east of north bay, highway 17 meets highway 94, thereafter travelling alongside the mattawa river to its confluence with the ottawa river in mattawa, where it meets highway 533 at a roundabout. the highway then parallels the ottawa river through a mountainous region, first passing through the villages of stonecliffe and rolphton before arriving in deep river, a planned community developed as part of the manhattan project. it then passes through chalk river and enters canadian forces base petawawa.