St. Malo Lake - Rat River Tubing

River tubing is a fun way to relax and enjoy nature and the company of friends. In Manitoba we have so many great little rivers!

I've heard about the Rat River as a good river to float along but I didn't know the details of where was a good place to start or stop. Not knowing is a bit of adventure.

We drove down to St. Malo Provincial Park, went past the park and turned left on to Gosselin Road and then another left on to Lambert Street following the river. These are gravel roads but they were fine bike on. We followed Lambert Street and turned slightly left past a broken down barn were there is a two lane bridge. When we got there, there was another set of cars so we knew we were in the right spot. As well we could see a short well worn path to the river. Here I left my partner to setup the tube while I drove back and parked at the Province (which I don't recommend) and to bike back along the same way we had drove. Round trip it took me less than 20 minutes to drive and then bike back to the spot where we were setting up. At the launch site there is a metal post that you can lock your bike up to.

We hopped into the tubes and up we flowed. The river winded along which was nice and takes you along many peoples backyards. The river was flowing very nicely and there were even a number of rapids that tubes had no trouble with and were fun to go over. We saw a number of pretty birds and a turtle (beware they snap). As we got closer to the lake the river became slower, wider and marshier. We use our hands to paddle and a stick that we picked up to help us push are way around rocks and trees.

The river empties into the St. Malo lake and if you haven't been there (like myself) it a marshier area. So with our stick and hands we paddled along as we were going very slow with the reeds. The wind came up and it was making little waves. We went left (rather than right) and found we could go no further with the wind the way it was and lack of paddles. Unfortunately, we were very optimistic that we would reach the park and the car where we left our shoes which was a problem as we ended the float on the other side of the lake and now were walking back bare foot on the road during dusk or on the grass. The mosquitoes a were loving us at this point. Lucky for us a very nice conservation officer drove by and gave us a lift back to the car. 

On our way back to pick up my bike we looked for a better spot to end at which was the exact opposite of where this float ended. This spot looked to be a bit of a boat launch and a swimming hole. Next time we are going to end the float there rather than trying to circumnavigate the half of the St. Malo lake in a tube.



   


Estimate float time - 1.5 hours

Equipment:
- River Tubes or a good inner tube
- Rope to tie tubes together
- Cooler that can float
- Stick or paddle
- Water shoes
- Bug spray