Portage is the carrying of goods or boats overland between two bodies of water, or around some obstacle such as a waterfall or river rapids. The term portage is also used for the land route over which the goods are carried. Native Americans of North America traveled long distances by portaging between rivers and lakes. The people traveled as far upstream as their boats could go. They then carried their canoes and goods overland to the next stream or lake, where they resumed the trip by water.
