We went with some friends to paddle the Ponton River yesterday! It was a perfect day for it, and the water level was perfect too. This isn’t a river we normally promote paddling on, because the water level is often too low to paddle — it is only consistently high enough in spring for a short window, but may also be possible if we’ve had lots of rain.
It’s an interesting river, fairly narrow and winding, and the section we did had some nice little class 1 rapids! Lots of fun, and although we bonked a few boulders, we didn’t have any really scary moments. A few tippy spots, but we stayed on the right side of the water!
Enjoy the photos below! If you want to paddle this river, call us (1-877-926-2649) and we can discuss the water levels and what your options are! The river itself starts from the north part of Margaret Lake, a lake on the top plateau of the Caribou Mountains. It’s not a very nice paddle at the beginning, from what I’ve heard — swampy, full of beaver dams, and then gets steep as it drops down the Caribou Mountain slope — but the lower parts are quite nice.
January 20th, 2014 at 10:24 am
love canoeing too .. mostly rivers as well here in Alberta .. if you fished The Ponton or the nearby Wentzel feel free to email us any info you like on such ..
if you need a guide in Northern B. C. and The Yukon talk to Darren through ~ http://www.keizerlogworks.com ~ as he’s one of the best while always remaining cool too ..
keep on canoeing in the Free world ..
salut ..
http://www.DeepSoul.ca
February 1st, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Hi guys, I live in La-Crete im wondering if you guys have ever paddled the ponton river from Margret lake to where it crosses the hwy58 bridge, considering trying to make this trip and wondering if you have any experience or information.
August 8th, 2023 at 7:52 am
Hello Steven, sorry for the late reply. I have only canoed the Ponton from the point I described in my blog post to highway 58. I suspect that it would be narrow and choked with beaver dams that close to Margaret Lake, but I can’t say for sure. Ask the hunters around there — I know there are some with traplines up on top of the Caribou Mountains (or at least there used to be). Besides being choked with beaver dams, narrow rivers/creeks are hazardous because they can be blocked by trees (blowdowns) which you can’t get under… and if you try, you can get caught up in the tree and get drowned! Search “sweepers” as a canoeing hazard!
Best of luck finding out about the Ponton farther upstream.