Planned Route
Total Days: 4.5 days
Total Kilometres: 150 kilometres
Number of Portages: 14
Portage Length: 7.120 kilometres
Longest Portage Length: 2.370 kilometres (Ink Lake to Tom Thomson Lake)
Route: Canoe Lake – Joe Lake – Little Joe Lake – Baby Joe Lake – Burnt Island Lake – Little Otterslide Lake – Otterslide Lake – Big Trout Lake – White Trout Lake – Grassy Bay – McIntosh Creek – McIntosh Lake – Ink Lake – Tom Thomson Lake – Little Doe Lake – Tepee Lake – Joe Lake – Canoe Lake
Actual Route
Total Days: 4.5 days
Total Kilometres: 40 kilometres
Number of Portages: 8
Portage Length: 2.06 kilometres
Longest Portage: 430 metres (Lost Joe to Baby Joe Lake)
Route: Canoe Lake – Joe Lake – Little Joe Lake – Baby Joe Lake – Burnt Island Lake – Baby Joe Lake – Little Joe Lake – Joe Lake – Canoe Lake
Average Daytime High: 12.75 Celsius
Average Nighttime Low: 5.8 Celsius
Maps Used: Friends of Algonquin Park Canoe Routes 2014-2015, Chrismar Maps Algonquin 1, Jeff’s Maps Algonquin -Southern-
This fall we decided to spend a week during what we hoped were the peak of fall colours in Algonquin Provincial Park. We booked our vacation back in April for the dates of September 29th – October 4th and upon arrival were not disappointed as the spectacular palette of autumn colours spread out before us!
On our last two trips in Algonquin we launched from the northern entry points, the first from Kiosk, while the other trip was from Brent. This time we began our trip from what may be the most popular launch in the whole park, the Canoe Lake access point located right off the highway 60 corridor. From the Canoe Lake launch we would paddle counter clockwise the popular “Big Trout Lake Loop”. There was no issues booking lakes online back in April, and checking out site availability a week before our trip we could see that the whole area wasn’t booked.
DAY # 1: Canoe Lake to Burnt Island Lake
Weather: Showers starting in the morning with clouds in the evening. High: 15 Celsius Low: 11 Celsius
On our first day we arrived at the Canoe Lake launch around 10:00am. After checking out the Portage Store, picking up our permits, and unloading the canoe, it began to rain. Even though we arrived on a Tuesday there were quite a few people at the launch which included a group of around 20 teenagers. We also saw our first “leafers”, those individuals that come by the busloads to view and photograph the fall colours in central Ontario. Lucky for us, the typical leafer does not venture into the backcountry.
As we paddled north we passed Canoe Lake’s many cottages. These cottages are still on lease with the park. The fall colours here were around 60% leaf change with glimpses of yellows, reds, and vibrant oranges.
Besides hosting some cottages, Canoe Lake may be most famous as the location where famed painter Tom Thomson died in 1917. Thomson frequented Algonquin Park and many of his famous paintings were created within the park. His canoe, and later his body were found on Canoe Lake under what appeared to be mysterious circumstances. A memorial cairn now stands along Canoe Lake’s eastern shoreline. We went ashore and climbed up some rocks to catch a glimpse of the cairn, along with a totem.
Back in the canoe we continued to our first portage, a 290 metre around a dam into Joe Lake. It was here we caught up to the rowdy teenagers and thankfully we got a head of them before they had a chance to enter Joe Lake. Paddling northeast up the eastern arm of Joe Lake into Little Joe Lake we caught a glimpse of the Arowhon Pine Lodge. Soon the lake began to narrow and after a small portage of 120 metres we continued down a creek. Here we met a group of Common Mergansers.
Continuing down the creek we had a lift over a beaver dam and reached our next portage of 430 metres. This portage was probably the fanciest portage we have ever seen with actual steps leading down to the lake! Baby Joe Lake, as was expected, is smaller than the other “Joe Lakes”. After a flat easy 190 metre portage we arrived on Burnt Island Lake by mid afternoon. The rain was now gone and it was time to look for a campsite. We picked an island site that had the campsite on the top of the hill and also had a large firepit.
Due to today’s rain it was challenging to get a fire going but we managed. After a supper of store bought dehydes, we snuggled in our sleeping bags for our first night in Algonquin. In the calm of the night we could hear the chip notes of migrating songbirds as they flew over our tent.
Wildlife Sightings: Canada Geese, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-throated Sparrow, Common Loon, Blue Jay, Red Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Common Merganser, American Crow, Common Raven, Hairy Woodpecker, Herring Gull, People.
Remember to: No remember to today!
DAY # 2: Burnt Island Lake to Burnt Island Lake
Weather: Cloudy in the morning, clearing by evening. Strong northeast winds. High: 13 Celsius Low: 6 Celsius
Over night the winds began to pick up, and by morning they were noticeably getting stronger. Around 7:30 am we crawled out of the tent and had a store bought freeze dried meal of granola with milk and raspberries, along with a couple of Kind Bars and tea. Marianne wandered around the island and found what appeared to be an old turtle nest with only old eggshells remaining.
After packing up the canoe there were already whitecaps beginning to form on the water. Today we were heading northeast to Otterslide Lake, which just so happened to be today’s wind direction. We were used to headwinds from last year’s trip in Quetico Provincial Park so we figured this would be just a minor set back. It was a slow go for us at first and we even saw the rowdy group of teens from yesterday battling against the wind as well. Lucky for them they were heading to Jay Lake so their ordeal would soon be over. We continued to head northeast against the wind all the while we strategically hid behind islands and stayed close to shore to keep out of the full force of the wind. When we rounded a peninsula and got out onto the unavoidable open water we were hit straight on with winds gusting to 40 kilometres per hour! There was no way we could go any further. We turned around and headed to the closest campsite along Burnt Island’s northern shore. We were only out for an hour and a half this morning and maybe paddled 2 kilometres. This campsite, we had to admit was nicer than the one from last night. It was a small point on the mainland and was fairly large with a table and what looked like a vanity?
There was some gusts that went through the main campsite, but luckily along the shoreline there were smooth rocks out of the wind where you could sit or lie down to find refuge in the warm sun. After setting up camp it was time to wander and gather firewood. Walking far back we found not only firewood but also quite a lot of moose droppings. After gathering wood for the evening we decided to sit out of the wind on the flat rocks next to the lake and listen to the Moose FM (99.5 FM) on our windup weather radio, while eating GORP. Now this is vacation!
Wildlife Sightings: Common Loons, Common Raven, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, Blue Jay, American Crow, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskins, Yellow-rumped Warbler, People.
Remember to: Check the weather radio before bedtime. If there are strong winds in the forecast get out on the water early to avoid getting wind bound when winds pick up during the day.
DAY # 3: Burnt Island Lake
Weather: Sunny with strong northeast winds all day. High: 12 Celsius Low: 4 Celsius
The wind died down last evening when we went to bed, however through the night and into the early morning it picked up yet again. We set our watch for 5:55 am but when the alarm went off and we heard the wind gusts we decided that we were not getting a head start after all. After dawn we decided to stay at the site for yet another day as the winds were still strong out of the northeast which was the direction we were to go all day today. After a homemade pancake for breakfast we retreated to our sheltered flat rocks at the shoreline again for some tea with some added leftover pancake syrup poured in. The morning was quite cool and around 10 degrees colder than forecasted. Marianne didn’t pack her fleece this trip and though she never got too cold, it would have been nice to have.
No big plans for today, though we did move the tent to a new spot because the old spot had an incline. We observed a few paddlers go by this morning and we wondered how far they actually got in these winds.
After gathering more firewood we heard on our weather radio that it may go down to 0 Celsius tonight! Today we had a group of loons hang out in front of our site. One even waved at us!
Wildlife Sightings: Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Raven, American Robin, Pine Siskins, Common Loon, Red Squirrel, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Canada Geese, People
Remember to: Pack warm clothes, not just for what the weather forecast calls for. You never know when the weather will change.
DAY # 4: Burnt Island Lake
Weather: Sunny and windy. High: 11 Celsius Low: 3 Celsius
Yet another day with winds out of the northeast. We pretty much knew in the morning that we were spending the rest of our trip at this site, making it one of the laziest camping trips we have ever been on! The wind was actually stronger today and the only other canoeist we saw was a guy paddling with the wind at his back and he was making great time!
Today was another day of lounging around in the sun out of the wind at the shoreline while eating GORP, reading the park newspaper, and later playing UNO in the tent. Listening to the Moose FM radio station these last few days there was one song in particular that stood out over the others, and was also played the most. It was a neat song with some of the lyrics stating “I can’t feel my face when I’m with you…but I like it..” This was the first time we have ever heard this song and came to find out later that the artist is a Canadian known as the Weeknd. Neat!
Wildlife Sightings: Pileated Woodpecker, Clack-capped Chickadee, Red Squirrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Canada Geese, Common Loons
Remember to: No remember to for today!
DAY # 5 Burnt Island Lake to Canoe Lake
Weather: Sunny and windy in the morning. 5 Celsius
If you have ever watched the Bill Murray movie called “Ground Hog Day”, that pretty much summed up our canoe trip thus far in a nutshell as we had strong northeast winds yet again. However today it was time for us to get back to the launch, load up the car, and make our way to the Mew Lake Campground along the highway 60 corridor for a hot shower. Heading back with the winds at our back was a welcome change and we began to make great time! As we headed to the end of Burnt Island Lake we saw more people at various sites than when we came in last Tuesday/Wednesday. This was the calmer end of the lake so perhaps they too were wind bound.
At the first portage for the day we met a gentleman who was on his way back to the Canoe Lake launch after 15 days which left us kind of jealous. The fall colours were now at peak with 100% leaf change! Continuing towards Canoe Lake we saw a lot of canoeists! Being a Saturday I guess we shouldn’t have been so surprised. Looking over the various paddlers we saw people heading out with enough gear for a week long trip, some appeared to be going out for just the weekend, and others that looked like this was their first time ever in a canoe. A few people asked us about the winds on Burnt Island Lake and we told them that once you got near the peninsula we were at it was REALLY windy!
Making our way back on Canoe Lake we docked and tried to find the remnants of the old Algonquin Hotel. The hotel was built in 1908 on a hill so those staying there could get views of Joe Lake. Like other lodges in the park it was demolished for park rejuvenation with this one taken down in 1957. We walked a little ways down a path and after 10 minutes or so we gave up and returned to the canoe to make our way back to the launch. Canoe Lake was packed with people in canoes. We could easily see the sun shining off at least 15 canoes in the far distance. There were a lot of people enjoying the outdoors along with the brilliant fall colours today.
Once we arrived at the launch and loaded up the canoe we entered the crowded restaurant and had a nice lunch. For the remainder of the day we decided to hike a trail and go to our site we booked at the Mew Lake campground. Unfortunately, the park was literally loaded with tourists! The parking lots next to the trails were spilling out onto the road so we didn’t have a chance to even hike a trail. We made the decision to go to Mew Lake to take a shower, set up camp, and hopefully get up early the next day before anyone else hit the trails. When we got to Mew Lake it was beyond packed, and our campsite was pretty horrible with the wind blowing right through it off the lake. There was also an overhanging tree that kept creaking as it swayed back and forth. We looked at each other and decided that maybe we were better off to go back to the cottage on Lake Muskoka (we were already staying there the following week) and so we started to drive back towards Huntsville.
While heading west on our way down highway 60 we saw a lot of break lights and came to a complete stop behind a huge line up of cars. It turned out there was a fatal accident involving an SUV and a tour bus so the road would be closed for maybe another 12 hours. We had no choice but to turn around, go out the east gate, and take the long way back to Gravenhurst via highway 118. Not a real happy way to end our canoe trip.
For sure we will have to do this loop again as we hear Big Trout Lake is really nice lake. Also because this was such a short trip we now have to make up for it with an epic trip next year!
Wildlife Sightings: Black-capped Chickadee, Common Loon, Red Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, American Crow, Northern Raven
Remember to: In the future, the launch date and the return date of a canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park along the highway 60 corridor will NOT be on a weekend when it is busy
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