The French River, which drains from Lake Nipissing, has been called one of Ontario’s most important rivers, connecting this area to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean as part of an ancient superhighway for Indigenous peoples and voyageurs.
The waterway was recently the focus of a three-hour TVO documentary called TRIPPING THE FRENCH RIVER by executive producer/filmmaker Mitch Azaria
See: French River featured in TVO documentary series
Azaria told BayToday that he looked at lots of Ontario rivers but kept coming back to the French River because it had all the things needed for the documentary.
"It had a landscape that changed from top to bottom. The top looks almost like a collection of big lakes, and then the middle is interesting because it's busier, and then the bottom is a completely different landscape. It's sort of more Georgian Bay with lots of exposed prehistoric stone and soaring cliffs and narrow channels."
Azaria says that gave the river the variety needed for a three-hour-long documentary.
"You throw in a history that is from prehistoric times to today. It was a major trade route for Aboriginal people, and eventually, European explorers, and then the voyageurs of the fur trade, the logging industry, and the tourism industry. So it just had so much rich history combined with the great landscape, and that's what makes the perfect program for us."
One of the things Azaria was surprised to see was the present-day social aspect of canoeing the French.
"It came to me as a bit of a surprise, the folks that were out on the river that we, unfortunately. couldn't have in the documentary. But we met so many young folks who had probably never paddled the river before. The French is accessible in that way.
"We met so many new Canadians that were just so enthusiastic and for many of them, it was their first time in the outdoors paddling a river. And because the French is a provincial park, there's facilities that are well marked. It's well-mapped. It's a really accessible river to get in and off of. It was great to see the kind of enthusiasm and to see them portaging and paddling, and it's hard work. But there's that sweat equity. You work hard, but you've earned dinner, you've earned your night's rest."
The documentary has been well received and Azaria has been on several paddling podcasts and live programs promoting it.
"Paddlers seem to be really enjoying it. The documentary is an opportunity for lots of people to get on a river, without having to get on a river," he chuckled.
"It really puts you in the bow of a canoe where you get to see, from the sort of Tom Thompson level, the river and that's a unique perspective."
Pop-up information gives you an enriched experience by learning about the river, the trees you're seeing, and the wildlife. You learn why this river is such an important river in Canada."
If you think you'd like to replicate Azaria's adventure he has a tip...mix in some luxury with the canoeing.
"I would mix camping and luxury and I'd start at somewhere like the Bears Den Lodge. You've got the ability to have a good dinner and get going in the morning. And then there's a wonderful loop in the lower part of the river. You can do it in probably two or three days. I think it's the most scenic. You can literally go down the old Voyageur channel, skirt Georgian Bay, and then come back up around.
"The campsites there are spectacular and the local marina rents canoes and probably other gear as well. To me, that would be my choice of both loop and paddle. You get to go by the abandoned French River village where there are still remnants of what used to be a town of 1,500 people. So that's kind of cool too."
The filmmaker says part of the allure of the trip is going down a channel that saw fur traders and Indigenous tribes use that very same passageway and imagining it as it happened over 100 years ago.
"It is the same water. This is the same landscape because in lots of places, it hasn't changed much. You know, there's this sense of wilderness. This is what it would have looked like when prehistoric people came through, when Samuel de Champlain came through, and when the voyageurs came through. So there's something incredibly rich about it."
When you combine that with really well-kept tent sites that the park provides, this is a great river to go paddle for anybody, particularly in the North Bay-Sudbury area. Like, what an opportunity to spend time on one of Canada's great rivers."
You can see the complete three-hour documentary on the TVO website here.
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