Located along the shores of Little Lake in Peterborough, is the new Canadian canoe museum. After years of anticipation, the museum is now open!
The museum celebrates the deep link of Canada with canoeing and how the sailing of our country connects us all. Inside, you will find 100% of the museum collection, which totals more than 600 canoes and motorcycles driven to the paddle.
After spending almost a full day to explore the Canadian canoe museum, I think it’s an essential visit! It is much more than a museum on canoes. The museum is a beautiful mixture of history and art museum. You will discover the evolution of the culture of canoeing by starting with indigenous peoples thanks to modern use.
Beyond the vast collection, the museum offers visitors a variety of unique experiences. Bring to water for a paddle aboard a traveler canoe or learn and learn to develop a paddle. In addition, the museum goes beyond its walls to allow an interior and exterior exploration. With the exhibition hall and the coffee inside, the museum houses a campus by the water which encourages visitors to arrive in the paddle in their location welcoming by the water.
In this Canadian Canadian guide to the Canadian Museum, I share all the reasons why you should visit, what to expect, as well as all the incredible things to do at the museum. Even as a person who is not a paddle, I strongly recommend visiting the new Canadian canoe museum. Its entirely immersive space allows you to connect to the history of canoe in Canada and learn how they have shaped the country in an authentic and engaging way. In addition, the endearing stories behind each canoe will affect your heart and give them life.
Where is the new canoe museum?
The New Canadian Canoe Museum is along the shores of Little Lake in the city of Peterborough. The address is 2077 Ashburnham Drive.
What does the presentation of the Canadian canoe museum present?
The Canadian canoe museum has more than 600 canoes and kayaks from Canada and around the world. Among the different motorcycles, you will also find paddles and accessories. More importantly, the museum presents the stories of each canoe, people who built them to those who haveaded them.
Things to do at the canadian canoe museum
Discover the exhibition hall
As one of Best places to visit in PeterboroughThe Canadian Canoe Museum offers a richness of history and culture under one roof. An ideal first stop when you arrive at the museum is the main exhibition hall.
The Canadian canoe museum has more than 100 canoes and kayaking in its new 20,000 square feet on the second floor. As the doors approaches, you will find fresh cedar branches on the handles. This is one of the many intentional details that you will find throughout and help honor the indigenous peoples whose land the museum is now standing.
As soon as you enter the exhibition hall, your senses will come to life with the sounds of birds and water. It is a multi-sensory space with a number of interactive elements. These include headphones at various points of interest where you will hear stories, sometimes directly people who had canoeing.
One of the coolest interactive elements that gave me chills was the whispered paddle. As soon as I put my ear at the paddle, it seems to be held in the water, I could hear whales. This piece reflects how the Inuit listen to animals underwater when they hunt.
Some out -of -competition canoes to look for:
- “Eagle” Haida Dugout by Victor Adams
- Canoeing of the Bill Mason prospector
- Gordon LightFoot Canari -yellow canoeing
Funny fact: The museum now has a new name from Anishnabemowin, Jiimaan Kinomaagewin. This translates to a loose way by “a place of learning in canoeing for all”. In addition, signaling throughout the museum is in Anishnaabomowin, in English and French.
Browse the collector’s room
Then go down to cover the large collector’s room. This 20,000 square feet space allows the museum to host 100% of the on -site collection.
The collection room is a two -story room with canoes, kayaks and other motoromarines stacked in an expert manner. Inside, you will find everything, canoes of birch bark, some dating from hundreds of years to canoes belonging to famous Canadians like Farley Mowat.
In addition to Canadian crafts, the collection also includes pieces from around the world. Two rooms in the collector’s room, which marked me understood one in Papua New Guinea and one from Senegal.
However, the one who pulled the most on my heart was the canoe of Farley Mowat, who is one of my favorite authors. He gave his beloved Robin Egg Blue Blue Peterborough in canoeing wood at the Canadian canoe museum in 2006. He was 16 feet long and was built in 1922 in Peterborough.
Make a guided tour of the Canadian canoe museum
One thing that I strongly recommend to do is to make a guided tour of the Canadian canoe museum. You will learn much more than the panels and information panels have on them.
Guided tours of the Canadian Canadian museum take place daily in the morning and take about an hour and a half. Group sizes are capped at 10 to allow an intimate experience where you can ask questions.
Guided tours, known as DIVE DIVE diving, are given by competent doctors. The guests of the tour will intend to talk about interesting information behind the scenes as well as the stories behind the canoes of the collection.
One thing to note is that visits to the Deep Dive exhibition are additional costs in addition to the museum’s entry ticket.
However, the museum also organizes free visits! The visits to the Speedy Paddler exhibition are an overview of the collection and its stories. These visits also take place daily and take about 20 minutes. But they are complementary with your museum admission ticket.
Discover a canoe visit
The best thing to do at the Canadian canoe museum is to experience a canoe tour. Get out on the water in an iconic traveler canoe.
Traveler canoe visits take visitors to Little Lake and the nearby navigable lanes. These guided tours are ideal for everyone, whether you are a passionate paddler or have no experience. The guides share the history of these canoes as well as the way the padyers are unique.
There are two traveler canoes at the Canadian canoe museum, 25 feet and 36 feet. One thing to know when booking the tour is that there are a minimum number of people who must be encountered to make the visits.
In addition to being able to arrive in canoeing, thanks to their location on the campus by the water, the museum offers rentals of kayak and canoeing. Remember to rent a canoe and obtain a new perspective from the museum, water.
Workshop
Another of the many unique things to do at the Canadian canoe museum is participating in a workshop. The museum has a variety of workshops that allow you to enjoy practical experience.
The eager paddles will love the workshop of the sculpture paddle. During this workshop, you will learn how to create a paddle with traditional hand tools. The workshop managers guide you through each stage of the process.
There are workshops that range from the repair of canoeing to cooking on a fire as well as others linked to the outside. In addition, new ones will be added. Make sure to check their List of workshops regularly.
Take advantage of the coffee on site
Inside the Canadian canoe museum is a fabulous coffee, Silver Bean Café. This is the second location of the coffee. The first is on the other side of Little Lake, near the city center.
The Silver Bean Café is known as one of the best cafes in Peterborough. It is therefore not surprising that the museum has associated themselves with them to offer customers a place to update.
Silver Bean Café offers an excellent locally roasted coffee with other hand -made espresso drinks. You will also want to try their tasty internal desserts or one of their sensational sandwiches.
Enjoy a bite to eat and a coffee in the museum atrium, where coffee is. There are a number of tables as well as a comfortable sofa and comfortable chairs to sit, which are perfectly placed in front of a large stone chimney. Or take your treats and enjoy a picnic by the water.
In addition to being available for museum lovers, coffee is open to the community to come and enjoy without admission to the museum.
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When you are looking for things to do in Peterborough, visit the Canadian canoe museum should be at the top of this list. The museum is an ideal first stop to explore nature, culture, history and community in one place. Whether you are a seasoned or simply curious pedicler to dig into the intriguing stories of canoeing culture in Canada and beyond, the museum promises an unforgettable experience.
Warning: I was a guest of Peterborough and Kawarthas and the Canadian canoe museum, but all the opinions expressed are mine.
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