Moon River – kayaking & cleanup

I have been camping almost every weekend since I moved up to Muskoka. It’s been amazing but on this weekend I’d decided to take a break and head home to see my family.  That left the Sunday open for a day trip though and I had been hearing about this place called Moon River since I’d arrived, so I figured it was time to check it out!

I put my boat up on my truck and followed the directions I’d found online to Moon River Cottages.  I had heard that this was a good place to park and launch your boat from (Thanks Jan! )  so I figured I would look into it.

The last 5 km’s or so are on a dirt road that is very narrow.  I had to take it really slowly as there were many twists and turns and I didn’t want to hit someone head on coming from the other direction.

Eventually, I came out to the Moon River Cottages and made my way to the office to pay the $10.00 parking fee and launch my kayak.

I had heard that Moon River had crown land sites on it and I also wanted to see what they were like. This area is about a 45 minute drive from where I live and if the sites were good, I would come back another time and do some camping here.

I set off to head towards the falls first and check them out, paddling alongside some pretty scenery en route.

After paddling for a bit I came up to my first campsite. It looked pretty nice and I docked my boat on the rocks and got out to take a better look!

It was a lovely site, the sign mentioned there might be a privy but I had my flip flops on atm and didn’t want to walk too far into the bush to look for it. I did take a look but didn’t see one.  What I did see was lots of trash!  How disappointing.  As I always carry a few plastic bags with me in my backpack, I got one out and started cleaning up the garbage.

I decided since the day didn’t have much of an agenda except exploring, my favorite thing to do, I would spend the time here cleaning up as many campsites as I could while I was here today.  I couldn’t believe that people could come use these amazingly beautiful campsites, that were free, mind you, and just leave garbage everywhere. It shocked me that people could do this!

After I cleaned up I continued on my trip towards the falls and found them just after the next bend.

I stayed for a bit and then decided to continue on my mission of finding campsites and cleaning them up if need be.  The next one wasn’t too far from the falls and I once again, found it littered with trash. This one had mostly cigarette butts EVERYWHERE and lots of cans, metal, foil and even some glass.

I cleaned it up as best I could then explored a little finding 2 privy’s not too far from the site.

I also found some sort of skeleton… crab maybe?

I headed onwards out of the bay where the falls were located and back in the direction of Moon River Cottages but on the opposite side of the shore. I found this cool area that was closed off by rocks, and stopped here for a swim and to take some pictures.

I also picked up more trash. I was up to two grocery bags now and a firework thingy I’d seen in the water that was about the size of my pump.

I had a refreshing swim as the day was pretty hot, then I jumped back in my kayak and continued on my exploration of the river.

I came across another site but thankfully there was no garbage on it which made me happy.  I kept paddling enjoying the day and the views.

I crossed the river and saw a few really nice sites and stopped in to explore one of them. There was a bit of trash but it wasn’t too dirty and the site also had a privy on it. I took a look at the map and noticed there was a bay just around the corner from where I was and wanted to check it out, so off I went to do so!

The bay was really really awesome. It was full of water plants and there was only a small opening into it.  There were no motor boats here or seadoo’s and it was exactly what I was looking for!  I was a very happy camper!!!

I followed the water trail in and kept padding as far as I could go.

According to my GPS I was actually on land right now and there was no water showing where I was.  So incredibly cool. This is the type of paddling I really love to do. Small little creeks and streams where the water is calm, there are no motor boats and the possibility of seeing wildlife is a bit greater.  Not that I was rewarded with any sightings but you never know unless you try!

I paddled on still going deeper into umm, well, I’m not really sure as there wasn’t anything on the map, but I wanted to go as far as I was able to.

It ended up as far as I was able to was the area I was in.  I turned around carefully as the waterway was not very wide and sadly headed back out from where I came.

Eventually I made it back to the bay I came into and started on my way back to the Moon River Cottages.

About 20 minutes later I arrived back at the Moon River boat launch.  It was a bit congested so the owner came out and helped me carry my boat to my truck instead of driving the truck down to the water to load it.  There were  a few parties exiting and this was just an easier option. I tied Tangii back up on my car and headed back out the windy bumpy one lane road and back to Port Carling.

It was the perfect spot to do a day trip and I enjoyed my time on Moon River very much.  I managed to pack out 3 grocery bags of garbage as well and that made me feel good, although I was sad that it was necessary.  I will definitely be back to explore the area a bit more and go back into that lovely creek.

I hope you enjoyed our paddle together on Moon River and you come back and visit again soon. If you have any questions, comments or stories to share, please leave a comment!

Happy Paddling!

Camper Christina