Ottawa River Wilderness Expedition
4-Days | Rafting, Multi-Sport, and Camping
Experience one of North America’s most iconic rivers on a fully guided 4-day expedition.
Warm water, fun rapids, riverside wilderness camping, and Boreal River’s exceptional guides create an unforgettable adventure for your family, group of friends, or company team.
For all experience levels: Only 90 minutes from Ottawa — this is one of the best, most accessible whitewater expeditions on the planet!
“Our trip with Boreal River Expeditions was one of the best experiences our family and friends have ever had. We were a group of 15 people, ranging in age from 12 to 65, and everyone came away feeling challenged, safe, and completely blown away by the river and the guides. Ten members of our group had travelled from Spain, and their biggest travel wish was to experience Canada’s wilderness—this trip exceeded every expectation.”
Cory Deegan — Ottawa River Wilderness Expedition participant
Key details
Expedition details
As the riverbanks squeeze tighter, a beautiful standing wave train forms — Norman’s on the main channel of the Ottawa River! It’s one of the few rapids that stays remarkably consistent as flows change. Other features appear as levels rise, but it always delivers an incredibly fun, center-line wave train, complete with those classic boils waiting at the bottom!
Thanks for the great clip! @geisthand99
#ottawariver #rafting #borealexpedition #whitewater #riverexpeditions
Exploring The Lost Channel — this is the last part of our ~1hr (2.3km) hike to get from The Rivercamp to the top of the Middle and Main Channels.
We do this on day 2 or 3 of the Ottawa Rafting Expedition as part of the ‘Super Loop’: a surreal multi-sport day where we hike, raft, kayaraft, riverboard, and swim our way to get upstream and then down through world class whitewater all the way back to the camp!
Arriving back at camp in the afternoon, it’s hard to believe the variety of terrain we covered, under our own steam. It almost feels like a dream as we settle in for night by the river, around a crackling cozy fire under a canopy of stars.
📸 thanks for capturing the adventure by drone Savanah @unstoppablefilmsso
Rafting with 3 to 6 people plus a guide just feels awesome.
We have tons of control in the 14 foot boats to steer and paddle them exactly where we want to go in the river.
This shot is from a trip this past August, paddling back up into a fun hydraulic — where the water is dropping over a ledge and then recirculating back upstream — in a rapid called Centre Slot on the Main Channel of the Ottawa River.
This was a group of family and friends of @cory.j.deegan who joined us for a 5-day multi-spot trip where we camped for 4 nights at The Rivercamp and had a different adventure each day.
This was the last day of the trip where we hiked up from the camp and then rafted The Main Channel with guides Jim @espritmex , Ryan @browntasse , Danny @borealriverexpeditions , and safety kayaker Trypp
With a talented film and photo crew of Manny, David @dexportrait , and Savanna @unstoppablefilmsso paddling ahead of us with guide Robin @robin.nsb to capture the day!
🎥 These great shots by Manny @manumediax @myrainbowstudios
Small but mighty crew making magic. Big progress in just 3 days by Louis @louisvennemusique ,Ty @tysmith_whitewater , Karen @karen.anne.charron of @brokanta_shop , and Robin @robin.nsb
With encouragement and squirrel watch by McCoy the dog.
Who’s excited for great sleeps, in the woods by the river, on these 12’ x 12’ tent platforms?
#rivercamp #ottawariver
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#borealriverexpeditions #borealriver #tent #camping #offgridbuild #rivertrip #whitewater #river #rafting
There’s nothing like a day on the water with your favourite people. And if you know the Ottawa River, you know-every level brings a new place to play!
@cory.j.deegan and his family spent 5 days on the river exploring all the ways to enjoy it. No craft, no wave left untouched!
#madeformoments #corememory #whitewater
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#simplejoys #ottawariver #riverdays #lifeonthewater #naturetherapy #familydays #expedition #whitewaterfun
Grade 10 & 11 students enjoying life with the river and with each other, on a glorious September evening.
This is the second day of the 4-day Ottawa River Expedition with Selwyn House School of Montreal @selwynhouseschool
On day 1 the group rafted The Middle Channel of the Ottawa to the Rivercamp. Then on day 2, they hiked and paddled over to the Main Channel, then rafted, hiked, and paddled back to the camp!
It was an amazing day!
#outdooreducation #experientiallearning
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#outdoored #ottawariver #borealriverexpeditions #selwynhouse #river #whitewater #riverexpedition #rafting #raftingexpedition
Our office team is rarely all together in one place. If you’ve taken a course with @borealriverrescue , a trip with @borealriverexpeditions , or had an event or stay at @cieletbois , we’re the team behind the scenes at your service 🙂
This week we met up for a 3-day trip with the Ottawa River. Our mission was to hang out and connect, and also for everyone to experience our new Ottawa expedition!
Featured in this video, our staff team of 8 from across the country included:
- Ty @tysmith_whitewater — co-founder of Boreal River Expeditions, River Guide & Instructor, who splits his time between Patagonia, the Ottawa River, Northern Quebec, and his home town of Orillia, ON
- Ian @ianrosa33 — General Manager I Val David, QC
- Hayley — @cieletbois Property Coordinator, Cantley QC
- Ryan @browntasse — Equipment, Logistics, River Guide & Instructor | Ottawa-Gatineau
- Victoria — Office & Operations I Cumberland, Vancouver Island, BC
- Michael @michael.bobo — Marketing & Special Projects | Toronto, ON
- Danny — Director, River Guide & Instructor | Ottawa-Gatineau
- Rianna @riannasterk — Instructor Development, River Guide & Instructor I Westmeath, ON
Also special mention to Ryan’s partner Kat @mononcle_lee who brought the stoke and joined for the R&D
On day-1 we drove from Ottawa to L’île-du-Grand-Calumet, we rafted to our Rivercamp on the Middle Channel, surfing Butterfly and running Dragon’s Tongue along the way.
Day-2: we hiked 2.5km through the woods and the Lost Channel and then ran The Middle Channel in kayarafts
Day-3: we broke camp, hiked to the Main Channel, and then rafted through The Lorne, Push Button (where we also did some riverboard surfing 🌊 )Butcher’s Knife, Norman’s, Coliseum, and Centre Slot, before floating to our take-out, where we saw a bald eagle and a black bear on the shoreline!!
We had incredible September weather with sunny days and beautiful starry nights around the fire, on the riverside.
The team is ready and excited to work together as we enter the fall and winter seasons!
#stafftrip #officeteam #ottawariver
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#rafting #riverboard #whitewater #river #fishing #kayarafting #rivieredesoutaouais #teamwork
Last Sunday, 4 amazing families wrapped up a pilot 5-day multi-sport wilderness adventure with the Ottawa River.
Based out of our remote riverside camp, and without having to get into a vehicle throughout, we hiked across islands for different adventures each day: rafting, inflatable kayaking, canoeing, riverboarding, and swimming as everybody bonded with each other, built up their confidence and skills, and connected with the amazing river and place.
This clip shows The Garburator wave, at the top of The Lorne, the first rapid on the Main Channel. On our last day, we hiked 2.5km to meet the rafts that the guides had brought around, then paddled over to this spot to start our descent.
We continued down the rapids of the Main Channel, then finished with a float through a beautiful last section of mild current, before arriving at the vehicles for the group’s 3.5 hour trip back to Montreal.
It was an amazing finish to a magical trip.
Thanks @cory.j.deegan for organizing the group!
📸 drone footage by Savanna @unstoppablefilmsso
#river #familymultisportadventure
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#whitewater #rafting #ottawariver #expedition #multiday #whitewaterrafting #outaouais #garburatorwave #thelorne
Iron Ring Rapid - the first rapid on the Middle Channel of the Ottawa River
(Pictured at -0.5 on the gauge)
The history of Iron ring is a unique one, altered by logging activity - loggers blasted and modified the channel to try and manage log flow.
On river left and right, long chains and iron rings (hence the rapid name) can be seen. They were used in the late 1800s and early 1900s to secure boom chains or cables- long lengths of timber or steel strung across the river to catch and control logs.
As the water levels drop, the more boater friendly this rapid becomes!
#ironring #ottawahistory #ottawarafting
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#ottawawhitewater #ironringrapid #borealrafting #borealexpeditions #whitewater #ottawatourism #rapidhistory #riverrunning
Canoe trippers from Camp Hurontario @camphurontario had an amazing finish to their 2-week Coulonge River canoe expedition yesterday, with a day of rafting with the incredible Ottawa River.
This is ‘the pencil sharpener’ line in Coliseum Rapid on the Main Channel (we rafted The Middle Channel in the morning and The Main in the afternoon) — guided by Ty Smith @tysmith_whitewater
This was our first official trip on the Ottawa since being ‘passed the torch’ of the Ottawa River rafting operations from Jim Coffey @espritmex and Esprit!!
Ty and Danny guided the rafts, Ryan @browntasse safety kayaked.
Thanks to Jim for providing motor boat safety at Coliseum and Dennis @dennisblaedow for the always smooth shuttle and logistical support.
It was an awesome day 🙂
#ottawariver #rafting
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#coliseum #pencilsharpener #mainchannel #whitewater #whitewaterrafting #summer #summercamp #river #water
Carrying forward the Esprit Rafting legacy
For 30+ years, Esprit’s been at the core of the Ottawa paddling community.
In 2025, Danny Peled & Ty Smith purchased the Ottawa rafting operations of Esprit (where they started as raft guides), continuing its legacy under the Boreal River Expeditions banner. Read more…
Boreal River, Ty, and Danny have been the Mutehekau Shipu (Magpie River, Québec) rafting specialists since 2008. We’re excited to now have the opportunity to run amazing trips with both of these rivers!


































