Tangier Lake/ River

[Dave Greene]

Last weekend a friend and I went out to Tangier lake to explore the surrounding area and enjoy the rain.   I would highly recommend this area for anybody looking for an accessible adventure.  The "put in" is just over an hour from Halifax.  Parking on the side of the road just west of the Tangier river, a rough 4x4 path about 1 km long takes you to Tangier Lake.  A 4-5 km paddle leads you to likely one of the biggest freshwater white sand beaches in the province.  Just inside the Tangier Grand Lake Wilderness Area, this place has plenty to explore.  We took the time to head up the Tangier river ( I believe to be rarely explored except for a few fishermen in the spring).  From Falls pool, a 800m portage takes you around Mason's falls.  We found the Falls and enjoyed the scenery for some time.  A portage worth taking.  Upstream from here, one could continue to O'Brien lake and possible a bush-wack portage into Grand Lake Tangier.  The area is not frequented very often.   There are many options for travelling down the Tangier river from upstream but require water, skill and common sense.  I once paddled from Grand Lake Tangier all the way down to the ocean, but would not recommend it unless you are up for a real adventure.  Another route I would love to explore is the section from Sixth Lake down through Pug Hole, three river lake, O'Brien lake, Tangier Lake sometime in the future.... would be great whitewater.

Due to the time of day when leaving, being tired and I would have been solo, I decided to portage back to the truck instead of running the long rapid...though it is still very much on my mind.