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7/31/2020 1:16 pm  #1


Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

La Muir - Coming from the west, is it better to take a western site if available, or are there nicer sites in the east end worth paddling to? Obviously would like to avoid paddling to the east end and doubling back if the nicer sites are in the west.

Hogan - Same question as La Muir, coming from the west, is it worth taking an island site if available? I've seen a few pics, they looks alright. How are the sites in Parks Bay... worth paddling to?

I haven't had much luck finding pics of campsites for those lakes. I've seen the two islands on La Muir and I've seen the sites from Chris Prouse and Mark in the Park youtube videos.

Also if anyone wants to give their vote, if you had 6 nights between these lakes, how would you allocate? La Muir, Hogan, Catfish, Burntroot. I've camped on Burntroot before and really enjoyed it, but never been to the other three.

'm leaning towards La Muir x1 > Hogan x1 > Catfish x2 > Burntroot x2


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7/31/2020 1:58 pm  #2


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

I really like La Muir. IMO it has 5 nice sites and only 4 are bookable so you are guaranteed a good site.

The 2 sites on the point.. north shore are nice. Western one is the nicest on the lake. south shore below those is nice too.. Beach site by the otter camp is good and the far western point site if I recall is good too..

Hogan is a great lake but both times I have stayed there it has been really busy and the sites on the western half are close. I was on the wonderful island eastern side site once but you can hear the people on the nearby site. Totally ruins it for me. I avoid the lake now.. that said I know lots of people who love the lake.

Burntroot is great.. many nice sites I would spend 2 night there for sure. Catfish is too busy IMO and the sites show the heavy traffic. I avoid the lake if at all possible.. I'm going in Monday out of Brent and night 1 is Luckless not Catfish..


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

7/31/2020 5:46 pm  #3


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

All four lakes are beautiful. Catfish could easily become a zoo, while Hogan and  especially Burntroot are less traveled. But if you avoid lakes with closely set sites your choice in AP will be really limited. Many sites on Burntroot are further apart than some on Hogan and LaMuir, but not far enough if you have noisy neighbors.
 

 

7/31/2020 10:46 pm  #4


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

@Shawn, that's interesting thanks for the info. Trying to understand your breakdown of the sites, let me know if I've got this correct (using PCI numbering for reference)...

"The 2 sites on the point.. north shore are nice"
...#2 and #3?
Western one is the nicest on the lake. 
...#1, or #4?
south shore below those is nice too..
...#4 or #6?
Beach site by the otter camp is good
...#8?
and the far western point site if I recall is good too..
...#4, or did you mean eastern site #7?


Interesting that you say Hogan is busy, I would think the opposite since there's no real easy way in. Bing maps aerial view looks like the northwestern most site (the one with memorial plaque according to Jeff's maps) has a huge chunk of rock by the shoreline which is all I could ask for, but it seems risky to paddle all the way there... if the island is available it seems safer to snag that.

re Burntroot, I'm really leaning towards 2 nights there and I'm planning to come in from the north end since I stayed in the south last time... the only reason I would do 1 night would be to spend the extra night in 'new territory' (Catfish/La Muir/Hogan).

What's your route look like for the Monday trip? And how was the last trip you did a few weeks ago?


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7/31/2020 10:49 pm  #5


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

@Eddy, thanks for the info. I'm going mid September so I'm hoping that even Catfish won't be too busy, but you never know.

I don't mind close sites as much as some other people do.. I'm travelling solo so I keep extremely quiet, and after some long portages and far away from Hwy 60, I find if I do get neighbours, they're usually pretty quiet as well. Closer to Hwy 60 I'd be a bit more concerned.

I'm just happy if I find a spacious / open campsite with a chunk of rock by the water


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8/01/2020 6:40 am  #6


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

For La Muir I would go for the north western site on the point. Great beach landing, great site overall. As far as I'm concerned the rest on the lake aren't really worth mentioning. The Island site SUCKS.

For Hogan I would go with the Northern most island site. The other island site is nice as well but not as nice. Both have nice beach landings. The southern one is up on a bit of a hill with a great view.

I personally cannot stand Catfish Lake. As far as I am concerned every campsite sucks aside from the one up in the bay by the Luckless portage. I have camped on Catfish 10+ times in the last few years and have never had an issue with it being at all busy though. I think Unicorn hill turns most citiots off when starting from Brent (its really not hard at all). Also the last time I camped on Catfish (June this year) the logging road running along the North shore was HEAVILY USED and crazy loud. The 170m portage back to Brent crosses this road. I remember watching a log truck whiz by at 80+km/h when I did the portage.

You know how I feel about Burntroot. If a rock by the water is what you are after Anchor Island would be great or the northern most island which is very spacious with an amazing view. With the amount of days you have available I would maybe go up to Robinson or Whiskey Jack for a night...?  For whatever reason I find Robinson/WhiskeyJack/Remona to be a magical area. Everytime I pass through it just gives me this amazing vibe. 

Last edited by ATVenture (8/01/2020 6:45 am)

 

8/01/2020 7:19 am  #7


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

trippythings wrote:

@Shawn, that's interesting thanks for the info. Trying to understand your breakdown of the sites, let me know if I've got this correct (using PCI numbering for reference)...

"The 2 sites on the point.. north shore are nice"
...#2 and #3?  Yes
Western one is the nicest on the lake. 
...#1, or #4? Sorry i meant nicer of the 2 above..so number 2
south shore below those is nice too..
...#4 or #6? #6
Beach site by the otter camp is good
...#8? Yes 8
and the far western point site if I recall is good too..
...#4, or did you mean eastern site #7?
yes I mean 4

 
Hogan is just my experience. Although planning my trip this week coming both nights I looked it was fully booked. It was so busy the last time there people actually arrived in the dark and camped on the edge of our site while we were sleeping...so just bad experiences for me.

Upcoming trip I need to cut short unfortunately was gonna be 6 nights. Luckless plumb whiskey Jack Lamuir  Philip Radiant.

Likely just luckless plumb whiskey Jack and back out through catfish or around the nip.  Haven’t decided.

Last edited by ShawnD (8/01/2020 7:20 am)


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

8/01/2020 9:00 pm  #8


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

@ATV thanks for all that info. What do you like about the site in the bay to Luckless - is it just that it's secluded from the rest of the lake? 

I stayed on Anchor Island the one time I've been to Burntroot and loved the site. Since I'm planning on coming from the north I'd probably take a northern island site if available and spend a few hours paddling around that half of the lake.

I've had my eye on Whiskey Jack / Robinson before but I don't really have the extra days. My plan as of now is 10 nights starting from Canoe, so it's a pretty long trek to these lakes already and I'd like to keep 2 rest days as buffer since there might be some unforeseen surprises thrown my way with 11 days total.

I could start from Brent instead, which was my initial plan, but I liked the Canoe alternative because it's a significantly shorter drive, I get to avoid double-carrying Unicorn Hill (twice), and it gives me an excuse to camp on Big Trout again since I've only been there once. But I'm definitely still considering Brent in which case I would do something like: Catfish x2 > Robinson > Whiskey Jack or Remona > Burntroot x2 > La Muir > Hogan x2 > Catfish

Hmmm...


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8/01/2020 9:02 pm  #9


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

@Shawn thanks for clarifying re the sites. 

3 nights in the park is still better than no nights in the park I'm sure it will be a great trip, enjoy!


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8/02/2020 9:14 am  #10


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

trippythings wrote:

@ATV thanks for all that info. What do you like about the site in the bay to Luckless - is it just that it's secluded from the rest of the lake? 

I stayed on Anchor Island the one time I've been to Burntroot and loved the site. Since I'm planning on coming from the north I'd probably take a northern island site if available and spend a few hours paddling around that half of the lake.

I've had my eye on Whiskey Jack / Robinson before but I don't really have the extra days. My plan as of now is 10 nights starting from Canoe, so it's a pretty long trek to these lakes already and I'd like to keep 2 rest days as buffer since there might be some unforeseen surprises thrown my way with 11 days total.

I could start from Brent instead, which was my initial plan, but I liked the Canoe alternative because it's a significantly shorter drive, I get to avoid double-carrying Unicorn Hill (twice), and it gives me an excuse to camp on Big Trout again since I've only been there once. But I'm definitely still considering Brent in which case I would do something like: Catfish x2 > Robinson > Whiskey Jack or Remona > Burntroot x2 > La Muir > Hogan x2 > Catfish

Hmmm...

The Catfish site is not only secluded but has a great view with a nice rocky point.
If you start from Brent I would highly recommend taking the Nipissing back from Catfish. The big portage has no elevation change and is super easy. The river is a piece of cake all the way back to Cedar. If I start at Catfish at 8am and travel that way I'm back at the car by noon-1.

 

8/02/2020 9:57 am  #11


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

trippythings wrote:

@Shawn thanks for clarifying re the sites. 

3 nights in the park is still better than no nights in the park I'm sure it will be a great trip, enjoy!

 
4 nights Cody :-) and I changed my mind..doing a loop on the east side now through Greenleaf.


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

8/02/2020 10:15 am  #12


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

Thanks Andrew. That timing would be very wishful thinking for me with double-carrying lol

My bad Shawn, either way enjoy


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8/06/2020 9:09 am  #13


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

Here's a couple vids which might be of some use:
Skip to 13:30 here to see an island site on Hogan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVspcY2-h5E

La Muir site survey, basically agrees with everyone but has an in-depth look at what seems to be the popular site - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HQNCAGW_48
 

 

8/06/2020 12:13 pm  #14


Re: Lake La Muir and Hogan Lake Campsites

Thanks Ian, this is helpful. The sites on La Muir don't seem overly intriguing to me; the island on Hogan is something I would enjoy though.


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