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This spring I'm taking my oldest son and father to Rosebary lake for a 3 day adventure. It'll be both my son and fathers first time in the interior. I myself have never used access 2 (Tim River) but talking with people on my trip last year (Access 3) all had very good things to say about the Tim and Rosebary lake. Many assured me the wildlife viewing is fantastic.
The second day of the trip we plan on doing some exploring. I've heard the moose viewing on Longbow is very good, which I plan on testing. I've also read the large beach on Rosebary is worth checking out. I'm sure my son will enjoy that.
I was wondering if there was anything else in the area (Tim river or surrounding lakes) that was worth checking out?
I chose this route based on the lack of portages (1) because I'll be carrying everything minus a day bag my son will carry. We plan on staying both nights on Rosebary so once we setup camp doing additional portages to
Check the surroundings out is no issue.
Any tips, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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The beach is between the two northmost campsites on Rosebary, so if you're lucky/arrive early you might get one of those.
Haven't been on Longbow so I can't comment on the moose there but the Tim River itself is pretty good for moose, so keep your voices down while en route. I've also seen otters in Little Butt.
I suppose another day trip option would be going further down the Tim to see the the falls at the Queer portage.
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I did this trip in September of 2015. I stayed a few days on Tim lake, then on to Rosebary. It did not go as expected. The campsites on the island in Tim lake had not a stitch of camp firewood anywhere. Thankfully we had brought a bag of wood from Algonquin park, so we were oke. The first campsite you see on the island coming out of the river is a bit of a windtunnel, maybe nice in hot weather, but not a good spot in cool weather. We checked out all the rest of the sites, many were a bit of a walk and/or slightly uphill. The site on the east side of the island was well protected from the winds (that's the one we picked), nice low entrance from the water, easy to unload, room for 2 canoes. Sun until afternoon.
But the trip to Rosebary was rather difficult for us.
-short portage has a steep descent, going back up was an issue for us ( were older)
-river behind portage had 6 beaver dams to cross. As water was high, you either got. On the dam or try to get around it, but river edges is a floating Mat, so hard if you're to keep balance if you're not young
-north beach is indeed beautiful, is undeep for quite a few feet,sandy, but only one campsite near it. Beach would be great for child
-tip. Coming out if the river,( turn right , 3 campsites on Jeffs map) the 3rd campsite, although small, is grassy, and on the edge of a shallow sandy bay.
Beach only about 2 feet wide, but very good spot for swimming, undeep,sandy.and protected from wind ( not so the north beach)
And within site of campsite.
If you want pics let me know
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Oh , the David lake portage ( in the same sandy bay) is 3300meters, great path to hike on. Unfortunately, although we spent a week on Rosebary, we never saw any moose anywhere.
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Thanks Dan!
Your suggestion of heading down the Tim to check the falls at the queer lk portage is a great idea. My dad will want to snap some
Pics there I'm sure of that.
I passed through Queer lake on a trip last year and there was a calf and cow wading in the shallows by the portage to Little Misty (where we came from) but I was on my way to Ralph Bice & went through little trout If my memory serves me correctly.
I will do my best to keep my son quiet lol. He gets pretty excited when he's in the park (along the hwy 60 corridor). I'll make sure my old man is ready with the camera.
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To clarify, going to the waterfall I mentioned doesn't actually involve passing through Queer Lake... you go down the Tim River and there's a short portage around the falls, I just call it the Queer Lake portage because a much longer portage branches off it and goes to Queer Lake.
Around that waterfall -- not sure if before or right at it -- the river takes on a different look, with more sharply-defined banks lined with unusually large tamaracks, rather than the marshy form you'll have seen it in up until then.
Personally I didn't like the southwestern site on Rosebary when I was there. I liked the southeastern site fine, and I haven't made it to the northern beach site(s).
Is "undeep" the Newspeak term for shallow? I'll admit I'm a bit of an oldthinker, unbellyfeeling ingsoc...
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Tentsterforever,
Thanks for all the info. I had heard rumblings of the steepness of the portage, thanks for confirming.
I will be passing along the sites info to my dad and I'll let him take a pick and hope we get the one he wants.
I never thought to walk the portage to David creek, I may very well do that. On a previous thread on here (different trip) another member had mentioned that if we had time to check out David creek. For that trip we were staying on Ralph Bice and unfortunately we didn't make the trip up to David creek. The fact members keep mentioning it makes me personally think I shouldn't miss the opportunity this time around.
Also speaking to your point about the 6 beaver dams. I have read a couple trip reports and watched a video on the section between Tim lake and Rosebary and they all made mention of the numerous beaver dams. Always good to have an idea about what obstacles lay in wait.
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DanPM wrote:
To clarify, going to the waterfall I mentioned doesn't actually involve passing through Queer Lake... you go down the Tim River and there's a short portage around the falls, I just call it the Queer Lake portage because a much longer portage branches off it and goes to Queer Lake.
Around that waterfall -- not sure if before or right at it -- the river takes on a different look, with more sharply-defined banks lined with unusually large tamaracks, rather than the marshy form you'll have seen it in up until then.
Personally I didn't like the southwestern site on Rosebary when I was there. I liked the southeastern site fine, and I haven't made it to the northern beach site(s).
Is "undeep" the Newspeak term for shallow? I'll admit I'm a bit of an oldthinker, unbellyfeeling ingsoc...
Yes sorry I should've been more clear in my response. I understood you meant it wasn't on the way to Queer lake. I just wanted to put in my reply how much I enjoyed the lake when I passed through it.
My dad will want to check the waterfall and tamaracks out, I'm certain of that. I'm also certain he'll be happy we take the shorter portage to the falls.
Thanks again Dan
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A word on the David Cr portage. There is a bridge out that crosses a creek about 2/3 of the way from the David creek side that you would have to get across. It will cut your hike short if you can only get a km down the trail. We ran and jumped it and it was no problem, but its just a heads up if someone isn't able to do that.
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A word on the David Cr portage. There is a bridge out that crosses a creek about 2/3 of the way from the David creek side that you would have to get across. It will cut your hike short if you can only get a km down the trail. We ran and jumped it and it was no problem, but its just a heads up if someone isn't able to do that.
Ok, awesome that's good to know. Not sure my dad could do that but I can definitely do that.
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ChrismD: no, undeep in not newspeak, English Is a second language for me, and I didn't think of shallow. Sorry about that.
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ChrismD: no, undeep in not newspeak, English Is a second language for me, and I didn't think of shallow. Sorry about that.
No worries, I figured that's what you meant.
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I did that trip this past fall with my little guy (his first trip) and my dad ( ). It was an incredible experience for all of us and something very special to be able to do with three generations of family. We stayed on Tim Lake for the reasons you outlined as well. I think you guys will have an awesome time!
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Steve,
Thanks for posting a link to your trip report. I hope my son has as good a time as your did.
That smiles is what it's all about as a dad eh. My boy is pretty excited. He likes watching all the YouTube videos people do on their trips.
I think my dad is equally as excited 
In your report you mentioned about being too heavy in the water. This is my greatest fear lol. I myself pack on the lighter side but I plan on bringing extra gear and especially clothes for my son. I'm hoping he enjoys himself that he will want to always go back.
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Oh ya it was great seeing him so excited about being in the Park. My wife accuses me of brainwashing him into liking the outdoors but you can't fake those kinds of smiles
Ya we were REALLY bogged down when we first loaded the canoe. So much that I thought we were going to tip right off the dock at the access point. We took about two paddles and went straight back to the dock to unload some weight. It's hard with that extra person. I may look at renting a kayak or something next time so that we could stick with 2 in a canoe. In all honesty we're lucky that other couple was there to haul a couple bags for us otherwise we would have been stuck doing two trips back to the truck from our site. Even coming back on our last day was a bit dicey with the weight. Thankfully there was zero wind otherwise we would have had to make two trips again.
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Brainwashing lol that's funny.
My wife thinks I'm nuts for wanting to take my son but she also thinks I'm crazy for going into the interior without him.
Like you mentioned in your report, I plan on giving him tasks so he can help out. Like collecting firewood and laying out the sleeping bags in the tent, stuff like that.
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It's amazing to see how they can still have fun without their iPads and stuff!
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