Paddle The Don

 Add your video »

Add another image

Edit map  zoom  zoom out

Edit text   |   Edit all fields

Paddle the Don is an annual boating event held on the Don River in Toronto, Canada.

The 2008 event is scheduled for Sunday, May 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Participation is free, but participants are encouraged to collect money in the form of pledges. Funds go to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and are used for stewardship projects.

The River

From various tributaries north of the city, the Don River runs southward into Lake Ontario, acting as an eastern border to downtown Toronto. The muddy-looking river suffered greatly from changes made to its flow in the beginning of the 1900s, and is generally viewed by Torontonians as a dirty water system. However, recent efforts at revitalizing the river have met with success, and wildlife from fish to beavers have returned.

Nonetheless, there is no recreational boating on the slow-moving river except for one day a year, when upriver waterflow is increased to permit a fund-raising paddling event.

The Event

Boaters put in at E.T. Seton Park, and take out at the Keating Channel, where the river empties into Lake Ontario -- a distance of approximately 15 km. At the temporarily elevated water level, the river develops a few rapids, up to a Class III stretch.

Put-in times are scheduled in half-hour windows, to control the flow of boaters.

The Paddle the Don hotline at 416-661-6600, extension 5397.

Getting There

The put-in is located at E.T. Seton Park. Enter the park via Wilket Creek Park/Sunnybrook Park, whose entrance is located on Leslie Street, just north of the intersection with Eglinton Avenue East.

Be aware that parking near the put-in is very limited. Give yourself time to arrive, unload at the put in, drive elsewhere on the Park grounds to park, and then take a shuttle back, or walk. A free shuttle van patrols the parking lots to bring you back to the put in.

For most drivers:
- take the Don Valley Parkway to the Eglinton Avenue East exit
- go west on Eglinton, past Don Mills Road and down the hill. The next significant street is Leslie. Turn right, and then immediately left into the park.
- follow the signs to the put in (toward the left)

After the Event

At the take-out point, organizers set up tents with food and beverage (hot dogs, beer, etc.; neither is free, so bring money), as well as some sponsor booths.

Shuttle buses will bring paddlers (but not their boats!) back to the put-in, where they can retrieve their vehicles and drive back down to the take-out to get their boats.

To reach the takeout by car, take the Don Valley Parkway to the very end (where it swings onto the Gardiner Expressway), but stick to the left and exit at the Lakeshore ramp. Go straight at the lights at the end of the ramp, under the bridge and one short block farther. The takeout festvities are right there, on your right hand side.