Crooked Slide Park

Constructed during the early 1900s, this lumber chute was used to bypass areas of the river and creek during logging operations. This was done to prevent log jams along Byers Creek, a waterway filled with various bends. 

The lumber would float from the Barry’s Bay area of the region down the Madawaska River. They would then be received at the mills, processed, and sent to the market.

Working in the lumber industry during this period was difficult and dangerous work, as the risk of drowning or severe injury were a daily reality. The chute would carry the logs around 2,200 feet down the flume before they took a 10-foot plunge into the water. 

The acres the park and chute were constructed on were donated by the Murray Bros. Lumber Company. Over its lifetime. the chute has been restored twice, once in 1973, then again in 1994.

A trip to Crooked Slide Park is a journey to an era long gone.