Vitals
- Locale: Sainte Adele, Quebec
- What It's Like: An excellent section of pool-drop whitewater - the best in the area.
- Class: IV-V
- Scouting/Portaging: Easy.
- Level: Use the gauge on the Du Nord to predict flows.
- Time: 2-3 hours.
- When To Go: Spring or after a big rainfall.
- Info From: Many runs.
- Other Beta: None.
- Map: Click here for a map of the shuttle.
Description
This page was last updated in January 2010 and it is not regularly maintained. Information may be inaccurate.
Here is some quick information about the Doncaster in the Laurentians north of Montreal. It is a very nice run, one of the best river running experiences in the area.
There is no gauge on the Doncaster. The level can be correlated to any of the gauges on the Du Nord - we prefer to use this gauge that corresponds to the level on the nearby class IV-V section of the Du Nord. If the Du Nord is over 20 cms the Doncaster should be running at a medium-low level. We've run the Doncaster when this gauge reads up to 40 cms, which was a high level. It is possible that the Du Nord will run and the Doncaster stays too low, however if the Doncaster is running so should be the Du Nord, so you might as well run them both on the same day. Keep in mind that this is a correlation, not an exact level - the exact level requires visual inspection.
The Doncaster is very close to the town of Sainte Adele, about 1 hour north of Montreal. From highway 15, take exit 67 to Sainte Adele. At the top of the ramp take a right turn onto a bridge over the Du Nord River. Follow this road over the bridge and through town until you reach a T-intersection with Rue Rolland, where you will turn left. Follow Rue Rolland north. The take out is found by taking a left on Chemin Des Rapides. Follow this road to the bottom of the hill. The take out is not obvious - to get up from the water you follow a set of stairs up from the river and along a private drive - at the time of writing the property owner didn't mind this as long as you're quiet and respectful.
Continue north on Rue Rolland to get to the put in. You can drop in to the Parc Doncaster (it's well signed) to get a visual on the level if you like - some of the big rapids are just upstream of the park along a well used trail. When Rue Rolland meets Chemin Des Hauteurs, take a left. When the river is right along the road - it will be flat here - park and put in.
The Doncaster is largely pool drop greatness with some short boogie sections. There will be a couple of slides and a section of class III followed by a short pond. At the end of the pond the river begins to funnel down again - move carefully here if you don't know the run, and if you can't see your next eddy, scout. This section ends with a 10 foot drop into a horribly backed up hole. There is a fair sized eddy on the left about 100 m upstream to scout and/or stage your portage. Our crew calls this drop the Madman.
More pool drop continues, followed by a great section of boogie down to the Parc Doncaster. Past the Parc there are 2 more major rapids and a few smaller ones. If the water is high there will be some monstrous holes down here. After the rapid with the big diagonal hole at the bottom there will be a short pool followed by some class II-III. As this calms down you will see the stairs on the left that will take you back up to your car. And, since you're here, you might as well dart over and run the Du Nord as well!
Dan Drost running a typical Doncaster rapid.
Updated Jan 14, 2010
