Indian River in Ontario

Trip Overview

Warsaw, Ontario to Warsaw Caves Conservation area

We (my wife, 10 year old daughter and I) packed up our kayaks and left Oshawa, Ontario Saturday morning headed for the small town of Warsaw, Ontario. Warsaw is about an hour drive northeast, not far from Peterborough. Warsaw is home to the Indian River which is a beautiful flat water paddling river.

The put in is at the church in town. There is a public dock and a gravel boat ramp that can be used free of charge. This trip is perfect for a half day paddle or you can turn it into an all day paddle if you decide to stop for lunch and explore the caves at the Warsaw Caves Conservation area.

The river runs about 7 or 8 kilometers (5 miles) and is very easy paddling (just bring a tow line if you have young children, like my daughter). Along the way you can see Great Blue Herons , otters, geese , ducks and turtles. There are cottages and some houses along the river as well. While we saw some small motor boats at docks along the river, we never saw any of them actually on the river so it was a very peaceful paddle.

The river has a lot of different scenery and we passed by small bays with lily pads and turtles sunning themselves on small logs and then around the next corner we would see large rock cliffs rising up 50 feet above the river. There are a few tiny islands but nothing that would be big enough to explore. The river ends at the conservation area where it goes underground so at this point you just turn around and paddle back down the river to the put in.

Accommodations:

Warsaw is a small town with a small lunch restaurant and a general store.

Fees:

No fees are required unless you want to explore the conservation area.

Walk-in fees are about 3 dollars each person. If you decide to drive into the conservation area, the fee is about 10 dollars for parking.

Directions:

From Toronto area take the 401 east to highway 115/35. Go north on the 115 approximately 45 minutes until it ends at #7 highway. Turn right and take #7 towards Ottawa. Turn left on #28 towards Bancroft to County road #4. Turn right on #4 and it will take you right into Warsaw. Turn left towards the caves conservation area and the church put-in is just past the "Warsaw Lunch / Post office" on the right hand side.