17 Day Upper Missinaibi & Thunderhouse Falls

Adventure Overview

Few rivers can match the power, beauty, and history of the Missinaibi River, one of Canada’s great waterways. From its source at Missinaibi Lake, the river rushes 520km North to James Bay over Precambrian granite, through bogs and marshes, and around spectacular waterfalls, all within a Provincial Park. Starting at Missinaibi Lake we will spend the next 17 days paddling over 280km, drop 300 feet of elevation, and run over 30 sets of rapids. 

We start at Barclay Bay Campground on Big Missinaibi Lake  and quickly move downstream, embracing the natural progression of whitewater from easy moving whitewater and class 1 building our skills for class 2 and 3 rapids further down river. Each day we make our way closer to what has been called “the 8th wonder of the world,” Thunderhouse Falls! The campsite at Thunderhouse is spectacular, perched 150 feet above the canyon, where time is spent marveling in the natural beauty of the falls, swimming and fishing.  Below the falls, the river drops 300 feet in a single day, as the Missinaibi plummets off the Canadian Shield and on to the Hudson’s Bay Lowlands. Our final night together is spent at Bull Moose Bay, camped beneath the towering clay banks of the Lowlands. In the morning the float plane will arrive, bringing in our Journey to the Northern Sky paddlers to start their adventure and those of us on the 17 day trip will say our goodbyes to other paddlers and the river for now.

We acknowledge that the Missinaibi River is located on the traditional territories of the Cree, Moose Cree and Anishinabek Nations and recognized under the James Bay Treaty No.9. We recognize that we are visitors to this land

What's Included