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River

Bonnechere River

Class

Cascade

Size

Medium

Visitability

Good

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Quiet

Walk Time

5min

Trail

Moderate

Gorge Access

Difficult

Other Trails

Some

County

Renfrew

Follow Hwy 417 west from Ottawa, and continue west on Hwy 17. Before Renfrew, turn right on Renfrew Rd 6. Follow this road for several kilometers, but keep going straight when Renfrew Rd 6 bends to the right. You will now be on Thompson Rd. Follow Thompson Rd for about 4 km to the gravel parking lot on the left side of the road. Drive slowly and keep your eyes open, as I don't believe there is any signage.

Look for the path leading down the hill from the left side of the parking lot. This path leads to the base of the hill, around a bend and to the base of the falls. Another path leads off to the left and eventually ends up at the crest of the waterfall about a hundred meters upstream.

Settlement

Castleford Station

NTS Map

31 F/7

Easting

378049

Northing

5039574

UTM Zone

This is a beautiful waterfall! Rugged and nautral, yet accessible, I don't know why more of a fuss isn't made about this waterfall. The falls is also known as First Chute, the biggest of the five "Chutes" on the Bonnechere River (See entries for Second and Fourth Chute). The waterfall is perhaps 10 m high, and rumbles down a gorge at about a 45 degree angle. The bedrock here is tilted, and some layers have been eroded more than others. This gives the waterfall a jagged appearance. Keep your eyes out for potholes in the bedrock. These round depressions can be up to about 1 m in diameter, though not nearly as deep.

The Bonnechere River is one of the major Ontario tributaries to the middle Ottawa River. It drains an area of about 2380 square kilometres, rising over 100 km away in the southern portion of Algonquin Park. The waterfall is apparently run by kayakers when flows are high enough. This would be a scary run, surely class V, and don't attempt this unless you really, really know what you're doing.

Does anyone know if there are other little waterfalls along the Bonnechere River or falling into its gorge?

This waterfall is included in the print version of Waterfalls of Ontario.