Into the Wild
Enjoying the Ottawa River at Wilderness Tours & Rafting Resort
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It was 1975 when Joe Kowalski first dipped his paddle into the Ottawa River. He was immediately hooked.
For 50 years, the Ottawa River has been Joe's livelihood and his passion. As owner of Wilderness Tours, an adventure resort in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, Joe has made it his mission to protect the wilderness that surrounds the famous rapids of the Ottawa River's Whitewater section from development.
Thus far, he has conserved 5,000 acres on both sides of the river, land that he is committed to keeping in its natural state.
"This is the last wild section of the most historic river in Canada," he says. "And it's going to stay that way."
Today, the Ottawa River is celebrated as one of the top whitewater destinations in the world. But when Joe, then a paddling guide from the United States, first arrived in the Ottawa area, most people didn't know about the river's whitewater section.
"You couldn't see the rapids from the road," Joe says. "And it is not a terrain that you would think would produce wild rivers."
With farmers' fields and trees blocking the river view, the rapids had remained a local secret, known to generations of Indigenous Peoples and to early explorers like Samuel de Champlain, but not accessed much by paddlers in the 1960s and 70s.
All that changed when Joe went to a lawyer to set up operations for a Canadian wilderness guiding business. He was intending to guide along the Petawawa River by Algonquin Park, which has a wonderful set of rapids.
"Have you seen the big rapids on the Ottawa," he remembers the lawyer asking him.
"There are no big rapids on the Ottawa," Joe replied.
"Oh, yes there are," came the response.
It turned out that the lawyer, a man named Del O'Brien, was also a pilot and had flown over the river many times, observing the rapids that few others saw.
He flew Joe and a group of fellow adventurers over the rapids. Inspired, the group then made a scouting trip on the water, with Joe leading the way.
Joe couldn't believe the beauty of what he was seeing – in this section, the Ottawa was wild, with water coming fast and strong, with multiple channels of whitewater and dozens of islands and rocky outcrops. The river also had moments of quiet and stillness that allowed breaks from the whitewater to enjoy the scenery. It was breathtaking.
And so, in 1975, Joe established Wilderness Tours and became one of the early pioneers of whitewater tours down the Ottawa.
"This section of the river is really something special. And it's only an hour from the nation's capital and only 20 minutes off the Trans Canada Highway," Joe said.
The Ottawa River’s three distinct channels offer a perfect mix of rapids and challenges for all skill levels. There are mellow, scenic stretches that give way to adrenaline-pumping rapids, or, as Joe likes to say, adventure that goes from "mild to wild."
As Joe got busier with more demand for his tours, he realized people needed a place to stay overnight and so he added a camping section to Wilderness Tours. Then, his honeymoon in a Club Med Resort gave him the idea of creating an all-inclusive resort in Ontario.
Wilderness Tours Resort now offers everything you need: accommodations, dining, and activities at an all-inclusive price. "It is like Club Med but for adventure sports," Joe says.
Five decades have passed since Joe first set his paddle in the Ottawa River. He continues to paddle it to this day, now with his grandchildren in tow.
"What's nice is that when I go down the river, it looks the same as when I went down my first time 50 years ago. It hasn't changed a bit. And it would be recognizable to the millennia of Indigenous People who paddled here and the explorers who came with Champlain.
It has been the same for thousands of years and will continue to be the same for a thousand more."
Wilderness Tours Resort is located at 1260 Grants Settlement Road, Foresters Falls, ON.
All-Inclusive stays can include rafting, tubing, mountain biking, delicious meals, live music, sauna, cabins, camping, RV sites & more
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