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River

South River

Class

Cascade

Size

Small

Visitability

Average

Accessibility

Free/Private

Activity

Quiet

Walk Time

0min

Trail

Easy

Gorge Access

Moderate

Other Trails

few

County

Parry Sound

Drive south from North Bay on Hwy 11 for about 60 km to South River. (This is about the same distance north from Huntsville). If heading south, turn left (east) at the main street in the town (Ottawa Ave). Go east for two blocks to Mill Rd, and turn left (north). Follow this road for about 0.8 km to the river crossing. There is a small gravel parking area on the right for one or two cars. Alternatively, drive just a few hundred meters to the north to a driveway on the right which leads to a gravel parking lot.

Settlement

South River

NTS Map

31E/14

Easting

626150

Northing

5078470

UTM Zone

Even though there really isn't a "waterfall" here, this could have been another one of those really interesting little places to walk around. While it's still worth a short stop, half of the site is under posted private property, and as a result, the visitability of the site is somewhat limited. The South River pours over a wide expanse of exposed bedrock, splitting into a number of narrower channels, and passing under the road via two concrete bridges. At no place is the fall more than a few meters, but I really like the variety of the whole scene. In some spots there are little slide-class waterfalls, while at others there are small bedrock rapids and cascades. At another spot, a giant old submerged wooden beam (possibly from some long vanished mill building) forms an artificial crest at the top of a low, wide waterfall.

You can wander out on the bare polished bedrock between the two main channels and explore the site to a degree. You can also walk along the road for about 200 m to a short driveway on the left that leads to a parking area overlooking the river just upstream from the falls. This also provides a view of the small water level dam above the falls.

The real shame with this site is that all of the land downstream of the bridge is private. This represents about half of the site The river braids into 3 or 4 different channels below the bridge and tumbles over a few more small, but interesting cascades before rumbling through the woods towards the road crossing at Hwy 11, just 0.5 km further west. While the property is posted private, you can enjoy the scenic view from the bridge. And fortunately, it looks like the more interesting portion of the cascades is located on the upstream, "public" side of the bridge.

I would be very grateful if anyone could provide me with any local information about this site. (?)