Paddling — Flatwater.
The York River Water Trail from Egan Chutes Provincial Park (about 10 km east of downtown Bancroft on Highway 28) to Conroy Marsh and a public take-out at Combermere is a documented two-day flatwater paddle through the Madawaska Highlands — calm stretches, light rapids, and a wetland that A. J.
Casson of the Group of Seven painted in oil. The first three kilometres set the tone with three obligatory portages around Egan Chute, Middle Chute, and Farm Chute.
The brief.
The standard route runs Egan Chutes → Conroy Marsh → Combermere; you'll need to shuttle a second vehicle to the public launch at the west end of Combermere on Highway 62. The first three portages — Egan Chute, Middle Chute, and Farm Chute, 200 to 300 metres each — are obligatory and "none runnable in a canoe" per the Ontario Trails Council water-trail description.
After the chutes the river drops into the calmer Conroy Marsh wetland, designated a Crown Game Reserve and an Ontario Living Legacy site. Mid-May through October is the standard window; spring high water through early May raises the chute portages' difficulty.
Egan Chutes Provincial Park itself is a non-operating nature reserve with six backcountry campsites, no facilities, no guard rails, and no swimming permitted at the chutes. The flatwater reach above the chutes — through downtown Bancroft on the York River — is the in-town paddling option.
2. places.
- 01
York River Water Trail (Egan Chutes → Conroy Marsh / Combermere)
Documented two-day flatwater route starting at Egan Chutes Provincial Park ~10 km east of Bancroft on Highway 28; Combermere take-out on Highway 62.
- 02
York River through downtown Bancroft
Flatwater paddling reach inside Bancroft town boundary above the Egan Chutes portages.
Today's read.
Temperature (6.9°C) below the typical range.
By the book.
- 01The first three kilometres of the Egan Chutes water-trail include three obligatory portages (Egan Chute, Middle Chute, Farm Chute, 200–300 m each) and are not runnable in a canoe.Source ↗
- 02Egan Chutes Provincial Park has no maintained facilities and no guard rails; swimming at the chutes is explicitly prohibited.Source ↗
- 03Conroy Marsh is a Crown Game Reserve and an Ontario Living Legacy site; standard provincial wildlife and fishing regulations apply.Source ↗