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Hi everyone,
Looking to plan a 4-5 day trip for my girlfriend and I. Last year we did the Rock, Welcome, Lousia loop. Looking for a similar trip this year. Ideally we would like something without big open water to make the days a little easier (not that the Welcome loop was bad for that), somewhere remote, and a good site to spend a couple nights at this time. I had been looking at some Nippissing river / Tim Lake area. Anyone have some suggestions?
For instance: from Tim lake taking the Tim R. to Shah lake - nice place for lay over day, some pretty sites and very little traffic - then Misty (the only bigger lake en route) and Petawawa R. either to Magnetawan, which will require a shuttle, or portaging to Queer lake and back by the Tim R.
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Thanks Eddy,
Mostly looking for route that mixes river and lakes nicely, similar overall distance to the welcome loop would be great. Anyone have any other ideas? Open to entering from any access point, might be nice to enter somewhere other than off the 60, but I'm open to anything!
Thanks
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I think I explained on your thread last fall why I don't like the Big Bob-Loontail stretch of the Nipissing, and without that there aren't great loop options from Tim Lake.
A good route to consider that meets your criteria in the same part of the park would be: day 1, Magnetawan access to Little Trout or Queer; day 2, down the Tim River and through Shah to Misty; day 3, keep your site on Misty, but spend the whole day looping down the Petawawa to Grassy Bay and back via McIntosh and Timberwolf; day 4, back out to Magnetawan up the Petawawa. You can also do the main loop in the opposite direction, taking the Pet to Misty on day 1 and heading out via Tim River/Ralph Bice on days 3 and 4. One disclaimer here is that the Queer-Shah section of the Tim River can have low water issues in the late summer, so if you hear that that's the case, you'll have to instead travel between Queer and Misty via the Queer-Little Misty portage.
The route I'm suggesting by the way is considerably more distance than the one you did last year, but the portages are generally shorter and you don't have any really big lakes like Louisa. I think it's a decent pace for 4 days (though the Misty day trip loop will be a long one), and if you broke it into 5 it would be very leisurely. I myself have done it in 3 but it was a push. Good mix of rivers and lakes and lots of wildlife.
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On the east side with access via Achray is the Barron canyon route, nice two or three day trip depending on how much water you want to cover in a day. Only big lake is Grand at the put in but your not on it for long, maybe 20 minutes or so then a paddle down Stratton of about an hour to the high falls area. If you get an early start you should have no problems with wind and waves on either. The rest of the route is small lakes and Barron river. If you don't want to do it as a one way trip ( you will have to arrange vehicle shuttle) you can turn around at the canyon and double back on up to Achray put in. I have done this trip at least twice every year and love it.
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I think the best short route in the park is Cedar, Catfish, Burntroot, Nip, Cedar. That route has everything. I wrote a trip log on it a few years back and would do it again in a heart beat.
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MartinG wrote:
I think the best short route in the park is Cedar, Catfish, Burntroot, Nip, Cedar. That route has everything. I wrote a trip log on it a few years back and would do it again in a heart beat.
Doing that trip (Catfish-Burntroot-Burntroot-Long Marsh) Canada day weekend 
Thanks for your great trip report!
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I think the best short route in the park is Cedar, Catfish, Burntroot, Nip, Cedar. That route has everything. I wrote a trip log on it a few years back and would do it again in a heart beat.
Hey Martin,
I've been trying to convince my friends to do this route for our guys annual portage trip for the last two years. Every year I do up 5 routes and we vote on them.
I've heard a lot of good things about that route/area. A few good YouTube videos too.
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It is excellent! It is littered with historic sites, big lakes, little lakes, 2 rivers with totally different feels.
Fishing in the summer is always tough. I would look for pools along the Pet between Perley and Sunfish. Burntroot, Robinson and Whiskyjack are all good lakes. And of course fish eddies and springs along the nip. If you go in low water there could be some wading. There is shallow water between Catfish and Cedar Raps on the Pet and between Gauthiers Dam and the Nadine portage on the Nip.
Lots of Moose sightings possibilities at the south end of Catfish/Sunfish, Along the bottom of the Nip and in Marshy Bay on Cedar.
Cross Cedar early if you can!
Martin's route is perfect. I could vouch for at least half a dozen more trips in Algonquin. Everyone should find out for herself.
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Great suggestions all round! That route Martin suggested looks like a great one, I've looked at doing that route in the past, I too enjoyed your trip report. However, I've decided on Magnetawan access. First night Little Trout, then Shah, Timberwolf for 2 nights, then Little Misty, Daisy and out. Giving ourselves tones of time to relax and enjoy the trip. Thanks for the input everyone! Let me know if you have any tips or stories about this specific route!
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Has anyone been in this area recently? I called the permit office and they haven't had any reports of low water on the Tim or elsewhere, anyone here been there recently? We leave for our trip Tuesday!
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