By Allen Macartney
YOU’VE BEEN DREAMING about easing
into canoe-camping but just don’t know
where to go, listen up.
You want to start slowly. Find a site
offering potential for hikes and swimming
but still fairly isolated and quiet. Luckily, just
beyond the Ottawa region many great
canoe-in sites are made for a young family
or teenagers looking for a first adventure
sans adults (reservations are necessary for
all these spots).
LAC LA PÊCHE (GATINEAU PARK)
This large, sprawling lake is about an hour’s
drive from Ottawa depending where you start.
Cross the Macdonald-Cartier bridge north on
Highway 5 in Quebec to the Wakefield turnoff.
Take Highway 366, passing the sign to Lac
Philippe, and keep going to Chemin Eardley.
Follow the sign on the left for Lac la Pêche.
This road takes you directly to the lake’s
parking lot.
The lake has about 12 separate canoe-in
sites, all with camping spots for multiple
40 | OTTAWAOUTDOORS
groups or families. Paddling in can take
anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes. All sites
have picnic tables, covered toilet boxes, and a
metal pole for hanging food well away from
raccoons and other forest critters. The
swimming is fabulous. Explore the lake and
you’ll find hiking trails (most unmarked), large
rocks to swim from, and islands for picnics.
Most sites offer lots of trees for hanging a
tarpaulin in case of rainy weather.
FRONTENAC PROVINCIAL PARK
This park is near Sydenham, a small town
north of Kingston. Usually, I get there in
about two hours via Highway 15. From the
park office you can either hike or canoe to
the sites. Canoeing to a site takes from one
to three hours depending on its location.
You can either paddle directly to your
campsite, or take one or more portages to
find “home.”
Classified as a “natural environment park,”
you’ll find everything from great camping
and swimming to excellent hiking and birdwatching. Like Lac la Pêche, two, three or
four paddle-in sites are grouped together.
Each has a raised tent mat that keeps your
tent about 20 centimetres off the ground on
a bed of sand. It’s comfortable and virtually
guarantees a dry tent bottom even on the
wettest day. Each tent cluster has at least
one privy, and each campsite has a fire pit, a
picnic table and some sort of a bench. These
campsites are open year-round, perfect for
fall or winter adventures.
If you want to portage to other lakes in the
park, all trails are wide, clear and easy to find.
CANISBAY (ALGONQUIN PARK)
You’ll find Canisbay Campground at
kilometre 23.1 on the Highway 60 corridor
through Algonquin Park. Mostly, Canisbay is
for car camping but also has 16 paddle-in sites
at the top end of the lake. Just pre-register for
one of them, and you’re set. Do this early
because they’re grabbed up fast! Each site
offers a fire pit and a privy box. Because it’s a
short paddle to the main campground, hiking
trails, a beach, flush toilets and showers are
easy to get to.
You’ll also have easy paddle-out access to
the full range of Algonquin Park activities,
including nature programs, guided hikes, wolf
howls and much more.
ROCK LAKE (ALGONQUIN PARK)
Rock Lake offers a slightly different
adventure. You start at the main Rock Lake car
camping area and paddle south down the lake
to one of its pine-covered islands. These are
beautiful sites, with three or four on each
island. Laze in the shade, swim in clear water,
paddle over to a vertical rock face, portage
into nearby Penn Lake, or head out on a hike
along a well-marked trail.
Test paddle one or all of these destinations.
Start slowly, build confidence, and expand
from there. These sites will whet your
appetite for more canoe-camping solitude.
Guaranteed! Φ
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
PHOTO BY NATIONAL CAPITAL COMMISSION
Easy paddle-in
sites for firsttime canoe
trippers