I solo day tripped in to Robatialle last July from Aylen. What a fabulous day! After talking with the previous operators of the former access point office at Aylen Lake they gave me directions  to  where to park.  You could park at the marina but I wanted to avoid the paddle to Denison bay as I was solo and it was a pretty windy day. After a few initial blow downs on the 1650 to O'Neil the portage was pretty decent. O'Neil was a short paddle but littered with log jam before getting to the take out to Robitaille. The 1420 portage started out not bad. It has some steep elevation changes that can be tricky. There's a great exposed shield section  that I think may be typical of East Algonquin. I haven't seen that terrain much on the western side. There is a section on Jeff's map that says you need to paddle but if you hang a right at the canoe rest just prior there is a path along the top of a dam around it. It's sketchy too but very doable. I can't say much about the condition of the Robatialle campsites as I was short for time and hunting a Badger Paddle but they appeared typical of low maintenance sites. I had contacted Jeff regarding the path around paddle section prior to his departure from the company. Not sure if the change made it to the online version or not. It was a beautiful area of the park  and I don't see allot of people getting there. I could be wrong but there was  no human tracks whatsoever that i could see anywhere. Good luck. Have a great trip.

Lots of logging and road noise last time I was there... if you check google sat photos, you'll see primary access roads to the west and south of Wilkens. And all the side roads and timber yards that have been bulldozed out. The activity might be over for now, but check the AFA's operations schedule if you don't want to hear machinery.

Wilkens can be popular... I was there once on an early spring weekend and there were maybe 5-6 parties all trolling for lakers at the same time. Robitaille wasn't crowded, maybe the brook trout there don't attract as many anglers... my choice would be here.

Campsites on both lakes are low maintenance, some are very small and others are larger... also campsites and ports depend on whether a maintenance crew has been in recently to clean and maintain.them which is less often thatn the regularly maintained sites. Good luck!
 

Last edited by frozentripper (4/17/2017 8:28 am)

Thank you for your valid input. All info is greatly appreciated.

frozentripper wrote:

Lots of logging and road noise last time I was there... if you check google sat photos, you'll see primary access roads to the west and south of Wilkens. And all the side roads and timber yards that have been bulldozed out. The activity might be over for now, but check the AFA's operations schedule if you don't want to hear machinery.

Wilkens can be popular... I was there once on an early spring weekend and there were maybe 5-6 parties all trolling for lakers at the same time. Robitaille wasn't crowded, maybe the brook trout there don't attract as many anglers... my choice would be here.

Campsites on both lakes are low maintenance, some are very small and others are larger... also campsites and ports depend on whether a maintenance crew has been in recently to clean and maintain.them which is less often thatn the regularly maintained sites. Good luck!
 

I think  you hit the head on the nail. Robitaille is the preferred location. Ill utilize your words of wisdom. THANKS

Shayne74 wrote:

I solo day tripped in to Robatialle last July from Aylen. What a fabulous day! After talking with the previous operators of the former access point office at Aylen Lake they gave me directions  to  where to park.  You could park at the marina but I wanted to avoid the paddle to Denison bay as I was solo and it was a pretty windy day. After a few initial blow downs on the 1650 to O'Neil the portage was pretty decent. O'Neil was a short paddle but littered with log jam before getting to the take out to Robitaille. The 1420 portage started out not bad. It has some steep elevation changes that can be tricky. There's a great exposed shield section  that I think may be typical of East Algonquin. I haven't seen that terrain much on the western side. There is a section on Jeff's map that says you need to paddle but if you hang a right at the canoe rest just prior there is a path along the top of a dam around it. It's sketchy too but very doable. I can't say much about the condition of the Robatialle campsites as I was short for time and hunting a Badger Paddle but they appeared typical of low maintenance sites. I had contacted Jeff regarding the path around paddle section prior to his departure from the company. Not sure if the change made it to the online version or not. It was a beautiful area of the park  and I don't see allot of people getting there. I could be wrong but there was  no human tracks whatsoever that i could see anywhere. Good luck. Have a great trip.