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Hi there, I am new to this forum and looking for some information about the rail trail between Rain lake and Galeairy lake. My friend Mary and I are planning an 8 day hot tent trip crossing the park snowshoeing the old rail trail with pulk sleds. We know the trail will be clear (minimal deadfall) from Cache Lake to Rock lake and the section belonging to the western uplands backpacking trail. We do however have questions about how clear it is between Islet Lake and Canoe lake as well as the section between Rock Lake and Galeairy Lake. For most of those sections we should be able to utilize the lakes and portages for travelling if the rail trail is “inhospitable”, but there are two 3km sections (Islet to Lillypond and Potter to Canoe) where we will not be travelling beside a lake and will need to use the rail trail whether it is clear or not.
We are wondering if anyone is familiar with these stretches of trail. Are they clear?
We are looking to do this trip in Feb so the lakes should be well frozen and safe for travel. Thanks in advance for any insights!
Steph and Mary
Ps. I have called the city of Kearney and they have confirmed that Rain Lake Road is plowed 13km in so we are aware that we may have to snowshoe 13km of road before arriving at rain lake itself if the MNR has not plowed “their section”.
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Quote: "We are wondering if anyone is familiar with these stretches of trail. Are they clear?"
Not sure what you mean by this. "Clear" in what way?
The snowplow stops at 14 kms from Rain Lake. It can be a formidable amount of snow blocking the road from there until Rain Lake.
To start at Rain Lake, your first problem is parking. You can't park on the side of the road, or in the snowplow turnaround.
Or are you planing to be dropped off?
Barbara
Last edited by Barbara (12/14/2025 12:26 pm)
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Thanks for your reply Barbara. By “clear trails” I mean free of dead fall. Has anyone travelled these stretches of trail?
I’m aware that the snowplow stops approx 12-13km into rain lake road after speaking with the town of Kearney. We are planning to be dropped off by a shuttle as far up rain lake road as we can drive. We will have someone pick us up at Galeairy (or as far as we can make it).
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The section from Lilypond > Brule > Potter was very clear when I was through there in August 2024.
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This is great news! Thanks so much for letting us know! We know the trip will still be challenging but much easier not having to battle our way through deadfall.
Thanks again!
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Will it make much difference when the deadfall is covered by 6 or 8 feet of snow?
You will be taking 2 substantial saws, right? One can't predict what will happen.
Barbara
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Yes, we will be travelling with two sets of Agawa 21 inch saws. We are doing our best to be prepared for every possibility, including bringing an extra set of snowshoes. We do not take planning for these trips lightly.
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I have parked at the snow plow turn around on Rain Lake Road. Lots of people park there. They sometimes even plow a bit out for vehicles.
I have not personally done Islet to Lilypond. But I know people who hiked Rain Lake to Brule along the rail line. Then bushwhacked to Brown before hiking out on the trail. This is 10 years ago. It was very overgrown back then. In places they had to leave the rail line completely and just bushwhacked. Booths Rock to Echo Bay is also very overgrown. But you can always detour to the ice.
Sounds like quite the adventure! Be sure to report back.
Edit: checked old emails. The rail line was "pretty thick", but It was flooding that forced them off the rail line between Islet and Lillypond. Maybe not such a deterrent in the winter.
Last edited by MartinG (12/23/2025 11:12 pm)
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Thanks for the info Martin! We spoke with Gord Baker and he also mentioned the area between Booth’s rock and Echo Bay. We had the same thought as you. By February, we should be ok to just detour onto the ice to avoid a bush whack.
That’s why the islet to Lillypond is so concerning. No lakes to detour onto. We did have someone else suggest detouring onto the western uplands backpacking trail which is an option but judging by the topo lines, it will be very difficult with a pulk sled! (Difficult, but not impossible!)
We have had two separate sources now confirming that in 2024 islet to Lillypond was cleared of brush and deadfall so hopefully that is still true!
We will definitely report back! We are bringing gear to film so hopefully we can keep our batteries warm enough to do that.
Thanks again for your support!
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Since it's been decades since the right-of-way was used, the only sections that are open are ones where there has effort been put in to clear it. That's the case where there's a road, hiking trail, ski trail, portage, etc that uses it, but there are gaps in between that are completely closed in.
That's why I would be *extremely* surprised if the stretch immediately east of Islet is open - that would be a new development, because there is nothing that uses that stretch. About half way to Lilypond there's a road that uses it, so you'll be fine from that point to Lilypond and beyond (essentially down to Canoe Lake).
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