Keating-Hoards Natural Habitat

Paddling the Trent-Severn Waterway:
Keating-Hoards Natural Habitat,
Hoards River

written by The Land Canadian Adventures. Read more by The Land.

Difficulty:   Novice

Distance:   9km return trip

Portages:   None

Launch point: 20 minutes southeast of Campbellford. Map Link. Parking lot on north side of 1st Line east, Harcourt at the Keating-Hoards Natural Habitat sign. Launch at bottom of small, marshy embankment.

Shuttle Info: None

Your Route:

If you're heading out for a weekend paddle, one of the highlights is the popular home-cooked buffet dinner at Chubby's Restaurant in Hoards Station. It is a good idea to plan ahead so make sure you call well in advance of your paddle for a 5:00 or 6:30 p.m. reservation (Friday to Sunday). At the same time, you can get permission from owners Mike and Amy (705-653-2908) to disembark at their grassy, sloped shoreline. This is a tasty reward for your paddling adventure!

Kids will love this paddle - there are bound to find a surprise around the turns of this old river. The quiet setting gives kids and adults a chance to connect with all types of nature.

As you head north at the back end of Wilson Island on the Trent River, you’ll be in well-protected waters.

Keating-Hoards Natural Habitat is part of the Murray Marsh, one of the largest remaining wetlands in Southeastern Ontario. It’s a beautiful filter for nutrients, improving the water quality of the Trent River.  

733 metres on your right is the opening to the meandering Hoards River that will take you further north. 318 metres along, make sure you veer left to continue your 2km journey into Hoards Station.

A morning paddle in the summer will take you through huge swaths of water lilies in full bloom. Grazing cows may be near the water’s edge closer to Hoards Station. Look carefully, a Blue Heron could be stalking quietly in the marsh ready to spear a meal.

Better yet is the meal you’ll smell cooking if you paddle by Chubby’s Restaurant on County Road 8 at Hoards Station before dinner time. You'll definitely want to make that dinner reservation well ahead of your paddle. Take note that this is the only spot you can disembark along the river.

Farther north, beyond Chubby’s, you’ll pass under the County Road 8 bridge. From there, you'll paddle under the Trans Canada Trail wooden bridge and pass more rolling farmland and turtles napping on driftwood. Another 1.5kms north, roughly, there will be a shallowing of water before Barrett Road where you’ll need to turn back.

Hoards Station – a bustling area in the 1800s

The area was first known as Allandale, named after Thomas Allan, an early pioneer and British naval officer, who opened up a grist mill. In 1834, the name changed to Hoards Station in honour of the Hoard family, United Empire Loyalist settlers.

By the 1880s, a hotel, post office and railway station were built.   

This was an important spot for the trains to pull in (4 passenger trains daily). Hoards had the only pumping station between Peterborough and Belleville where the steam engine took on its supply of water. This train stop was close to the grist mill which made the grain, bone meal and sawing lumber easy to ship.

Two general stores, a blacksmith shop and a cheese factory (now Chubby’s Restaurant) were other industries in the area at the time.

The Hoards Station Livestock Barn (about 1.5km west of Chubby’s) was established in the mid 1900s and is still busy today. Visit on a Tuesday when you can sit next to a local farmer and watch him bid on cows, pigs, and goats. Local service clubs will serve you a meal at the barn that will take you back to the diner era, eating home-cooked meals at the counter. If you really want to take part in the culture of Hoards Station, you don't want to miss this stop.

*Summarized from Gleanings: A history of Campbellford-Seymour