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Hi All,
I'm having 2 friends from abroad visting this summer (first week of August) and I'm looking into what would be the best route for a 3 day backcountry canoe trip.
So far I have been to the interior 3 times, mostly on the west side, as I live in Toronto. However, now I was looking at the Petawawa River, as it could be exciting with some white water action. But maybe some of you have better suggestions?
Most important things are (ranked) :
- Good fishing (so far I haven't caught ANYTHING in Algonquin on 3 trips)
- Few people (no canoe lake or similar)
- Variety of scenery (small/big lakes, rivers, marsh, waterfalls, rocks, etc.).
- Wildlife (esp. moose)
- White water (if possible),
Of course we would prefer routes without an excessive amount of portages and that doesn't take too long from Toronto, however if the route is exciting enough we are willing to comprise on both.
If places offer car shuttle so we can go in/out different places, then we also gladly pay for that.
Seems like you guys in here have a ton of experience, so hoping you can help me out with some good suggestions, so I can give my 2 friends a great Canadian experience.
Thanks,
Jacobsen
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The Petawawa is a great whitewater trip but not in early August. Here's a trip report I did several years ago now: Petawawa River - Lake Travers to Lake McManus
If you are experienced running whitewater, then great. If not, then be prepared to do a lot of portaging. Well, actually, come August you'll be portaging. At that time of year the long easy rapids like Five Mile will be impassable due to low water.
Great fishing in that section though including bass, channel cats, walleye and muskie which you can see in this trip report where we came upstream from McManus for an August long weekend: McManus Lake
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Might be worth considering a trip from Kingscote to Benoir. Not sure if it's 100% what you're looking for, since it's a much shorter distance than the Petawawa route, but that will give you more time to break the Algonquin fishing curse. It's not 3 full days of travel so with 3 days you'd probably spend both nights on one lake, (Scorch, or Byers with a day trip to Scorch) though I suppose you could also do 1 night on Scorch and one at High Falls. Anyway, I'm suggesting it based on your wish list for the following reasons:
- Great August bass fishing
- One of the closest access points to Toronto
- Affordable shuttle service by Pine Grove Point
- Mix of lake and river travel - not sure about runnable whitewater but at least some parts with a current in your favour
- Mix of scenery (marsh, beach, gorge, rock, waterfall) - though overall more sandy/less rocky than what you're used to in the western park
- Scenic lookout hike on Scorch Lake
- Other points of interest like Gut Rapids, High Falls
- Good beachfront campsites
- Not nearly as busy as the big Highway 60 access points, though for the last bit from High Falls on you will see day trippers, at least if it's a weekend
- Arguably a more interesting and less traffic-dependent drive from Toronto than the one to western access points
Last edited by DanPM (5/11/2016 7:28 am)
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Water will likely be too low in August so be prepared for lots of portaging. If you want a more relaxed trip you could do McManus-Whitson Lake or McManus-Smith lake. Not the best swimming but great scenery and wildlife.
If you're coming from Toronto, it would be closer to go to the Brent access point, so camping on cedar lake or the Petawawa there could be worth considering. My friends from Toronto weren't thrilled with the 7hr drive from toronto when we did travers-mcmanus
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Brent would be further away from Toronto than McManus.
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Not if you take the 400 to Hwy 11
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Hmmm - I double checked on Google maps and it actually looks like a toss up between Brent and McManus. Despite driving completely around the park multiple times last year I really would have thought that Brent was a good hour or two further in travel time. Possibly biased by having looked at what the shuttle time would be to set up a trip from Cedar to Travers or McManus.
Either way, Brent/Cedar or McManus would be just about the furthest away from Toronto that you could get for an Algonquin access point.
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Yep, they both are far for sure. We're lucky to have achray so close to Ottawa!
Last edited by Lenny (5/12/2016 7:36 pm)
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Hi All,
Thanks for some great input.
RobW, nice blog - I had already found it when I was googling information about the trip. Based on what you're saying about the low water level, does that mean that we should generally stay about from the Petawawa (i.e. there wont be any good rapids, etc.)?
DanPM, thanks for the suggested route, I have never looked at that area before. One question, on the map it looks like its partially outside of the park bounderies. What does this mean? Does it means there's a lot of cottages, or?
I've been to canoe lake ones, and must admit that it was quite dissapointing with all the house towards burnt island lake, as it really didn't feel like the interior when you came by so many house. Is there several places in or around the park where there's many cottages, or is it just there?
And any additional route suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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First week of August I wouldn't count on having many runnable rapids on the Petawawa. If it's a wet summer, then it could be OK. When we ran the Pet we did it in mid-June which was late enough for the water to have warmed up a bit and early enough to safely have lots of water. From what I've read I would expect it to be tailing off by the end of June and then picking up again in late September. I think folks regularly run the Pet around Thanksgiving.
I'm not sure if there is a good option that you can plan ahead for the start of August. The Lower Madawaska river which is outside of Algonquin but a non-operating provincial park on it's own might be your best bet for rapids but I'm not sure that even that is guaranteed to have regular flows. MKC gets guaranteed water releases from the Bark Lake dam south of Barry's Bay but there's a 2nd dam just above Palmer Rapids that doesn't necessarily give daily releases (above a minimum flow).
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On the route I posted about there are some cottages on Kingscote and Benoir Lakes -- the lakes you start and end the trip at. There are no cottages after the first portage until you end your trip at Benoir. Benoir Lake is the only part of the route that's outside of the park, and yes it's a very developed cottage lake, but that's literally about 10 or 20 minutes of paddling as you approach your take-out, assuming you're ending at Pine Grove Point and taking their shuttle. (Tip: I usually leave my wallet in the car on canoe trips, but take a little cash or plastic with you on this trip so you can buy an ice cream or burger at the end of the trip while waiting for the shuttle.)
I agree with you about northbound trips from Canoe Lake, it's annoying how even after you portage into the Joes you're still on developed lakes for most of a day. But I don't mind seeing a bit of development just on the access lake, and even Kingscote isn't as developed as those lakes... there are a few cottages but no commercial lodges or summer camps.
You will potentially see day hikers at High Falls and day paddlers from there downstream to Benoir, but hey, it's their park too.
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