North Magnetawan 221 - Burk's Falls, ON - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

At mile marker 173.96 from Toronto (59.96 on the original Huntsville Sub) in the village of Burk's Falls is the only bridge on the line that crosses the north branch of the Magnetawan river. This bridge is a steel 5 panel riveted Pratt through truss style with stone abutments. It is listed in the 1907 Grand Trunk Railroad Buildings & Bridges Inventory as bridge number 221 with a single span of 123 feet eight inches and was built in 1895. The south abutment looks like it has had some concrete work done but the north abutment still looks original. There is a pile of forming material stacked on the northwest side so it seems the north abutment may get some work soon. I was lucky enough to arrive at the viewing coordinates just as CN 2993 was making a crossing.

^{With information from cnr-in-ontario.com and railwaypages.com}

The coordinates N45° 37.844 W079° 24.448 were taken about 15m west of the bridge from an old portage trail along the river.

Access

To access the bridge, make your way down Highway 520 in the village of Burk's Falls, Ontario with your paddle craft stowed. Just past the Rotary Parkette there is a widened shoulder at N45° 37.330 W079° 24.622 and a gravel path to a culvert on the river. I launched just north of the path under the Ontario Street bridge. A 900m paddle will bring you to what looks like an old portage trail at the foot of the rapids. A short 165m hike will take you to a spot where the bridge can be viewed.