Immersive Wilderness Learning Canoe Trip

A few highlights of the trip:

• Learning not just how to backcountry camp and canoe trip, but how to thrive in a wilderness setting
• Learning how to become at home in the landscape, rather than just passing through it
• Star gazing and discovering the stories of the cosmos and their connection to humanity's shared cultural history
• Learning to catch, prepare, and eat our own fish
• Learning to identify plants and forage for edible berries
• Learning to read and follow animal signs, tracks, and trails
• Learning to excel at flat water canoeing techniques
• Learning about the intertwined ecological and cultural history of Algonquin
• Nature journaling and reflection
• Building tarp shelters, with the option of sleeping in them on the third night
• An introduction to naturalist practices for noticing the world around us, in addition to camping skills
• Having a lot of fun while making lifelong friends!

Canoe tripping experience necessary: None. These trips are slow paced and suitable for all experience levels!

Program Details

Dates: July 18-21 (4 days); August 8-11 (4 days); August 22-25 (4 days)

Ages:​ 11-15 (born 2010-2014) & 16-18 (born 2007-2009), co-ed (these two age groups run as parallel but separate trips)

Group size: 4 to 12 participants, and 2 to 4 leaders

Ratio: 1:6 leaders to participants, or better

Program cost: $840

Financial support: Sliding scale options of up to 50% reduced cost for families who otherwise could not afford to attend (payment and the sliding scale are completed at the end of the enrollment process)

Drop Off and Pick Up Information

Drop off: Friday, between 10:00am-10:30am at the Smoke Lake Parking lot in Algonquin Provincial Park

Pick up: Monday, between 4:00pm-4:30pm at the same location as the drop-off

Address: Smoke Lake Access Point (#6), Highway 60 at km, 14 1 (south, Unorganized South Nipissing District, ON P0A 1E0

Not your average canoe trip, the Immersive Wilderness Learning (IWL) program is unique, offering a combination of naturalist skills, canoe tripping techniques, and fun adventure with new friends!

These camps provide an intro to canoe tripping for those who have never been on a wilderness trip, while also enabling seasoned canoeists to discover a deeper, more meaningful experience than they have in the past. Focusing on naturalist learning and a wholistic approach to backcountry living, the trips create a fun, relaxed environment for teenagers to spend four days engaging with the natural world in a way they never have before. Learning all about nature, naturalist practices, and backcountry camping skills, they will leave the trip with a sense of accomplishment, having discovered more than they ever imagined and having developed a forever deepened connection to our wild world. The lasting impact are the friends made and the new found awareness of a life fully lived.

While this trip is an intro to canoe tripping for those who have never been on a canoe trip before, it is equally suitable for those who have been on many but are seeking a deeper, more intentional experience. Focusing on naturalist knowledge and a wholistic approach to backcountry living, this trip opens new perspectives as much as it teaches canoe tripping skills.

Too many canoe trip programs offer long and difficult routes that leave little time for anything but paddling, eating, and sleeping. The difficulty of those experiences ensures that first-timers never want to return and that the natural world is entirely overlooked as the paddlers zoom past it. We strive to be different, believing that the trip itself is the point, rather than the destination.

We take an intentionally slow pace, paddling out to our campsite on day one and not changing sites for the duration of the trip. This means we only have to pack up camp on the last day, allowing us to really get to know our campsite – to discover what aquatic creatures come out at night; to venture out and explore nearby islands; and to befriend the birds nesting near our tents, learning their calls and hearing their songs.

Led by expert naturalists, we learn how to cook meals over fires we made ourselves, catch and prepare our own fish for dinner, forage for edible berries, build shelters, and identify animals by their tracks and signs. With opportunities for nature journaling and fun games throughout, the Immersive Wilderness Learning trip is designed to set young people up for a lifetime of enjoying backcountry camping and caring for our natural world.