Ontario Wilderness: Leading with Confidence, Learning through Adventure

Join us for a 32-day journey down the beautiful Dumoine and Petawawa Rivers.

This isn’t just a trip, but a life-changing expedition that will develop your leadership skills and teach you the fundamentals of wilderness expeditions.

You’ll improve your paddling skills and gradually take the lead in more challenging situations as you conquer rapids and participate in group activities with your fellow adventurers. By the end of this expedition, you’ll not only be a proven leader, but you’ll have made lifelong friendships and memories you’ll never forget.

Area & activities

The course begins at Outward Bound Canada’s wilderness base in Kinark, ON, where you’ll meet your group, learn basic paddling techniques, and prepare to explore the rivers. You’ll spend the first part of the trip on the Dumoine River, then your group will return to the base to replenish supplies and head to the Petawawa River for the final part of the adventure.

As you explore these stunning rivers with your group, you’ll learn and improve paddling techniques and rescue methods, and gain valuable skills such as map reading and navigation, camping knowledge, Leave No Trace ethics, and the art of teamwork and leadership.

Don’t worry about gear: we have everything you need for the expedition, and you can also borrow personal items from our gear library if needed.

Learning Outcomes

Our expert instructors will guide you through unique challenges that require your group to work together to solve problems, reflect on your journey, and discuss how to apply your skills and what you’ve learned when you return home. The course is designed to have a lasting and measurable impact in three key areas:

• Improved resilience – Improve your mental and physical health and learn how to overcome challenges to succeed.
• Better leadership and teamwork skills – Learn the skills you need to succeed in school, work and life by becoming more confident, cooperative and a respectful team member.

Stronger connection to nature – Develop a lifelong relationship with nature.