Paddling — Flatwater.
Princess Point launches into Cootes Paradise — 320 hectares of sheltered river-mouth marsh at the head of Lake Ontario, with Spencer Creek flowing in from Dundas and the Desjardins Canal connecting out to Hamilton Harbour through the Cootes Paradise Fishway. Five minutes from a city bus stop you're paddling a marsh that doubles as one of the major Lake Ontario fish-spawning estuaries.
The brief.
Princess Point is the primary canoe/kayak launch — the east side has a dock; the west side has a sand-beach-style approach. The marsh is sheltered from open-lake wind by the Burlington Heights and Beach Strip.
Cootes Paradise is closed to fishing during spring spawning season but remains open to paddling year-round; do not enter the spawning sanctuary areas marked by RBG. The Desjardins Canal links the marsh out through the Fishway to Hamilton Harbour for sheltered Burlington Bay paddling.
Open Lake Ontario beyond the Beach Strip is dominated by commercial port traffic and not advised; stay inside the harbour and the marsh.
2. places.
- 01
Cootes Paradise Marsh
320-ha sheltered marsh paddleable from Princess Point; the Desjardins Canal connects out through the Fishway to Hamilton Harbour.
- 02
Hamilton Harbour / Burlington Bay
Sheltered bay paddling adjacent to the RBG sanctuaries; commercial port traffic on the open-lake side of the Beach Strip — stay inside the bay.
Today's read.
Temperature (7.4°C) below the typical range.