A fall paddle up the Fall River!

There are two tributaries of the Mississippi watershed that enter the river about halfway between Dalhousie and Mississippi Lakes. The better-known one is the Clyde River, and it flows in from the northwest across the Township of Lanark Highlands. The lesser-known tributary is the Fall River. It’s located just 2 km downriver from the Clyde and flows in from the southwest.

Fall River, 13.8 km track (kayak)

GE map view

The nearest Mississippi River public canoe/kayak launch point to access the mouth of the Fall River is at the bridge on CR511. After launching at the bridge, it was a straight 2 km paddle upriver to the Fall River. I was happy to see that the water level at Fall River’s mouth was still high enough to navigate at this time of year (Nov 12th). The Fall River’s mouth is a large wetland area with a good number of muskrat lodges.  Paddling up the Fall River, I spotted a few active muskrats and numerous lodges on the water. 

Muskrats country

Muskrat lodges

My paddle up the winding Fall River was very nice.  The river banks are mostly lined with soft red/silver maple (maybe some ash & elm), and there is almost no shoreline development.  On this day, I did not see anybody else on the river, and the only sign of human activity was a few duck blinds.  I observed a few crude plywood signs on poles in the river with a person’s name on them. Would these signs be marking somebody’s duck hunting territory?

After 2 km up the Fall River, you get to a junction in the river.  The left branch takes you towards Lower Mud Lake, and I went that way to see if I could reach the mud lake. Well, I came to a small beaver dam at about 200m from Lower Mud Lake. It’s not easy to hop over a dam in a kayak (especially in cold water), so I made a U-turn.  I returned to the junction and turned up the right branch of the river towards Fallbrook. I only went about 1 km until it was time to turn around and start for home (these short November days are a pain).  On Google Earth, it looks like the river is navigable for another 2.5 km before any significant obstacles. At that point, the Fall River has another junction, and the river splits into two tributaries that flow around the village of Fallbrook.  This section will be something to explore in future trips.

Beaver dam below L. Mud Lake

The return paddle was easy and enjoyable in calm conditions.  I did get to photograph a Great Blue Heron on the Fall River’s shore and a Bald Eagle on the Mississippi River. The Bald Eagle kept moving upriver, so I ended paddling up the Mississippi almost 1 km to get better shots.

I had a great paddling trip for this late in the fall, and I plan to spend more time on the Fall River -- hopefully in the spring next time!

Great Blue Heron	Bald Eagle (with a meal in his talons - a muskrat maybe)