The Grand River in Southern Ontario is a trip with minutes of driving? yet hours of paddling. Canoeists are stunned at discovering such a wilderness so nearby. You can explore this river for a week or a day? it all depends on the time window.

As you paddle the Grand River, towering pines and majestic Carolinian hardwoods rule the shore. Lush groves of willow, cottonwood and sycamores braid the river with islands. The Grand River drops over a thousand feet between its source and Brantford. It is a flow of swifts and pools? and portages are minimum. The natural flooding levels of the Grand have preserved its pristine conditions. Below Brantford, the last 70 miles of the river becomes a wandering Mississippi with a 50 ft. elevation drop. The Grand is like two rivers in one? quick on the top, slow on the bottom.

In the year 2000, the Grand River won a national award for the best managed river in the world? those are bragging rights worth exploring. The clarity of the water invites you to swim and there are cascading springs to drink. It is hard to believe this is southern Ontario.

With the restored waters, have come rainbow & brown trout, smallmouth bass, pickerel, pike? over 80 species of fish. And hovering above is the bald eagle, osprey and stalking blue herons. There are no moose? but there are deer, beaver, coyotes, mink, turkeys and otter. The Carolinian forest along this river has more specimens of plants and wildlife then anywhere else in Canada. A ?nature smorgasbord? sitting unnoticed right at our very back door.

The area is steeped in history? the Attawandarons? the Hurons? the Ojibwa? and the Iroquois have all passed through these waters. The Europeans almost destroyed the valley with their conquest? but with them came a different history. Paddle through a place of lost hopes and found dreams. There are old gypsum mines? the Grand River Navigation Company? abandoned railway lines? grist mills and dams.

What is also unique about tripping on the Grand is that you don't need the 40 kg food pack? you can replenish food & water at villages along the way. There are some campsites? but in other places you spend a ?print-less? night along the shores. If you bring your canoe or kayak? the ?Grand River Rafting Company? does shuttle services. This is the perfect river with something for everyone, beginner or experienced.

An excellent ?day paddle? is the run from Glen Morris to the Brant Park Conservation Area? with one portage and a 6 hour paddle. For those that would like to canoe but prefer a softer approach? the Grand River offers hotels and B&BS along the way. In fact the River Ridge Bed & Breakfast in Paris, Ontario has a package where you can paddle the Grand? pull your canoe up and walk to the B&B for the night? and then paddle on down the next day.

Come ride on the 'spirit back? of the Mighty Grand River.

See what won the respect of the ancient Iroquois.

Watch with each stroke as the canvas of the Carolinian forest opens and closes before you.

There is a 'timelessness? here?

A great journey ever flowing? but never going home.

Who knows what we discover on these trips?

It is like finding something lost? that was never had.

But when done?

When the paddle is laid down?

When the shore is touched?

You are different?

Even if it is only for the moment of being there.

If you're interested in the Grand River Valley? this is the invitation to experience!