This spring (2025) was my first paddle ever on Bolton Creek. It's a bit far from Almonte, but it was worth the drive (62 km to the put-in on CR 36). From the bridge on CR36, Bolton Creek runs along the northern border of Tay Valley Township to join the Fall River east of Fallbrook and then the Mississippi River.
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| Downstream, 7 km track |
On my first outing (April 14), I travelled approximately 3 km east of CR36. The launch at the CR36 bridge is good, and it was no problem getting my canoe in the water. The area around the CR36 bridge is actually part of a Lanark County Forest (i.e., public land). The creek area is a mix of forest and wetlands. At about the 2 km mark from the bridge, I came to a very tall rock cliff – right on the edge of the creek. As I was going ashore to explore, I got a soaker. A boot full of water on April 14 is cold! Luckily, I had extra socks and got going again. I did paddle another kilometre – almost to the boundary of a large crown-land property. From the GE view, the creek looks navigable downstream for at least another 2.5 km (hopefully, next spring).
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 | | Good size rock cliff |
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 | | C. Geese, trying to hide |
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| Upstream (red), 10 km track |
The second outing was on April 23, and this time I went upstream (west) from the CR36 bridge. Bolton Creek, heading west, is one large wetland (marsh). On this outing, I paddled 5km to the boundary of Lanark & Frontenac County. It looks like the creek/marsh is similar for another 2.5 km (up to Willis Armstrong Rd). On this paddle, there were no rock cliffs and very few places to go ashore. The creek flows by a few forested areas, and a couple of those were suitable shore stops. Nature sightings were not particularly abundant, but I observed some Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, ducks, and hepatica flowers.
I now have Bolton Creek on my list of small rivers to paddle in the early spring, along with the Indian River at Darling Rd, the Little Clyde River at Riven Lake, and the upper Clyde south branch.
Note – It's 17km (as the crow flies) between CR36 and CR7 (Fallbrook), so there's still lots of Bolton Creek to explore in Lanark County.
