French River Provincial Park

French River Provincial Park is an Ontario provincial park that protects sections of the French River waterway between Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay. The park is designated to conserve both natural and cultural features along the river corridor.

The park is used primarily for paddling and boating, with routes that pass through channels, islands, and rapids and that provide numerous backcountry campsites. Visitors use the area for canoe trips, fishing, wildlife viewing, and shoreline exploration.

The river has long-standing importance for Indigenous peoples and was later a key route in the North American fur trade, and the park preserves multiple heritage features associated with that history.

Geographically, the park follows stretches of the French River in central-eastern Ontario, between the Lake Nipissing area and the eastern edge of Georgian Bay, accessible from communities along Highway 69/69A and side roads into river launch points.

• Historic significance: The river corridor has a long history of Indigenous use and was a major travel and trade route during the fur-trade era, so many cultural sites and historic portages appear along routes.

What to See #

• Waterway corridor: A protected waterway corridor that includes channels, islands, and rocky shorelines used by paddlers and recreational boaters.
• Canoe routes and campsites: Backcountry campsites and portage routes that support multi-day canoe trips and shoreline camping within the park boundary.