Topographic Map 31 C/8
Reference Map
ROUTE 1
Gananoque to Marble Rock
The southernmost section of the Gananoque River is below the dam at Marble
Rock. The river empties into the St. Lawrence River in the town of Gananoque.
The distance from the St. Lawrence to Marble Rock dam is a little more than 11
kilometres, and with the portage, possibly four to five hours on the water. The
trip is worth beginning at the St. Lawrence itself, but would involve one necessary portage just a short distance above the St. Lawrence, at series of falls and
a dam. At present, however, while there is a public walkway over most of the
length of the portage around the falls, the actual access point on the lower
section of the river has not been finalized.
The settlement of Gananoque
came with the exodus of United
Empire Loyalists from the United
States, in the late 1700s. This location, where the Gananoque River
flowed into the St. Lawrence was
a prime candidate for settle
ment. Rivers, in those days, were
both transportation routes and
sources of power. Here was a
very unusual opportunity,
because of the sets of falls and
rapids so close to the major route
of the St. Lawrence. The Ganan oque was a great and reliable
flow that was quickly harnessed
for grist mills, and before long to
turn water wheels for factories of
all sorts.
DEPARTURE POINT
A place to begin is at the public dock in front of the town’s Heritage Village.
There are parking lots just across the street. In actual fact, begin the exploration
at the Arthur Child Heritage Centre. The displays and gallery have a great introduction to the history and culture of the region,and the town. Shops around the
village include a book store, souvenirs and treats.
TRIP LENGTH AND DISTANCE
The distance from the St. Lawrence to Marble Rock dam is a little more than
11 kilometres, and with the portage, possibly four to five hours on the water.
The trip is worth beginning at the St. Lawrence itself, but would involve one
necessary portage just a short distance above the St. Lawrence, at series of
falls and a dam.
Notes of History
Early growth of the town is
largely credited to
Colonel Joel Stone, a United Empire Loyalist from
Connecticut who obtained a grant of land for the
east side of the river here. Stone was an entrepreneur, and soon employed
timber cutters who
floated their logs down the Gananoque to the St.
Lawrence. He as well built a first flour mill at the
falls, able to handle grain from local farms and,
before long, shipping surplus production to other
communities. By the 1820s, a large mill at the town
established Gananoque as a major milling centre,
with Durham boats—river cargo carriers of the
day—delivering substantial amounts of flour
downriver to Montreal, and beyond.
By the 1870s, there were as many as 49 mills and
factories along this section of the Gananoque
River. The town earned the nickname of “Little
Birmingham”, after the industrial city of England.
Factories made hardware such as
bolts, nails,
shovels and rakes; iron and wooden fittings for
carriages and steamboats; and even renowned
fishing lures. While none of those earlier factories is
still in production, or water-powered, there are a
number of the old buildings still standing along the
river banks. In fact, very near the portage point
below the first falls, the river pours out from under
one of the older buildings, where power is generated by the former Gananoque Light and Power
Company, now owned by Fortis Ontario.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Single Lane Bridge
The single-lane steel bridge crossing the Gananoque River as it enters the St.
Lawrence is an unusual design. It is a swing bridge, designed to pivot on the
central pillar, geared to be turned 90º to open a passage for larger boats
entering and leaving the river.
Today, the east bank of this lower section of the river is lined with boathouses,
most of which are owned with the houses on the bluff above. One of the first
houses and boathouses in from the swing bridge was owned by a local boat
builder, Ray Andress, who built small boats and runabouts, as well as a version
of the unique St. Lawrence skiff. The St. John’s Catholic Church is the largest
building on the skyline. Further along, closer to the falls, there are derelict factory buildings.
Stone’s Mills
The west bank still recalls the days when the river was intimately involved with
industry. A 19th century brick factory stands near the entrance to the river,
and further along, past Brennan’s Marina, is a cluster of restored stone and
brick buildings
Notes of History
The Portage
It is hard to imagine with the development
of the town today, the portage traces
almost precisely the same route used by
First Nations peoples. Archaeological finds
show that this path around the sets of
rapids and falls was in regular use to at
least 3,000 years ago. The course of the
Gananoque River accesses the interior,
along the waterways of numerous rivers,
lakes and streams.
Nearing the falls, the curre nt becomes quite noticeable. Before reaching the botto m of
the falls, it will be necessary to pull in to the bank and pull
your boat, to portage. The
access point here is at the grassy strip on the east bank, beside the fenced area with the
electric transformers. A laneway leads up and around the old mill buildings, to King Street.
The carry is about 300 metres, crossing King Street, following the wide walkway along the
west side of the old railway building that today houses the Gananoque Chamber of Com
merce and Museum, and which comes to another old railway trestle across the river. This
trestle has been converted to a walkway, and crossing that, the launch access point is on
the west side, north of the trestle.
Perhaps it was knowledge of this ancient
route that lead Colonel John By to con sider the Gananoque and
waterways
beyond as an alternative to the Rideau
Canal route that he eventually chose to
bypass the potentially militarily treacher ous St. Lawrence. The Gananoque was
more secure and defensible from warships
that could easily assault Kingston and the
canal entrance at the Cataraqui River off
Lake Ontario. However, the volume of
water flow on the Gananoque River was
considerable less than on the Cataraqui.
On the Portage
This portage lands you in downtown Gananoque, where it would be well worth while to
dally and explore. Conveniently, at the King Street crossing, is the Chamber of Commerce
office, an excellent source of information about the town, and activities curre ntly underway. The museum, next door, and the town hall across the park,are wonderful insights into
the history of Gananoque. The town hall was at one time the residence of one of the principal founding fathers, Colonel Joel Stone.
Along King Street, to the east of the portage, is the main business district with all types of
shops where one can find whatever supplies needed for the duration of the paddle. As
well, near the downtown are several inns, bed & breakfast accommodations, and motels.
www.gananoque.com for more information
Notes of History
The section of the Gananoque River above the
falls in the town to the dam at Marble Rock is a
tranquil paddle. There are three more bridges
over the river at the town. The first of these is a
one-way automobile bridge, with a wooden
deck, at Machar Street. The second is another
railway trestle, from the same rail line as is now
part of the Gananoque trail system, just above
the town’s upper falls. This railway line, now abandoned and with the rails themselves removed,
was called the Thousand Islands Railway. It was a
narrow gauge rail line, built before times when the
with of such lines were standardized. The Thousand Islands Railway was once very important to
the town of Gananoque, as it carried not only
passengers but considerable freight as manufactured goods from the town’s factories. The line
crossed the river three times in the town, and
went from the waterfront at the site of a large milk
and cheese plant, the Cow & Gates Company,
long-since torn down, to the village of Cheeseborough and Gananoque Junction, a few
kilometers north. As such, a number of the factories along the way had ready access to a major
transportation system. Passengers boarded in the
town at what is now the Chamber of Commerce
office.
Above the Falls
Currently, an access point to the river above the falls in Gananoque is at the foot
of Railway Street, on the west and north side of the old railway trestle bridge. This
bridge no longer has tracks, and has been converted to part of the system of
walking trails being developed for the town. Follow the path across the bridge,
and around the chain link fence. Boats can be launched, or hauled, from the
grassy bank.
Should your trip be starting from this point, cars can be parked roadside along
the street at the open parkland.
Words of caution: The current here is strong, and especially so in spring, because of heavier flow in runoff.
Control your boat carefully, and stay near the river bank, not venturing out to centre channel where you
may be carried against the low girders supporting the trestle, and your craft overturned. Your safety is your
own responsibility.
The third bridge is that of highway 401. It was built before the rail line was discontinued,
and so is higher and wider than what normally would have been put in place, to accommodate the passage of trains. An interesting spin-off of this construction is a passage
way used to a degree by wildlife, tracing the thickets and river banks. Wildlife has few
options in crossing this tremendously busy highway in other places, and there is good
potential here to improve the character and quality of the grounds under this overpass
to allow better and safer passage for wildlife.
There was at one time a fourth bridge over the river, not far south of the 401 overpass.
The concrete abutments stand where a local road once traversed the river.
For the next approximately two kilometres, the west bank of the river borders the Gananoque Provincial Wildlife Area, publicly owned and accessible land. As the name would
imply, this is an important area for wildlife. The area of several square kilometres to the
north and west of the Gananoque River is laced with the tributaries of Mud Creek, which
flows into the Gananoque at the northeast corner of the wildlife area. Where the creek
and river merge, and westward on the creek, there is an extensive low-lying area of
marshes, swamps and wetland woods. This complex of habitats hosts numerous mammals including white-tail deer, coyote, red fox, muskrat, mink and weasels, which you
may likely see passing by. Especially of note is the numbers and variety of reptiles and
amphibians here—snakes, frogs, turtles and salamanders—which rely not only on wetlands themselves, but the quality of bordering lands which serve as integral parts of their
feeding and breeding habitat. Those most likely to be seen are painted turtles, sunning
on logs and banks; water snakes, swimming in search of fish for prey; bull frogs, perhaps
more heard than seen; and snapping turtles, rummaging along the river banks.
A History of Rock
Compass and map will show that the ridge, which
defines the course of the river, trends northeast – southwest. This is the orientation of the majority of ridges and
valleys of the Arch. The granite ridge you see is one of
many “roots” of billion year old mountains that once
towered loftily here. Ever-shifting, the plates of the
earth’s crust buckled over an immense area, and
pushed a mountain range skyward. Created was the
youngest section, the Grenville Province, of the massive
plate we now call the Canadian Shield. Over hundreds
of thousands of years, the mountains were worn down,
with the softer sedimentary upper layers eroded by
wind and weather, and the particles carried to the
seas. What remained is what you see today—the metamorphic rock formed under the mountains by the heat
and enormous pressure of the burden of rock above.
Now, the pattern and orientation of the mountains is
visible in the mountain roots.
The Frontenac Arch came to be when, hundreds of
millions of years ago, the immense dome of Precam brian rock we know as the Adirondack Mountains rose
because of stresses on the earth’s crust. Its rise brought
with it a long, broad ridge which ran all the way to the
Canadian Shield. This extension of the Shield we call
today the Frontenac Arch, aligned northwest – south east. It so happens that the trending direction of the
ancient and long-eroded mountains was perpendicu lar to the alignment of the Arch, or right angles to the
Frontenac Arch’s axis. Therefore, the rivers and streams
that flow off the Arch, and the valleys and lakes on the
Arch, lie like ribbons draped across the ridge of the
ancient landscape.
The ridges as you see along the river are worn and
rounded, and, interestingly, appear now much as they
did some 450 million years ago. Certainly the fours
periods of glaciation that we know of in the last 100,000
years have had a shaping and polishing effect. But
there have been earlier glaciations and weathering
that rounded this landscape, even before they were
covered with a veneer of sedimentary rock such as the
limestones of Kingston and west, and the sandstones of
eastern Ontario and Upper New York.
The Big Picture
A special value of the Gananoque waterway is that it is a major corridor for wildlife.
Because so much of the landscape through which the river passes is lightly devel
oped, with near continuous woodlands and wetlands along its length, a passageway
exists. Migrating birds, especially smaller species use such routes, but so do many species of other animals. Mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians don’t travel long
distances from season to season, but they do follow suitable habitats throughout their
lives while foraging, breeding or in search of territory. Plants too disperse through
suitable habitats, if available. Therefore, an important role of extensive habitat and
corridors such as along this river is to provide enough specialized habitats for popula tions to remain large enough to survive, and to allow a mixing of populations for
genetic diversity.
The corridor along this waterway is a part of a larger corridor for wildlife. The Frontenac
Arch is a ridge of ancient Precambrian granite that connects the Canadian Shield to
the north with the Adirondack Mountains to the southeast. The Arch, the backbone of
eastern North America, forms a corridor—the Algonquin to Adirondacks Corridor between these two landforms. Forests and forest residents of these otherwise distant
landscapes are connected.
Above the 401 highway and the town of Gananoque, the corridor is overall quite
healthy. The Gananoque Provincial Wildlife Area has an important role of extending
the corridor westward, around the town site, where except for the barriers of 401 and
County Road 2, the corridor can be traced to the St. Lawrence River and across the
island chains.
About three kilometres north of the 401, a rail trestle of the main line of the Canadian
National Railway crosses over the Gananoque River. A few hundred metres on, the
river passes under a bridge for County Road 32, at the hamlet of Maple Grove.
In contrast to the landscape to this point, the river above the County Road 32 bridge
will border a granite ridge, on the east bank. This is good insight into the geological
story of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve.
Marble Rock
Some five kilometres above the County Road 32 bridge, high ridges considerably
confined the river, forming a natural dam. The engineers who worked to harness the
river to generate electricity concluded that this was an ideal location for a dam and
generators. The name of this location comes from the character of the rock, which
has large amounts of quartzite, appearing like marble, or metamorphosed limestone.
There is a road bridge where the Marble Rock Road crosses the Gananoque River,
about 500 metres below the dam.
This section of the guide ends with the approach to the power dam.
Route One ends at the Marble Rock Dam. IMPORTANT: At present, (March 2011) there is no
sanctioned portage around the dam between Routes One and Two. The east side of the
River at Marble Rock is private property. DO NOT TRESPASS. Portaging around the dam on
the west side of the river is at your own risk.

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Legend
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Dock
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Outhouse
Marble Rock
Dam
Marble
Rock
View / Vista
PELOW ROAD
Canoe / Kayak
Hiking Trails
Water Dam
Wooded Area
Emery
LEKX ROAD
HISCO
RO CK
MARBLE
RO A D
CK S R
OA D
STATION ROAD
MAP
R OV
LE G
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OA D
Maple Grove
COUN TY R
OAD 32
OWEN AVEN
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Cheeseborough
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ORTH
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HIGH W
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HIGH W
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1ST STREET
ST
KING STREET WE
KING STR EET WEST
UN
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Produced by the FRONTENAC ARCH
BIOSPHERE RESERVE. Base Data
supplied by Ontario Ministry of Natural
ResourcesLand Information Ontario 2010.
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