My last backcountry canoe trip of the year was to Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. This was my first time in the park. I started the trip on October 4–7. The trip comprised 43.51 km total, of which 13.6 km was portaging. I double-carried each portage, which meant I ended up walking each one three times.
Day 1.
I left Ottawa around 7 a.m. and drove to Madoc, where I charged my car for about 20 minutes. I got to the access point around 10:45 a.m. After unpacking the car and parking, I got on the water around 11 a.m. Long Lake is a very pretty lake and sure lives up to its name. You essentially go straight for a long time until you hit Loucks Lake. It would be impossible for anyone to get lost on Long Lake as it’s super narrow.
Loucks Lake has a bunch more cottages than Long Lake did, which made finding the first portage a bit of a challenge. It ended up being right beside someone’s cottage which, as someone used to Algonquin, I found a bit odd. However, before I got to my first portage, I stopped at the portage that heads into Secret Lake and walked it to see what the water levels were heading into Secret Lake. Surprisingly, they seemed to be okay, but I couldn’t see around the bend. Water levels as a whole across the park seemed to be down somewhere from 50–75 cm based on the water marks on the rocks.
The first portage of the day was a 130 m that led into what I believe to be an arm of Cox Lake. It was hard to find, as previously mentioned, since it was right beside someone’s cottage. The portage itself was easy and ended at a floating dock on the other side, which made getting back into the boat easy.
At first, the water level of this section between Loucks and Cox Lakes was fine, but that soon changed as I had to push through some mud and then squeeze my way through some rocks that had a lot of colour on them from other canoes scraping against them. Once past the rocks, I faced a 2-metre-tall beaver dam that I had to pull over. Thankfully, it was well worth it, as on the other side the water levels were great.
After paddling through the section of water above the beaver dam, I came to the next portage, which was a 110 m that heads into Cox Lake proper. This portage had more up and down, but being so short it wasn’t a big deal. The landing on the Cox Lake side, however, was a boulder field.
Cox Lake had a slight wind but nothing too extreme. It was a straight paddle over to the next portage, which was a 428 m that leads into Sparkler Lake. This was the longest portage of the day but also the most interesting. It was uphill the whole way, but you pass through a nice area of exposed Canadian Shield.
Sparkler Lake was the nicest lake of the day, as there are no cottages on it and the lake only hosts one campsite. This meant that I had the whole lake to myself. The site was number 500. The campsite sits at a point on the south side of the lake, which means no evening sun. I got to the campsite around 2:30 p.m.
All the campsites in Kawartha have a picnic table and a real metal fire pit, which in my opinion is a nice upgrade from what I’m used to in Algonquin. The campsite had three usable tent pads spread out over the site, and it also had a brand-new thunder box.
I had a chill afternoon at camp, taking my time setting up and exploring the immediate surroundings. The park experienced an ice storm in the winter, which meant that there was a lot of dry wood on the ground, making finding firewood very easy. The moon was so bright that I could see shadows. I ended up experiencing this each night of my trip and got a full moon the last night.
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| First photo of the trip taken from the access point on Long Lake. |
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| Cliffs on Long Lake. |
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| View heading into Loucks Lake from Long Lake. It was quite shallow here but the cottagers on Loucks Lake seem to be able to get their motor boats through. |
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| Portage landing for the 130m between Loucks and Cox Lake. |
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| View from the top of the beaver dam. |
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| The worst low water section of my trip was found between Loucks and Cox Lake. |
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| Portage landing for the 110m between Cox and Cox Lake. |
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| View of what I think is part of Cox Lake from a portage landing between Loucks and Cox Lakes. |
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| Cox Lake from the portage landing coming from Loucks Lake. |
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| Campsite on Sparkler Lake. |
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| View from the campsite on Sparkler Lake. |
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| Portage to Agate Lake as seen from the campsite on Sparkler Lake. |
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| Fire pit on Sparkler Lake. |
Day 2.
I woke up at 7 a.m. and had camp packed up and was on the water by 8:30-ish. It was a short paddle over to the 428 m portage that I did yesterday. This time, however, it was all downhill. From the portage landing on Cox Lake, it was a short paddle over to the next portage, which was the longest of the trip at 1,160 m.
This portage had a bit of up and down but wasn’t overly bad for one this length. The portage follows an ATV trail that some of the cottages use for road access. The portage even had a canoe rest near the Triangle Lake side, which was a first for me.
When I was planning this trip, I didn’t realize that this park is rather small and thus the travel times between campsites are short, so I spent my time exploring the lakes that I passed through.
I took my time exploring both Triangle Lake and Cherry Lake and tried my hand at fishing, as lake trout is still open on these lakes, but I didn’t have any luck. Triangle and Cherry Lakes are actually one large lake connected by a small pass.
At the end of Cherry Lake was my next portage. It was a 280 m portage that would take me into my final lake of the day, Turtle Lake. The landing of the portage on Cherry Lake was a struggle, as the water level was so low that it was quite an ordeal pushing through the mud to get to the landing. There was a low-water portage I could have taken, but why would I want to portage more than I have to?
The portage was easy, as it was mainly flat. Turtle Lake had a bit of a headwind (it’s always a headwind), but due to the small size of the lake, it wasn’t anything too challenging.
I got to the site on Turtle Lake at 12:15. I stayed at site 552 on Turtle Lake. It was an interesting site, as it overlooks a big rock in the lake and is itself on a big rock. There was essentially only one tent pad at the site, and a very poor bench around the campfire. It did, however, have a new thunder box and a picnic table.
I went for a very quick swim to wash off some of the sweat, as it was about 24 degrees during the day. The water was not warm, which resulted in a very brief swim.
Turtle Lake has two cottages and four campsites, yet I was lucky enough to be the only person on the lake.
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| The start of sunrise on Sparkler Lake. |
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| The start of sunrise on Sparkler Lake. |
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| Sunrise on Sparker Lake. |
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| New thunder box at the site on Sparkler Lake. |
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| Portage landing on Sparkler Lake. This portage heads to Cox Lake. |
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| Island on Cox Lake from the portage landing. |
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| Portage on Cox Lake. This portage leads to Triangle Lake. |
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| Portage landing on Triangle Lake. This portage came from Cox Lake. |
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| Cliffs on Triangle Lake. |
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| The rock that divides Triangle and Cherry Lakes. |
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| Tent pads on the campsite on Turtle Lake. |
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| Fire pit area on Turtle Lake. |
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| Landing for the campsite on Turtle Lake. |
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| Turtle Lake from the campsite. |
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| My tent at sunset. |
Day 3.
I was up again at 7 a.m. and woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. I had a slow morning and took my time packing up, as I had a very short day ahead of me. I was all packed up and on the water around 9:15-ish. I did a loop of Turtle Lake to check out the cottages and the other campsites from the water.
The first portage of the day was a 590 m that led into Stoplog Lake. The sign at each end of the portage says it’s 993 m, but it isn’t. The portage is fairly standard for the most part except for the last bit closest to Stoplog. That section is very steep heading down to the lake.
I headed south once I got on Stoplog Lake, aiming to explore the lake. I don’t think I could have headed north due to the water level. The southern part of the lake is very pretty. The colours were out on the maple trees, and the water was very clear. There are three campsites in the southern section of the lake for a grand total of five on the lake as a whole. Each of those three campsites looked nice, and the best part is that there aren’t any cottages on the lake.
I saw a bald eagle at the very southern point of the lake.
Once I made it back up the lake, I landed at the 684 m portage into Mountain Lake. It is called Mountain Lake for a reason, as it felt like I literally climbed a mountain to get up to this lake. I recorded the second carry, and my watch says I did 42 m in elevation.
Mountain Lake is a very pretty lake, although small. It is very similar to Sparkler Lake size-wise. It also has one campsite, which meant I got the lake to myself for a third night in a row. I got to camp around 12:30-ish. I stayed at campsite number 435.
The lake is supposed to be stocked with rainbow trout, but I had no luck throughout my stay on the lake.
The campsite on Mountain Lake had the most tent pad options, a new thunder box, and a picnic table right beside the fireplace. It is a bit tucked away from the water, though, with only one section having a water view.
The campsite has a path that connects it to the portage, which meant I could start my next day without having to load the canoe for a short paddle.
The moon at the lake was beautiful, as it was a full moon. It reflected off the water and later in the night seemed like it was just a cloudy day due to how bright the moon was. This meant that a lot of the animals were out and about, as it was non-stop noise throughout the night. I heard coyotes or maybe wolves at one point howling.
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| Muted colours at sunrise on Turtle Lake. |
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| Reflections at sunrise. |
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| Fall Colours on Turtle Lake at sunrise. |
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| Rock on Turtle Lake at sunrise. |
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| Portage landing on Turtle Lake. This portage is 590m and leads to Stoplog Lake. |
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| View of Stoplog Lake from the portage landing coming from Turtle Lake. |
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| A tight squeeze on Stoplog Lake. |
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| Bald Eagle on Stoplog Lake. |
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| Landing for the campsite on Mountain Lake. |
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| Trail up from the landing to the campsite on Mountain Lake. |
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| View of the campsite on Mountain Lake. |
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| Beaver right beside the campsite on Mountain Lake. |
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| Mountain Lake at sunset. |
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| Full moon on Mountain Lake. |
Day 4.
I woke up to a big bang and a flash of light around 6:30-ish. At first, I didn’t know what was going on but then quickly realized that it was the start of a thunderstorm. I quickly ran out of my tent to gather anything that wasn’t already under the tarp I had placed over my tent the night before. The storm lasted about 45 minutes, but it was a heavy rain.
I was quite happy with where I had set up my tent, as one of the tent pads I had considered was flooded by the time the rain stopped.
I packed up my wet tarp and tent and was on my way by 8:15. I skipped breakfast as I wasn’t sure if the rain was starting up again anytime soon and just wanted to get moving and packed before it did. Thankfully, I was able to make it all the way back to the access point before it started to rain again.
My day started with a 684 m portage into Buzzard Lake. I had walked this portage the day before as it was connected to my campsite.
Buzzard Lake is a very nice lake but has cottages on the islands in the middle of the lake.
At the end of Buzzard Lake was the 420 m portage that leads back into Long Lake.
Once on Long Lake, it was a quick paddle back along familiar territory to get back to the access point. I got back around 11:30, just as a school bus pulled up to unload a bunch of kids setting off on a three-day field trip into the park (I wish my school had done something like this).
Overall, it was a very pleasant fall camping trip with warm days but cool nights. I’m not sure I will head back to the park, though, as it didn’t really feel that wild with all the cottages and noise from planes and what I assumed to be ATVs. I also found that the days were too short, but that was on me for poor planning.
With the last trip of the year done, I now go into route planning for next summer. I think I will try out the French River and hopefully get two trips into Algonquin.
If you have any trip ideas, let me know in the comments.
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