Learn how our different age groups enjoy 2-day to 40-day adventures in pure wilderness.
Loon Canoe Trips:
First Adventures in Algonquin Park
A fun-filled introduction to canoe tripping, Loon-age trips range from a one-night adventure on Linda or Owl Lakes to a weeklong journey reaching as far as Cedar Lake. One-week campers typically embark on an overnight with 4–6 new friends, while two-week campers experience either one extended (4–7 day) or two shorter (2–3 day) canoe trips. Campers staying for 3 ½ weeks may take 2–4 exciting trips, tailored to their experience and enthusiasm. These adventures feature lighter packs, shorter portages, and plenty of campsite fun.
Our youngest campers explore Algonquin Park’s lakes and trails, sometimes beginning their trips with a trucked route to reach new areas of the park. Each trip is led by a skilled and trained crew of three guides—headmen, secondmen, and CITs. Occasionally, a smaller group of five campers with four guides is arranged to support younger paddlers as they journey deeper into the wilderness.
Throughout their trip, campers learn essential backcountry skills: packing gear, paddling, portaging, setting up and breaking down camp, cooking over an open fire, and purifying water. In their downtime, they enjoy swimming, fishing, whittling, playing cards, and other campsite games—all while building confidence and a love for wilderness adventure.
Fox Canoe Trips:
Building Strength, Skills, and Friendship
Canoe trips for Fox-age campers are exciting and adventurous, ranging from 3-day treks to weeklong expeditions that explore the vast wilderness of Algonquin Park. At this stage, many campers develop a deep love for tripping, building their experience in preparation for future two- and three-week trips as older campers. With growing strength and confidence, they paddle faster, tackle more ambitious routes, and embrace the challenges of backcountry travel. Each trip is led by a skilled and trained team of three guides—headmen, secondmen, and CITs—who provide guidance and support along the way.
Fox campers expand their paddling and portaging skills, take on greater responsibilities in setting up and breaking down camp, and fully immerse themselves in the canoe tripping lifestyle. They enjoy campsite free time for rest, play, and, for many, their first experience helping with cooking over an open fire.
At this age, social connections with peers and counselors become especially important. Camp staff foster a positive environment, encouraging teamwork, friendship, and respect. Boys learn to work together on tasks, support each other, and build the camaraderie that defines Pathfinder’s tripping experience. They also aspire to greater expertise in canoeing, swimming, and backcountry skills, eager to "do it right and do it well." One of the most cherished traditions of Pathfinder trips at this age is gathering around the campfire for real conversations, storytelling, and reflection on the adventure.
Wolf Canoe Trips:
Expedition- Style Adventures
For our older campers, canoe trips become true expeditions, ranging from one week to 18 days in length. With extensive Algonquin experience under their belts, these trippers begin to fill in their personal maps, venturing beyond the park’s borders into the wilds of Temagami and the Quebec rivers that feed the Ottawa River. Many Wolf campers will spend more than half of their 3 ½-week session paddling in the backcountry, fully immersed in the adventure.
Each trip is led by a skilled and trained staff crew of three—headmen, secondmen, and CITs—who guide campers through some of the most stunning and challenging canoe country in North America.
These extended journeys may include two-week routes through Temagami’s rugged lakes or three-week treks down the Ottawa Valley rivers. Past expeditions have included paddling the Rivières Coulonge & Noire, tackling The Meanest Link, and navigating the Missinaibi, Spanish, and French Rivers.
Through these experiences, campers gain a deep appreciation for the vast wilderness, learning advanced paddling and portaging skills, developing resilience, and forging lifelong friendships through shared challenge and triumph.
AA Canoe Trips:
A tripper's AA year is the ultimate summer for trips. Their journey takes them down rivers in northern and western Ontario or Quebec. These skilled canoe trippers venture out for 3 - 6 weeks a season on distant canoe expeditions. The bonds of friendship and the feelings of accomplishment are lifelong. The stories fellow campers, staff, and parents hear from these boys can only begin to cover what they saw and experienced. Often the boys make compelling films of their journey.
AAs who show real leadership potential and are steeped in Pathfinder values may be invited to join the CIT Leaders Program in the coming year, beginning a 3-year staff apprenticeship to become headmen at Pathfinder.
All trips are staffed with the most highly capable and extensively trained 3 headmen and secondmen.
Trips include : Pipestone-Winisk-Wapitotem-Attawapiskat, Riviére à L’Eau Claire – Richmond Gulf, Riviére Boutin - La Petit Riviére de la Baleine, Windigo-Schade-Severn, Fawn-Pipestone-Asheweig-Severn, Albany R., Rupert R., Bloodvein.