Please let me hear from those who have visited. Tentative plans for a week long trip in the works. The websites are not giving good feelings as it looks a bit too crowded. Most likely will do the “shoulder season” in September.
Any thoughts and experiences would be welcome. Looking for a nice 6 day trip, perhaps 50-70 miles, sorry for not giving KM, lots of fishing, exploring and good campsites (no amenities required).
Thanks in advance
Wes
Not Algonquin
But I have intimate knowlege of the Kipawa Reserve located north of Algonquin. Shoulder season is good, but there is sometimes a spell of bad weather in late Sep before Indian Summer hits. Cold & nasty. Think of Raystown.
Jim
Oh Hell
Raystown is a Sunday picnic compared to Summersville… ;o)
Just CYA
I have been to southern Quebec when we saw no sun for a week and one woman suffered 1st stages of hypothermia. Was told “you should have been here last week”.
Basically I was seconding your plan for September (late is good too). I have also been in that area in August, but that was…wow…30 years ago, and I know for a fact that the crowds have grown. And Algonquin was always more popular than Kipawa or the Dumoine area.
Jim
after labor day
algonquin is a zoo in summer. avoid it like the plague. after labor day on the other hand the crowds are gone (as are the bugs) and if you wait for the second week in september, Algonquin is wonderful. i’ve been there from the end of september into october and have had the place virtually to myself. heaven.
most people know how nice it is there
in the fall so i have always found it busy at that time as well. if you want to paddle in at least 4 portages for a week long trip though, you should find the solitude you seek. you will need to put the miles on in the first couple days to achieve that.
Algonquin is a great destination…
but as was mentioned, it can be a little busy. I’ve made quite a few trips to Algonquin.
One of my favourite destinations in the park is the Oxtongue River that flows South-West. I have paddled it three times. It starts from Canoe lake which is always packed with people, but the rest of the river is relatively quiet. Although it’s not a weeklong trip.
Another trip, albeit a little more populated is the Baron River Canyon route. Quite a few portages, but most are < 1km long. I’ve done this route twice, I find it offers some of the most scenic views of the park (we heard some wolves last time I was there). This isn’t a weeklong trip either.
If you don’t mind doing portages over 2km, then you’ll find many areas that are peaceful. Best time to go is either before school is out for summer or after school is in for winter. Never go on long weekends. Make reservations before you go.
I have a great PDF map of the canoe routes in the park. You can zoom right into what you want to see. If you want, send me an e-mail at twofourblue@gmail.com and I can send it to you. It’s 5.7MB, not all mail servers will allow files of that size to be transferred though.
Good luck on your trip!
Gates
Algonquin
Wesd
First place to look would be here http://www.myccr.com/ . While it can be very crowded in the park particularly near the Highway 60 corridor if you chose to enter in the west or north you can avoid the crowds. They have a reservation system in place. You can make your reservations 5 months in advance(which I stongly suggest) you do not reserve a site but a lake so you need to plan out your trip ahead of time. I couple of suggestion that fit your request would be:
Access #3 Magnetawan - Dasiy- Petawawa River- Misty - Petawawa River -Whit Trout. Then head back by way of McIntosh Creek - McIntosh L- Timberwolf- Misty up to Queer Lake to Little Trout -Ralph Bice- Hambone to Magnetawan. 5-6 days about 50 mile. Good chance to see moose long McIntosh Creek. We saw very few other people during the week.
Access # 1 Once you are into North Tea L you have a lot of options for loops. Manitou to Three Mile- Bigger back to North Tea.
A longer loop would have you go up Bigger to Three Mile then over to Maple Lake then up Maple Creek to Kioshkokwi (Kiosk) to Manitou -North Tea then out.
We did this loop last summer and saw 13-15 moose. There are some great campsite all along ths route including a great sand beach on Manitou that had to be 2-300meters long.
I will be returning this summer our route will take us them Kiosk to Canoe Lake over 7 days.
General info
I know this park very well. I agree that the park can be very busy in September near the access points & hwy 60 but once you do a few portages you should be clear, in September. You will only come accross the odd high-school group in Sep & beg of Oct.
Weather …usually… is very good in September. The last three years we have been in sun and t-shirts. Is our luck going to run out? Probbaly for sure,. one year soon.
I have used half of all access points in the park to date and cannot say one is better then another. They all offer something different and are all good.
The crowds are easy to manage. If you want to see nobody then take long portage routes. If you dont mind a few people take medium portage routes,… and so on.
Hello Wes
Algonqiun is very nice.
We’ve been up there there last three, just on day trips from Muskoka. Wife, I, and kids paddled from Algonquin Outfitters on Oxtongue lake up to Ragged Falls. This is actually just outside the park. It’s just a day trip, if that much. Even in the summer, we saw only a few other canoes in the river.
The area around the Portage store seemed to be very busy with canoe rentals. You might want to avoid.
There is a nice map on the offical web site that shows canoe routes, portages, campsites, etc.
I pick up new boat in three weeks.
Bruce
No people in Algonquin
in June as its blackfly season. The bugs are overrated. Possible to paddle for a week and see no one. Two years ago my car was the only one at Canoe Lake and last year at Opeongo was one of three.
I dont venture into the Hwy 60 corridor mid summer, and havent tried September. I find access via Brent or Kiosk pretty uncrowded (plus less of a drive for me) and put one 2000 meter portage behind you and you will be all set. I have done about six end of August trips and not felt overcrowded.However try not to start on Friday or Sat of the holiday weekend. People will be hanging out soaking the last of vacation time at access lakes.
Algonquin Park
I have been to the park many times…Summer is busy near the access points, but then again so is the fall on the weekends. If you hump at least 2 portages you should be away from most of the “destination” paddlers. I have been surprised by paddlers in some rather remote locations though. It is a very big park and has many routes that should give as much privacy as you want. Try going north out of Opeongo.
Good web site for trip info.
Check out this link to the best Algonquin Park web site available. Great forum section where you can get correct answers to all your questions.
http://www.algonquinadventures.com/
Great site!
Click on kayaks and you can see a cartoon done by a local paddler Doug Vance aka frikinzero-then go to frikenzero to see more about Doug. I will be going through that area this summer on my way to the west side of the province.