when entering the lake (from Davis' Rapids) at sunrise, "The view of Davies Lake [Sand Lake] is very pleasing. The many islands, as if floating on a transparent mirror which mellowed and reflected by the tint of the morning, strikes the contemplative mind with a sensation of pleasure not easily forgotten.

Davis Lock: known as a "solitude lock" since there is no nearby community it has a single lock. It also has one of the best preserved examples of a defensible lockmasters house. The grassy knoll between the lock and the weir is actually the canal dam which has raised the level of Opinicon Lake. Opinicon Lake: very much the same as Sand Lake, it has mostly low density cottage/summer home development. It does offer a couple of "off the beaten path" paddling possibilities (access to Hart Lake and to Lower Rock Lake; see below). The big white building that you will see on the north shore is the Queen's University Biology Station - and on the lake you may see biology students out and about investigating various things. Wildlife in abundant (see Sand Lake description), you may even spot swans that have been known to reside in the lake.

Chaffeys Lock: the lockstation has a single lock and a swing bridge. The old lockmaster's house has been converted into a museum, operated by the Chaffeys Lock and Area Historical Society. The Chaffey's Mill (built in 1872) used the flow of water from the canal weir to power its operation. It is now a private residence. If you take a walk into "town" - you'll see the entrance to the Chaffey's Lock Cemetery and Memory Wall , located beside the Brown's Marina store. This cemetery was used for those that died during the construction of the canal at this location and also for local residents (to the late 1800s).

Route Suggestions

Sand Lake

Scenic Route: follow the main navigation channel from Jones Falls to Eel Bay. Once in the bay, stay to the south shore and paddle past the south side of Birch Island. A small channel at the west end of Birch Island puts you back into the main part of Sand Lake. Continue hugging the south shore to Fahey Island. Pass south of the island and then turn north, to Davis Lock.

Opinicon Lake

Scenic Route: from Davis Lock, turn west towards Goose Island and then follow along the south shore to Eight Acre Island. Swing around the west end of the island and cross the lake to the north shore at Steele Briggs Island. Paddle towards Cow Island (past the Queen's University Biology Station), swing around Cow Island and then paddle north to Chaffey's Lock.

Off The Beaten Path

For the adventuresome that don't mind slogging it through a portage (or humping over a beaver dam) there are a couple of trip options from Opinicon Lake

Opinicon to Hart Lake (20 km / 12 mi - direct distance return trip): For this trip, you can leave from either Davis Lock or Chaffeys Lock (about the same distance). Paddle to the head of Deadlock Bay which is the outlet of Hart Lake. A short (80 m / 90 yd) portage leads from a landing point near the head of the creek, to Hart Lake. Once in Hart Lake, you can paddle to the dam at the east end of Loughborough Lake. There is one small (road crossing) portage in Loughborough Lake Creek (just west of the big power lines). This is part of an old native canoe route that led from Kingston, up the Cataraqui River to its head at Loughborough Lake and then down Loughborough Creek to Hart Lake and from there to Opinicon Lake.

The name "Deadlock Bay" is from a tale that this was to be a location for a Rideau lock, that work commenced on it but was then abandoned in favour of the route the canal follows today (hence a "dead lock"). This fictional tale has its roots in the late 1800s, when people saw the big cut stones at the outlet of Hart Lake - they looked like canal stones. They are in fact mill dam stones and mill foundation stones, originally put here in about 1833 (the Drummond Mill). A second dam was erected at this spot in 1872 (to make Hart Lake a reservoir lake for the Rideau Canal), but it was torn down by local residents sometime prior to 1910. At the head of Deadlock Bay you'll paddle through a constriction, the remains of an old bridge. That bridge linked a road that led to phosphate (apatite) mines, which operated from about 1878 to 1892.

Opinicon to Lower Rock Lake (25 km / 15 mi -direct distance return trip): this is a bit more challenging than the Hart Lake option. You can leave from either Davis Lock or Chaffeys Lock (about the same distance). Access is from Hunter Bay that leads to Rock Lake Creek. At the head of this bay is a constriction, the location of the old Hunter Mill. Beavers often like to dam this, so you may have to portage that dam. You'll then enter into a pond (a mill pond) at the head of which you'll find a small stream. You'll have to drag your canoe/kayak up that stream (about 100 m / 110 yd), to put in at the head of it (sometimes beaver dammed). From there you can paddle into Lower Rock Lake.

The Hunter Mill was operated by James Hunter from about 1860 to the late 1870s or early 1880s. It may be in the location that an earlier mill, belonging to a "Mr. Brewer," was established in about 1833. In 1886, Hunter's dam and mill were purchased for the government, so that the dam could be used to make Rock Lake a reservoir lake for the Rideau Canal. Local residents tore the dam down in 1889.

As you paddle through the mill pond, you may notice the remains of some of the old phosphate mines, part of the rich history of this area.

Terms of use

This guide may be freely used for personal purposes. Have fun on your Rideau paddling adventure.

Commercial use is not allowed in whole or in part without express written permission.

©2010 Ken W. Watson, All Rights Reserved.



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