The Portage Dam and Second Bridge Sites were documented as part of a collaborative project by Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Dokis First Nation to restore the historic Voyageur Trail, a portage on the French River. Before the railways, the canoe was the fastest way to transport goods and people, and the French River was part of an extensive trade and travel network. Native people used the route for at least a millennium, Samuel de Champlain and Etienne Brule traveled it in 1615, and later, countless explorers and fur traders made use of the river to access Lake Huron and points west. Survey and test excavations of the portage revealed evidence of precontact, historic Aboriginal, and EuroCanadian occupations spanning at least 2900 years, from ca. 900 B.C. to the 20^th century. The survey also re-discovered and documented two chaudieres, circular depressions in the bedrock of spiritual significance to the Dokis people. The project catalogued the cultural resources around the Voyageur Trail and contributed to planning for its restoration. It has also added to our knowledge about past uses of the French River, by giving us glimpses into these temporary trade-route camps.