Hayes River

The Hayes River is the newest addition to the Canadian Heritage River System. While paddling the Hayes you are experiencing a piece of Canada’s fur trade and immigration history.

Like the colourful figures that have explored Canada’s north, the Hayes changes personality many times; from a spirited river with pool and drop rapids to a great northern river, characterised by steep gravel banks and long continuous Class I-II rapids.

The Hayes flows into the Hudson’s Bay where the oldest trading post in Western Canada, York Factory, is situated. No other river in Western Canada offers the history and unspoiled-remoteness of the Hayes River.

When you explore the Hayes you are stepping back in time and following the paddle strokes of early explorers and fur traders.