Grand River
The river levels I quote will be from the GRCA website www.grandriver.ca. This is a break down of the Sections of the Grand River.
This information is provided by a boater with 18 years of experience on the Grand and Irvine. This is of course a bad thing. Things that we consider to be keeper holes are not nearly as nasty as they use to be. So if I mention a level when a hole becomes a keeper and you go into it anyway and have a great time. Good for you. If you ignore my advice and get a whoopin then I reserve the right to Say, I told you so. Also, I will mention things that could happen or have happened over the course of many years once you are aware of the possible dangers you can make your own decision.
Belwood Lake (Shand Dam) to Fergus
This is an easy section of river. Class II for most of the year. At summer lows 4-6. Tt is hardly worth doing even for beginners. However at 10-30 it becomes a fun run for beginners in Kayaks or Canoes. It is also a good level for family canoe trips. There are a couple of mild drops and places to front surf. Great place for taking kids because it is rarely above your waste. However be careful at the base of the dam as the concrete pillers create holes.
As it goes above 30 it becomes somewhat continuous making it more challenging. Some of the surf spots get washed out but new ones form. At the epic level of 300 there was a monster front surf under the 3rd line bridge.
Put in is in the Shand dam park. You can almost drive right up to the river. Take out is at the Walkie Park in Fergus before the Waterfall.
Fergus
The Waterfall is 16-20 feet. It is 16 feet high when you are standing watching people run and it is 20 feet high when you are dropping over it. I don’t know how this happens, it just does. The run the falls it is a straight shot. We run right were the bend in the waterfall is. Best level is around 12feet on the gauge. Warning this falls has been run less than 50 times that I know of. There is always a chance that you can hit something in the water or tumble under the falls. As fall drops go it is fairly safe but it is high enough to cause severe back injuries. As the water level increases the back wash gets really large. It would be a bad place to be at high water because there is a stone building on one side and a rock ledge on the other. No place for the water to exit. There is a creeky type run on the left. Very rocky, scout it for yourself and make your own decisions.
If you want to continue downtown there are some class 2 riffles and a few front surfs on your way to the drops. The drops come right after the bridge. It is too low to do unless the water is above 10feet. Then you have 3 slides. Very shallow and rocky but pretty straight forward. Far left there is a room of doom halfway down. Far right there is an eddy halfway down with some rebar and old pieces of gear left over from when there was a water wheel. At 60 + or – there was a really good surf wave. However the drops become class IV at that level. Generally because it is cold and the water is fast and shallow.
At the bottom of the drops there are stairs for a take out on the right side. This is called Templen Gardens. There is a parking lot at the top of the stairs so it is a good place to leave a vehicle. This is also one of the best runs ever because there is a pub across the walking bridge on river right called the Goofy Newfie and another pub across the road upstream from the take out near the St David St. bridge called the Brew House.
If you decide to travel downstream it is passable at all levels. The higher the water to more intense. I have not done it at high water so I don’t know how difficult it gets but I would doubt that it gets as bad as class IV. Basically this section of river is class 2+ with some nice little rapids for beginners to practice eddy turns, river running and some basic surfing. It ends in Bissell Park in Elora before the waterfall. This falls is very shallow at the bottom, I have never heard of an experience boater running it
After the Waterfall there is flat water to downtown Elora then you hit another waterfall followed by the tooth of time.
Elora Gorge
The falls above the tooth of time are in rough shape. They are runnable but it is rarely done. It is shallow at the bottom with lots of rocks. Usually there are logs and other debris littering the run. The worse danger is that there is lots of rebar sticking out of the dam this could puncture a boat and cause an entrapment.
Tooth of time: Usually ran from 6- 30 feet. 6 feet is very low and you will leave a lot of boat plastic on the drop. 30 feet is very high. I’ve ran it once at 32 feet and got stuffed under the undercut ledge on the right at the bottom. It is a relatively straight forward drop but there have been a number of injuries here (two dislocated shoulders, a mild concussion and people trapped in the strong eddy on river right). If you flip on your way down, you are going to get hurt. This instruction is for running under 15 feet. If you are going to run it higher than that you are good enough to figure out your own line.
It is possible to run right of the tooth but there was a rock there that broke one boaters foot. Running left, you can run one or two boat lengths off the tooth.Two boat lengths is a smoother ride, one boat length will have you catch a little air but will line you up at the bottom better. Running straight down is ok but there is a rock in the hole at the bottom that has dented every boat I own. If you run a little bit right just before the bottom hole you can avoid the rock.
The hole at the bottom is great for praticing surfs and spins at low water. At higher water it is a great gutsy surf that will blast you in the face as water purls over the front of your boat and makes it hard to see. Lots of fun.
Moving downstream you pass the normal put in for the river. Past the island there is a great sport for beginners practicing ferries and more advanced boaters to learn stern squirts and eddy line moves.
Further down there is class two water up until the chute. Before you get to the chute there is an S bend rapid with small surfs at higher water there is a nice steep front surf. No eddy, you have to catch it on the fly. Best way to catch it is to start on the right and grab a shoulder wave over to the wave.
The chute: At low water there is an ender hole at the top followed but a class three chue. This is shallow and fast with some rapids that catch the edge of your boat. If you are new to the river you may want to check it out first.
At medium water 25-45 there is a hole in the middle of the chute called Steves hole. It is easy to miss but if you hit it just right it will kick your ass. Evidently only if your name is Steve. It has held people out of their boat and scared the crap out of them. They thougth they were going to drown.
At high water there are a number of surfs on the approach on the right. The run is usually left. At all levels you can run two boat lengths off the left shore and run straight down in the middle of the run work right to avoid stick hole (the crippler).
The move is to run left and catch the right hand eddy in the chute. From here you can check out the stick hole and decide whether it is a good level to surf. Also above stick hole is another great front surf. The downside is that you end up in stick hole when you come off the wave.
You can run all the way down the right but the hole on the right can be sticky and steep. Also the right side is were logs tend get hung up. If someone swims here get them off to the left fast. There is a long eddy and you can collect people, boat and paddle. Wait too long an the boat and owner are in for a long swim.
The high bridge is next. From 40 - 60 it is a wave like garburetor on the Ottawa. Great place for fun, catch the eddy on the right fast or you will have to walk back up to it. It is worth it.
At low water there is some front surfing. the approach is on the right and move left just before the bridge.
Above 80 Troll hole starts to form 100 feet past the bridge. 140, it's all there. Buseater eat your heart out.
Next drop is Kurts corner an S bend rapid with a rock on the right at low ater. Some people go straight over the rock and catch some air. Some people get hurt doing that. There are some fun waves after that.
The rest of the river is class 2 for the most part. Just watch for downed trees, broach rocks etc. There is one more place to practise eddy moves. Head down to the low bridge for take out. This bridge has 3' of clearance at low water. This is easy to miss, people have screwed up here and got sucked under the bridge. They made it through but there is a definite chance that a person could get stuck under the bridge and drown. Just be aware that it is there.
This really makes the gorge sound more dangerous than it is. To my knowledge know kayaker or canoeist has drowned on either
the Irvine or the Gorge. We have performed quite a few rescues though. In the winter it is a gorge that is hard to retrieve swimmers. Dress for cold water swimming and rescues.
Current Levels:
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