1000 Islands Scenic Helicopter Tour from Gananoque

The heliport on the Thousand Islands Parkway

The flight begins at a small heliport beside the Thousand Islands Parkway, the scenic road that follows the north shore of the St. Lawrence River between Gananoque and Brockville. It is a few minutes' drive east of Gananoque and easy to find; the exact address is on your voucher. You arrive 20 minutes before your slot for check-in, weighing and a short safety briefing, then walk out to the helicopter with the pilot. Every passenger has a window seat and a headset to hear the commentary and talk to the pilot.

Many visitors ask whether a helicopter tour of the 1000 Islands is worth it compared with a boat cruise. The two are different: the boat shows the castles and cottages at close range, while the flight reveals the shape of the whole archipelago, the border winding between the islands and the deep blue of the river in a way nothing on the water can.

The Thousand Islands from the air

Within seconds of lift-off the islands spread out below you: hundreds of green dots and granite rocks scattered across the river from the Admiralty and Navy groups near Gananoque to the Lake Fleet islands further east. From a few hundred metres up you can see the channels, the shoals that are invisible from a boat, the boathouses and docks on almost every island and the summer cottages hidden under the pines. The pilot points out the international border, which weaves between the islands and places some only a stone's throw from the other country.

The Thousand Islands are the tops of an ancient granite ridge linking the Canadian Shield to the Adirondacks, and from above the pattern of the ridge is obvious. The best time to visit the 1000 Islands for a flight is a calm, clear day between late June and early October, when the water is deepest blue and the trees are full.

The Thousand Islands Bridge at Ivy Lea

On the 20-minute route the helicopter follows the river east to the Thousand Islands Bridge, the international crossing opened in 1938 that joins the Canadian mainland at Ivy Lea to Hill Island and then to Wellesley Island on the American side. From the air you see the whole span of the suspension bridge, the Canadian and American customs plazas, the Skydeck tower on Hill Island and the Parkway running along the shore, with the islands crowding the river on both sides.

The bridge is the gateway between the two halves of the region and the point where the river narrows into its busiest stretch of channels and cottages. It makes a dramatic turning point for photographs before the pilot banks towards Heart Island; on the 30-minute and 60-minute flights the route continues further downriver after the bridge.

Boldt Castle on Heart Island

The climax of the default flight is a circle over Boldt Castle, the six-storey stone mansion on Heart Island just across the border in New York State. It was begun in 1900 by George Boldt, the hotelier whose name it carries, as a gift for his wife, and left unfinished in 1904 when she died; restoration began in 1977 and the castle, its yacht house, power house tower and gardens are now open to visitors by boat. From the helicopter you see the heart-shaped outline of the island, the roofs and turrets of the main house, the Alster Tower and the formal gardens in a single frame that no ground-level visit can give.

Because the flight stays in the air, no passport or customs formalities are needed to see the castle. Boldt Castle tickets for a landing visit are a separate purchase from the American or Canadian side, and this flight is the ideal preview if you plan one.

Singer Castle and the river towns on the longer flights

If you choose the 30-minute flight, the route extends downriver to Dark Island and Singer Castle, the second great castle of the Thousand Islands, built between 1902 and 1905 for the president of a sewing-machine company in the style of a Scottish castle, complete with secret passages and a tower. The 60-minute flight goes further still, taking in both castles, the bridge, every main island group and the river towns on each shore, from Gananoque and Rockport in Canada to Alexandria Bay and Clayton on the American side.

The 10-minute flight is a quick introduction over the nearest islands and channels around Gananoque for those with limited time or younger children. All four options use the same heliport, the same window seats and the same multilingual commentary, so the choice is simply how much of the Thousand Islands you want to see from above.