The Happy Camper: An Amazing Canoe Trip on the Georgian Bay’s Bustard Islands
My canoe buddy, Andy Baxter, had come up with another crazed canoe trip for us to try during late season. Last year, he tested my skills and anxiety levels with a route in that remote northern park (Opasquia) where no canoeist seems to go.
This season, he chose something less north but still pretty darn remote; a cluster of islands—The Bustards—surrounded by the cold depths of Georgian Bay, several kilometres away from the mainland.
Let’s state the obvious. Making the elongated open stretch to Georgian Bay’s Bustard Islands isn’t for the faint of heart. Wind and waves pick up without warning out on the Bay and it can be beyond difficult in a kayak, next to impossible in a canoe. Even if you do reach the protected centre of the cluster of 600 islands—some mere shoals and others, large slabs of pink granite crowned with stunted trees—you can easily find yourself windbound there for days.
So why risk it? The Bustards are a geologic anomaly like no other; an isolated masterpiece made up of barren rock, windswept pine, turquoise water, rare plant species, extraordinary bird life and few people.
There’s two general ways to paddle to the Bustards. One is to head directly out from a cluster of small islands at the mouth of the French River (approximately three kilometres of open water) and the other is to paddle down the Key River and then west across from Dead Island for seven kilometres in open water. The first option seems to be the chosen one for kayakers. It’s a shorter crossing and the 13-kilometre Key River section can be a tad boring place, filled with speed boats.
The prevailing northwest winds, however, make the Key River the safest access, longer but less exposed to high winds.
It’s not an easy choice, to be quite honest.
I agreed to go. I’ve always wanted to witness this amazing archipelago of tiny remote islands that sits off of the mouth of Ontario’s historic French River. But the dealbreaker for me was that we had to be shuttled out and back by motorboat with our gear and canoe. It would be expensive, but it was also the safest and most logical thing to do for two canoeists heading out on the fringe of fall season. Andy concurred and booked the shuttle.
Steve Bray of Camp Dore, situated on the west side of Highway 69 on the Key River, was our choice for the shuttle. We even booked one of his cabins for the night prior to the trip. His boat was very sea-worthy, and it took us less than an hour for him to skip down the Key and across the expanse of Georgian Bay to drop us off on the east side of the Bustards. It would have taken us a full day or more by canoe. Steven was also a local and he gave us a solid history lesson of the area—far worth the price of admission. This land of rock, trees and water was once a flourishing community of commercial fishers and lumberman.
There are only four designated campsites on the Bustards. Three are on the exposed east shores and the fourth is on the west side, tucked in the centre of the largest of the islands—Tanvat Island. Andy booked the west side site—#903.
It’s important to note that in 2025, Ontario Parks changed the backcountry reservation system for French River Provincial Park, which the Bustard Islands are a part of, to site-specific reservations. It created a massive debate amongst paddlers.
Whether you agree with it or not, you have to book per site. That meant Andy and I knew we had #903 waiting for us. That was comforting. But it also meant that if we had paddled across to the Bustard Islands and couldn’t reach #903 due to bad weather, we were not in our happy place.
Andy and I did notice a few obvious bush sites that paddlers had made. Legally you can’t do that now. But I don’t think anyone is going to bother you about it if you are in a jam out there.
There are a few camps/cottages on either private or leased land on the Bustards. There’s also a flotilla of yachts and sailboats that are moored in secluded bays amongst the islands, especially at a place called The Gun Barrel. All that did not take away from our time camping at—and exploring—the Bustards. We saw one camper the entire time and had a lovely chat with her about the incredible history of the place. And since it was later in the season, we only came upon three yachts anchored. Two said hello to us and the other didn’t. We didn’t like him or his boat that had its name posted on the stern: “My Bitch.”
Take note though that in 2020, a massive amount of wind power turbines was installed along the entrance of the Key Harbour and beyond. I love the renewable energy initiative, but it’s an eyesore all the same for such a remote wilderness area.
Winds and rain were up for most of our five-day visit. However, we were able to explore protected places like the secluded Coral Channel, the gut between Burnt Island, the Northeast Point, glacial potholes on the southern section, the other three campsites on the eastern side (our site was by far the most protected) and the inner bay of the eastern portion of Tanvat Island (best part of all the islands, in my opinion). We had no chance to check out the three lighthouses (one that actually still works) on the northwest point. Surf was a metre or two high the entire time. A massive storm also hit on our second-last day and had us putting up multiple tarps, sipping tea and reading good books for the entire day while listening to the crashing of waves in the distance and watching the tide-like water around our site rise and fall like a gigantic soup bowl.
Thankfully the weather calmed just enough on our last morning for our shuttle driver, Steve, to pick us up at the designated spot at the eastern entrance to The Gun Barrel. It was bumpy ride back to Camp Dore, and Andy and I jumped with joy that we didn’t have to make the paddle back in our canoe—which would have been absolutely impossible in the wind and weather conditions we had that day.
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Would I go back? Absolutely. In a kayak, maybe. In a canoe, possibly. In Steve’s shuttle boat, in a heartbeat!
The Bustard Islands may be set around a horizon that fades into nothingness, but it’s also like a Caribbean Island chain—paradise in a freshwater sea.
Check out the video series on my trip on the KCHappyCamper YouTube channel.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
