The Riviere Natashquan is a beautiful and rugged St. Lawrence North Shore river that flows from the Labrador highlands swiftly down through a deep valley dumping into the St Lawrence east of Anticosti Island at the village of Natashquan.
This river provides a rugged and incredibly scenic trip with fast flowing current and numerous enjoyable class 1 & 2 rapids all the way from top to bottom. Portaging is minimal over the 285 km that we will travel the river. There are only 6 portages, the longest being 500m, and most only being a 100m. They are also all near the end of the trip.
We will spend approximately 2 weeks descending the river. The trip starts with a 1hr 20min bush plane flight in from the village to the river. (flights could take all day to get the group in). The flight is a fantastic way to start the trip as we will travel north from the St. Lawrence following the river for much of the way. At the end we will paddle back to just north of the village.
(Note: this is a suggested itinerary only, conditions on each trip may vary)
Meet in Natashquan Quebec, Hotel for evening trip briefing.
Bush plane flight from Natashquan into River, camp km 285
(safety day in case of flight/weather delays)
Fast Current, Swifts, R1s and occasional R2 all day, camp km 259
Fast Current, Swifts all day, camp km 226
Fast Current, Swifts all day, camp km 194
Fast Current, Swifts all day, camp km 156
Fast Current, Swifts, & R1s all day. 1 xR2 + 100P & 450mP, camp km 125
Layover Day
R1s & R2s all day, camp km 100
R1s, R2s + 15km Lake Like widening (very scenic), camp km 65
Finish Widening (7km), 550mP, numerous R1s & R2s + 1xR3, camp km 37
80m+200m+100m Portages around chutes. Camp Km 21 (camp at Pull out).
Start drive home.
* Please note: It’s the nature of remote northern travel that uncontrollable factors like poor weather, pilot judgment, forest fires, and mechanical problems can affect our schedules and cause delays. We regret these situations but cannot accept responsibility for hotels, flight rebookings, and other costs you may incur.
Natashquan River Map Report
Note: We only paddle From Km 285 down to coast(start Map 9) (the upper river is much more difficult)