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Looking for route recommendations
returning to Algonquin for another backcountry canoeing trip. last year me and the buds did 3 nights in the barron canyon route and it was superb. couple decent sized portages and plenty of canoeing. We are now amateur caneoists, hikers, backcountry campers (some of us are semi pros). not just from that last trip either. 5 guys will be going again.we are based in kingston. I'd say we would want to avoid the busy areas as we are going on May long, but we can put some serious distance in so we can get away. 3 nights and 4 full days. We are bringing 2 vehicles. A nice campsite with a view for atleast 1 night would be great..Last time we were at a new campsite every night and we are okay with doing that again.
I am considering the Pet river from traver's to mcmanus. however we have never white water canoed/rafted thus would be skipping the more serious rapids. and doings lot of gear portages coupled with the spring water levels.
A tim river loop would be great but I really don't think we have the time. it would be a shame to drive all the way there and just go from tim to rosebury lake and back. really wanna get all the way to shippagew
another is smoke-ragged-cache-smoke route which seems interesting.
why can't i have the views of the natch with the winds of the tim and the conveince of the smoke lake access
any help would be appreciated.
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if you're looking for something off the Smoke Lake access a loop down through Ragged/Big Porc to Louisa then up to Head/Harness and back to Smoke via Cache/Tanamakoon would be a decent 3 night trip. Louisa has great views, harness too. Drawback is that it would probably be busy over the long weekend.
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AlgonquinLakes wrote:
if you're looking for something off the Smoke Lake access a loop down through Ragged/Big Porc to Louisa then up to Head/Harness and back to Smoke via Cache/Tanamakoon would be a decent 3 night trip. Louisa has great views, harness too. Drawback is that it would probably be busy over the long weekend.
^ Adding to that, Louisa has one of my personal favorite campsites, midway through the lake, south shore, little cliff site. 10/10 breathtaking view.
I only saw half the sites on Harness when I camped there last year, but I think Head would be a better choice. The little cliff site by the falls has a nice view, and there are a couple other decent sites as well.
Something like Smoke --> Little Coon/McGarvey --> Louisa --> Head --> Smoke seems like it could fit what you're looking for. The Skymount lookout off of Cache also has a nice view and is only a short detour, if you were willing to put in the extra time on that day.
As AlgonquinLakes mentioned though, you'd be camping on some pretty busy lakes, but camping on Little Coon or McGarvey on the first night would help for at least one of your nights.
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Thanks for the suggestions, anything helps. Will review them on jeff's map.
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The May long weekend isn't as crazy as other long weekends. Black flies (maybe), unpredictable weather and cold water help thin the crowds.
As others have said, Louisa is a beautiful lake. Instead of going in through Smoke you could go through Rock and do the 'classic' Louisa - Harry - Welcome - Pen loop, and maybe pop down into Clydegale for a night depending on how booked the lakes are.
You could also take the Opeongo water taxi, which is a great way to get deep into the park quickly, then either do a loop through Happy Isle / Otter Slide / Big Trout (if you're lucky maybe you can book Shippagew, although that's probably unlikely for the May long weekend), or a longer loop through Happy Isle / Merchant / Big Trout / La Muir / Hogan / Big Crow / Proulx.
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Another option if you're looking for some easy whitewater would be cedar-wendigo lake with a car left at wendigo.
And perhaps my favourite route I've done was the big crow lavielle loop. Water taxi to Proulx Lake portage, camp the First night on big crow, second night on lavielle and third on opeongo and paddle out early in the morning to beat the wind. Biggest problem with that route is the dickson bonfield portage, flat but very long and buggy. It took us 1hr40mins to complete on a single carry. As you've probably heard Dickson and the end of Lavielle connecting to Dickson has blue green algae so don't drink the water or eat the fish there if you go. It's an unfortunate situation but it didn't stop us from enjoying the route when we went.
Last edited by Lenny (3/15/2017 11:16 am)
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***Update**
Going for 4 nights now, Reckon we can do the Tim river trip with this change in itinerary?? also not certain if that opens up new areas/routes.
Thank you all for your input.
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One night/two days on the Tim River is all you need to travel it in either direction, including at spring flood levels. A nice loop is to go up or down the Petawawa through Big Trout
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