We just did access point 4 rain lake, to Islet lake, about 8 km , 2 portages 455m and 700m and they were honestly quite nice and pleasent, Islet lake most sites are really well maintained and great, the booking site allows 3 bookings and it has 6 or 7 sites, so no issue finding a site and it's a small lake.

But yea any of the access points out of Kearney (easy access from GTA) 3 4 and 2 are recommended as they have tons of nice sites and nice lakes with nice paddles in depending on how much work you want to put in.

Both sound good. Just anywhere that's not too crowded (though I don't mind canoers or campsites nearby so long as I can't constantly hear them from my campsite). North Tea was completely booked when I went, but it was such a huge lake that other people disturbing us was not an issue, even though my campsite was a 2 minute walk from a hike trail.

But yeah, these look good. Basically anything without leeches , ideally nice rocky shore or sand to sunbath on, flat-ish campsites, good scenery, open view.

not sure where you are coming from but Big Crow offers a lot ... there's a river just off of it, lots of nice sites, and options for moose along the crow heading back to little crow/proulx ... easy portage ...

but take the taxi ...  

dontgroandaddy wrote:

As fate would have it I was at both Islet and Booth this year.  Both are nice lakes to paddle around and explore.  Islet has great proximity to one of the hiking trails.  Booth has the Creek.  Islet has a short easy portage to Weed Lake.  Booth has a couple of bays and big islands.  The carries in are a little bit easier from Shall to Booth than from Rain to Islet (that 840 meter one starts out with a big stairway and has a rock-hop of consequence in the middle, but nothing that would make me think twice about that route).  Fishing good on both, but I can't remember the dates you said you were going, you might be post-season at that point, may not be a factor.  Swimming ok on both, as far as I know the leech population isn't out of control.   I haven't looked at all of the campsites by a longshot, but in general, I think Booth has the better grouping of campsites.  Many of them face south and/or west, which is nice for sunsets.  A couple of the campsites on Booth have very close proximity to very high rocky plateaus that would be fun to sit on and take in the world.  Both lakes have a large island that has only one campsite on it if that floats your boat (I like islands, not everybody does). 

Actually, as I think of it, I submitted trip reports for both trips, so if you look those up, you'll see some photos that might tip the scales for you to like one area over the other.  I dunno, the photography wasn't that great.....   

Thanks, read your Booth trip. Booth sounds good, and looks nice, and is very accessible within a short time, which is what we're looking for. The pictures look good--I suppose North Tea looks more majestic due to its size, but North Tea, or at leas the site we were at, had 0 mosquitos, which was great. I've never had luck with mosquitos, so this part of my last trip was a blessing (most of the rest of it was a semi-disaster!).

The park will me mostly empty...not even comparable to July/August levels.  

It will also likely be cool and damp...you'll want to bath in the sun just for the warmth if it shows up.  

Bugs will be mostly a distant memory.

Essentially, you'll find there is a very different character to the park compared to what you experienced on your first trip.

I returned from shall lake access point about 2 weeks ago. It's a ways past the eastern gate, about 45 minute drive. many sites on crotch lake are exactly what you are looking for. They are large with sandy beaches, no leeches, about 20 minute paddle from car parking, no portaging at all.
But, I would highly recommend you buy several bags of firewood in Whitney at the grocery store. A half a minute to the right of the LCBO on Hwy 60. Bags are large, and have pine/hardwoods mix. Much better and larger then park bags.
There is little wood to be found on the sites.
Ofcourse, booth is an option too,