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4. River Walk
This is the river walk. It is designed to replicate the Coulonge River and shows the different lakes further up the Coulonge that were used in the log drives. The distance timber traveled from the head waters of the Coulonge at Lac Grand to the Ottawa River at Davidson, Quebec, was approximately 150 miles (225 km).
The first log drives on the Coulonge River began in the 1800's. Various companies were involved in logging on the Coulonge including, Bronson's, Bryson's, Fraser's, Gillies Bros., E.B.Eddy, McLaren, and R.W. Wright. The timbers floated were all soft woods, white pine, red pine and spruce in lengths of 16ft (5 M) or 60ft (18 M) squared timbers. The hard woods did not float and subsequently were left on the forest floor.
The log drive started on Lac Pomponne. The logs were dumped on the ice during the winter months and with the coming of spring and the melting of the ice, the logs were on their way. It would take 7 to 8 days to reach the mill in Davidson. The log drive usually started in April and ended in late July or early August
