I avoid sand as much as possible when camping. It gets in everything. A nice big rock point with deep water next to it is best. The rock warms up and stays warm in the evening. Ragged (from Smoke) has some nice rocky points, though not really deep. 

jkurylo wrote:

Good suggestion, thank-you! I was thinking of doing a loop around Smoke Lake through Bonnechere, and spending some time at Head Lake. The map shows some water falls which could be nice 

The falls on Head Lake tend to be pretty dry during the summer, but if you're already on the lake it will still be worth checking out.

Bonnechere is a pretty lake with great campsites, but only a few are ideal for swimming/sunbathing, so in mid-August it will be busy and you'll be rolling the dice.

A different option you can consider would be Rock > Pen or Clydegale > Welcome > Louisa > back to Rock

It's 3 nights but you can take rest days if you're planning a longer trip.

Pen has plenty of nice sites, a lot of which offer good swimming. Clydegale is my preference though, there's great swimming and sunbathing on the two northern sites, and the southern island has a beach landing. Welcome has a handful of large beach sites so obviously good for swimming and sunbathing there. And Louisa has a lot of campsites with rocky points that also offer the same swimming/sunbathing opportunities.

I have tons of pictures and campsite reports for all of the lakes in the area (your original idea Smoke to Head and the route I suggested). Feel free to take a look algonquinbeyond.com