A very good friend of mine was on his first Algonquin canoe trips as an infant, held in his mothers' arms in the bow while his dad paddled them around. 

So, a couple of things, obviously you've got a lot of safety concerns to address, not the least of which is bugs if you are trying this time of year - and if you are I'd really think about pushing to later in the summer. 

Having said that, Magnetawan to Hambone might be nice.   There are a handful of campsites on that lake.  The portage is very short, and the two lakes are small.  If you needed to bug out quickly, you could, and if you had to make seventeen trips on the portage as the Sherpa-dad, you can....and will....and it won't take very long.  You could day trip from Hambone easily enough to Ralph Bice or Acme or Magnetawan for that matter, just to paddle around, although Hambone is certainly a pretty enough lake to explore.  While it is a bit of a highway lake, nearly all of those traveler are heading to Bice, so the southern part of Hambone should be pretty quiet. 

That's what I'd think about anyway.  I'm sure you know you won't get anywhere remote in this instance, but that's probably not the goal here anyway.

I'm sure you are all over this already, but safety first for the little one! 

 

I don't know where you are coming from but when we went with our infant last year we had to consider the driving time, which greatly influences the access point. Our little one was only napping for ~3 hours at a time in the car and she tends to get unhappy with too much awake time while strapped into the car seat. A 4 month old should be able to sleep for longer. You may consider Canisbay Lake for a paddle in or if you don't mind the longer lake travel then go in at Rock and camp on Pen.

Another option, though it might be hard to find one still available, is an interior cabin. There are a select few that are at or near access points and these might be a little easier with the young one. I have a 10 month old and don't think I could manage her in the backcountry, so you have my respect!

Best of luck Ron (sincerely).  We tried some backcountry with our young kids for a while but it was just too much work and worry for me.  Seemed like i was putting in about 400% effort for my children who were oblivious.  And because of the effort it was tougher to enjoy.  Reverted to car camping for a while and am now just easing the family back in to canoe camping.  Thing is, as they get older the kids really like the interaction we tend to want to avoid.  Biking around the Rock Lake site B and swimming at the beaches and talking to other kids tended to be highlights - mixed in with some campfires and hikes and paddles.
Also comes down to child/adult ratio too I expect.

If you're coming from the east, Grand Lake has some nice easily accessible sites and is usually not booked up - also an easy an paddle back for running water.  Rock Lake is ok but tends to have the odd camp bear (Rosie) which is kind of the last thing you need.  Pen might be an option if you don't mind portaging a playpen : )  

ed. sorry noticed after posting that this is a bit of an old thread.

Last edited by GordK (7/09/2019 10:26 pm)