If you live in or are visiting Yellowknife, you simply must get out to enjoy some of our spectacular canoe routes. The Ingraham Trail offers access to several canoe routes in the Yellowknife area.
Day trips for experienced paddlers
Hidden Lake – Drop in: Powder Point, 40 km from Yellowknife on the Ingraham Trail. Several short but strenuous portages take you into one of the most scenic lakes in the Yellowknife area. Suitable for one, two or three day trips.
Lower Cameron River – A one-day trip for experienced paddlers, starting at Reid Lake about 60 km from Yellowknife on the Ingraham trail. Canoeists follow the Cameron River, portaging around several scenic waterfalls, to Powder Point.
Tartan Rapids – To really enjoy this trip some whitewater experience is necessary, but a portage trail allows novices to avoid the rapids, and enjoy the scenery. The trip starts at Cassidy Point, about 17 km from Yellowknife, and paddlers can return to the start, or follow the Yellowknife River to the Yellowknife River bridge.
Longer Trips
Tibbitt Lake Loop – An easy weekend trip, this route circles back to the start, at the end of the Ingraham Trail, 65 km from Yellowknife, and features a variety of wilderness scenery and good camping.
Powder Point to Yellowknife River Bridge – This is a four day trip crossing big lakes, with excellent camping, and just a few portages. However, because Prelude and Prosperous Lakes are so large they can be dangerous in windy conditions. A shorter trip might start, or end, at the Prelude Lake boat launch.
Pensive Lakes – This four day wilderness trip for experienced canoeists takes you north from Tibbitt Lake, through good camping country, to reach the top of the Cameron River rapids, an 8 km run.
Upper Cameron River – This two day trip for whitewater enthusiasts starts at Tibbitt Lake, 65 km from Yellowknife and heads south and west to follow a challenging but enjoyable route with several rapids and a waterfall. The trip ends at Reid Lake campground.
Jennejohn – This is a five day wilderness canoe trip, with several portages, for experienced canoeists. Starting at Reid Lake, the trip follows a string of beautiful lakes and ends at Akaitcho Bay on Great Slave Lake, near Dettah. A map and compass is necessary, and wind can be a problem on Reid, Jennejohn and Great Slave lakes.