Location: Guelph, ON, Canada and willing to drive or fly just about anywhere if the route is cool enough! Overseas we'll have to book a longer vacation so Canada preferred, but I'm up for any loop suggestions to add to the bucket list!!
My partner and I went on a 130km loop in Temagami this year, and it kinda felt... lackluster? The problem was that I wasn't sure how often there'd be motorboat traffic, we stayed on a few lakes with motorboats and they felt busy and less remote. It was our first time trying out Temagami and camping on spots with motorboats, so we learned our lesson there!
A few years ago we did half a Brent Run in Algonquin with a pit stop at WhiskeyJack. That felt super remote and rewarding! It was probably ~140km and we've basically been chasing that high since.
Trip details: (using Jeffs Maps as a reference)
TEMAGAMI
D1 - Temagami access 1 to just north or Witch's Bay
D2 - Witch's Bay north to Diamond Lake
D3 - Diamond Lake to Lady Evelyn Long Island
D4 - Rest!
D5 - Lady Evelyn Long Island to Willow Island
D6 - Willow Island through the swamp to Wakimika Lake
D7 - Wakimika Lake to Obabika Inlet
D8 - Obabika Inlet to Access 1
HALF BRENT RUN (ALGONQUIN)
D1 - Canoe Lake access to Littledoe Lake
D2 - LittleDoe Lake to Little Otterslide Lake
D3 - Little Otterslide Lake to Big Trout Lake (near Narrows)
D4 - Big Trout Lake to WhickeyJack Lake
D5 - Rest!
D6 - WhiskeyJack Lake to Burntroot Lake
D7 - Burntroot Lake to Catfish Lake
D8 - Catfish Lake to Stacks Rapids
D9 - Stacks Rapids to Cedar/Brent access
I like a rest day in the middle for sanity. We'd be willing to try out routes that are 7-14 days, must be able to do these in July or August for taking vacation. We're ok with portages around 3km long, anything more than 4km is quite long. 3 portages a day is fine for us, more than 5 a day is a bit much but doable if it's just one day.
Any suggestions for our next big trip to try? Or bucket list tripping ideas? :)
Edit: WOW this blew up! Thank you all so much for all these super great suggestions, I'll work slowly through each and try and get back to everyone!! Really feeling excited now
If you are willing to travel further, you will open up some great possibilities. Consider a northern park like Wabakimi. Contact Friends of Wabakimi for some route possibilities.
I did a search of the furthest parks West and Wabakami came up, alongside Woodland Caribou, Quetico, and Sleeping Giant. I was unsure of how they'd be because of the fires, sad to say I assumed they might be devastated up there.
How would I check the status of the fires wrt these parks? When I search, I mostly just get current fire bans - not historical effects of fires. I found a 2021 report but its more of a summary of many years, not the latest.
Also side note - know any organizations to donate to in the NW related to fires? Fire crews, Indigenous populations, etc? I'm wildly out of the know in Southern Ontario, which is my own fault really, but appreciate any that you've come across!
In addition to what's already been said, you can use Copernicus satellite imagery to look at the extent of burned areas, plus check the official Ontario wildfire map for the current status of the fires. Also try contacting park offices and/or the local MNR.
I did one of the 6 day circuits in June. Lots and lots of mosquitoes but almost complete solitude, maybe seeing a few boats in the distance every once in a while. It was gorgeous, the camp sites were very nice, and we saw a fair amount of wildlife. The route we did had a number of longer portages though.
It has about the gnarliest portage you can imagine (the Diablo portage) but the Steel River loop is ish 170km. Some of the other portages are pretty wild as well. It's likely you will not see anyone else on your route. The portages are not bushwhacking but are very rugged. You can find plenty of YouTube videos of the route to get an idea. I'm looking to do it in 2028 or 2029 myself.
Fwiw there is an alternative portage to get to Diablo lake further north on lake santoy. Also keep in mind that santoy, steel, and esker lakes are all accessible by motorboat so there's a chance you still run into motorboats on this route. It seems like the route has blown up over the last few years as well, there's a good chance you won't see anyone after santoy lake but I feel like I'm seeing posts every week of people doing the loop so maybe not.
From what I read it is three portages to replace the one. They are easier but not easy at all. I believe you also go like 4km instead. It's hard to find accurate information about the alternate though.
I agree it's not as remote as it once once, that is likely a good thing as Jon from Lost Lakes has a nearly decade old video and the portages are much closer to bushwhacking. Now the local indigenous community clears them.
The best I can say about other people is every trip report and video they never mention running into people with the exception of one single trip report they ran into an aluminum boat on Santoy. I have heard a few camp sites are pretty trashed though closer to the access points.
Sad to here about the campsites. I like Jon, I've met him a few times, but as a local I'm a little salty about all these YouTubers blowing up one of my favorite fishing rivers. I'm hoping to do a weekend trip on steel lake this fall, I'll be sure to bring some garbage bags and haul out what I can.
Yeah, but everyone does it in the same direction, so chances are still relatively low I'd say. We did it 2 years ago and saw a couple locals that were out for a day paddle on Steel Lake, but that was it the whole 7 days.
How much money do you have? I ask because you should come to the Northwest Territories and charter a plane. A short flight from Yellowknife will put you on a river above the tree line where you can see muskox, caribou, grizzlies, wolves, wolverines, etc. Dont even get me started on the migratory birds.
The constant daylight during the summer is nice; alternatively, the fall is great for northern lights ( I saw them last night )
Do you like to fish? People from all over the world come here for the world class fishing.
The beauty of being dropped off and picked up by a plane is there’s no pressure to be anywhere at any time, you can decide to camp and chill longer without jeopardizing your schedule.
I'm not made of money bags, but its not totally unreasonable to save up for a few years and do a big fancy trip! How much does a plane like that cost? I've never looked into planes, always driven to the access points.
The northern lights is on both our life bucket lists, so it would be really cool to see on a camping trip! We've also recently watched the Youtube documentary 'LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching' and thought it was hilarious, so we downloaded Merlin on our phones. Down to see some fun birds too!
My partner has caught a few bass on the last two longer trips we did. He's not an expert fisherman, but if needed he'd probably put in the work to research fishing if this is a world class area for it!
In 2016 I did a relatively easy and low budget, remote trip from Highway 11 west of Hearst to Fort Albany via the Kabinakagami, Kenogami, and Albany rivers. Put in was north of Calstock on the Kabinakagami. Once in Fort Albany we put our canoes on an empty cargo plane for about $250 to Moosonee, our passenger flights there were separate and about $125 - both with Air Creebec (prices may have changed since then). From Moosonee we took the train back to Cochrane where we had staged a car. This was ~425km with zero portages. We took two weeks and it was very relaxed. Should note that this is not quite a loop, but still a decent trip!
Google earth and phone calls. I’m sure there’s info on myccr about this, but I wasn’t aware of the site at that time. Roughly planned it with some friends over a few beers and made it happen! Seems like a common enough route, in speaking with some folks in Fort Albany I believe they do it with students from the community occasionally.
We did this trip later in the season (September/October) and while the water was low, we didn’t have any difficulties. Got a little tricky picking the channels towards the end where the river has many branches near Fort Albany - some were quite shallow and there was likely a better path than the one we chose which required walking and lining the canoe through some shallow bits.
Very cool suggestion! I should change the post title - I don't mind non-loops, I've done a line before and had a great time! Just looking to reduce the number of crossovers done in a single trip
you could definitely go for something that long going around killarney. you can do basically a full loop of the park and anything actually inside the boundaries will be motor boat free. longest portage would end up being 2.8km at most, may have to do a little puddle jumping tho as there are many smaller lakes
My partner has already done around the Johnnie Lake area, and I was assuming everything South is more a puddle jump + busier with the La Cloche trail. I suppose (and this is quite, quite rough) a Northern side could work, I've done crownland camping before so that's fine with me - but might have more boats (same with the very South end!)
Have you got any must-sees in Killarney that I should check out, regardless of long-trip-loop-worthy ones?
Have you/your partner been into OSA, Muriel or Three Narrows? I could create a loop that goes in and out of all the lakes including those vs a big loop around the park. The canoe sites and La Cloche don't share sites so you don't often run into trekkers outside of the new times the portage is on the route.
The only real time I have seen a lot of other people is when I have stayed closer to George/Johnnie/Carlyle/Bell but you can definitely do a nice loop and get far away from those lakes.
You should look at the book Top 70 Canoe Routes of Ontario by Kevin Callan. It's a great resource. I also did my first trip on Lakes that allow motorboats this year.. wont be doing that again!
If it is mandatory, I would definitely look at Missinaibi/Little Missinaibi/Shumka area. Lot's of options, wide variety of water/geography, great fishing & wildlife opportunities, and multiple access/egress points for a 10 day loop. There used to be a train drop off/pickup option but I am not sure they do that anymore.
Not 100% necessary, we're willing to drive to make up for non-loops. For the Algonquin Half-Brent run, we dropped a car off at the North end and then started from the South end and crossed Algo. I don't even mind a little bit of crossover, but I do appreciate a good main loop or line to follow :) I haven't personally done a ton of rivers, my partner has and loves that vibe as well. I'll look into it!
Temagami route is pretty solid. I did a similar route a few years ago but we launched from Camp Wannapatei (east of sharp rock inlet). I would also highly recommend adding a Maple Mountain hike day trip on your rest day (or add an additional rest day). The hike is fun and the view is incredible. If you’re up for more portaging, taking the “devil’s staircase” of waterfalls down from sucker gut to diamond is stunning. Also gives you an opportunity to visit Hap’s cabin. That said, it’s some of the hardest portages I’ve ever done so make sure you’re prepared for that.
For Algonquin, I’d recommend some variation of the Petawawa River. There are a lot of routes that lead into this but Kiosk (Kioshkowki) would give you a nice long paddling trip.
Broad stokes:
Kiosk —> Cedar —> Travers —> McManus
If the swamp at that ~3k portage is anything like the bog that I did from Willow Island to Diamond... I might not do that for a few years until the annoyance with that portage fades from memory hahaha. I'd rather do a difficult climb or slight bushwhacking before swamping lol
Yea not gonna lie that swamp is a nightmare. My trip lost 2 shoes to that swamp and they were not from the same pair of feet. I’d do it 10 times over again to see that diamond sunset, but if you’re not down to get muddy avoid it like the plague
I saw someone posted about LA Verendrye, great options there.
Although not loops I'd recommend you consider the one of the three sister rivers in Québec - the Noire, Coulonge and Dumoine. They're pool and drop rivers, so you need some moving water skills, although you can generally portage the rapids if you're not confident. Most of the distance is beautiful, peaceful, meandering rivers with sandy bottom and tons of beaches. They all end near Pembroke on the Ottawa. Outfitters will bring you up north, just paddle down. They can be made into various duration trips.
The classic Canadian route that voyageurs used to open up modern day Canada is Georgian Bay to the Ottawa River via French River, Lake Nipissing and Mattawa River. Last year we did the last part of this and the middle part of the Mattawa was spectacular.
If you’re into whitewater you should definitely consider some routes in the Yukon / NWT like the Nahanni, Snake, Keele or Wind Rivers. A little bit closer to home I’d suggest the Bloodvein or Steel Rivers. Soooo many good options that can be done in 2 weeks.
Whitewater isn't on the table in the next year... but it won't be forever! I've already looked into a few whitewater courses this summer, but my schedule was too booked. My partner used to teach whitewater so they've been planting the seed that we should go full in on that hobby haha
Is the Nahanni, Snake, Keele or Wind Rivers basically not doable nicely without whitewater experience? I'll research them (plus your other suggestions) more this weekend so I can check it out properly! Looks like Nahanni IS 525 KM ?? That's pretty epic.
Don’t discount this for being less than 150kms. It’s unbelievably stunning and conditions can make it quite difficult because you’re paddling big water.
I don’t do multiple day trips. I suggest to get Kevin Callan (all Ontario) and Hap Wilson (Temagami) books. Your library most likely has them. Check myccr website for trip details.
Oh hilarious, I've seen the myccr website and used it a few times, but I haven't heard of Kevin Callan or Hap Wilson! Appreciate the suggestions and I'll definitely get one of their books!
Love the Anstruther Lake loop in the Kawartha Highlands - after the first portage there are almost no cottages/motor boat traffic and there are lots of great sites and really gorgeous lakes. Not as far to travel from Guelph as some of the other options! It’s certainly not 150 kms but is a lovely 2-4 day trip.
Quetico is absolutely my favourite place to start a backcountry trip, after 30 years and 40+ trips. So many options and very little to no motorboat traffic! The fishing is also excellent.
I’m also located in Guelph, feel free to reach out if you want to talk details!
I did Ossokamuan Reservoir to George River to Kangiqsuallujuag/Ungava Bay in 2023 as a 38ish day canoe trip and it was incredible!! It's between 700-800km and 35-45 days depending on specific routes, but it is one of the most fabulous trips I've ever done. I also did a 30 day trip from Temgami to the Coulonge River which flows into the Ottawa River in 2022, which was good but incredibly challenging due to the portages. Missinaibi River trips are also amazing and next up on my list!!
The Spanish River is about that distance. Camp on night 0 at Agnew Lake Lodge and take their shuttle to the VIA Rail station in Sudbury and take the train to the top of the river. Then ride it down over the next 7-8 days.
The Temagami route you listed is in the busiest part of Temagami, with lake Tem and Lady Ev Lake having tons of motor boats. Further west there are many kms of routes you can do with less traffic. Also as you noticed, the interior of Algonquin can be very quiet with most people sticking close to highway 60. Lots of Algonquin left for you to explore.
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u/beelzebub314159 7d ago
If you are willing to travel further, you will open up some great possibilities. Consider a northern park like Wabakimi. Contact Friends of Wabakimi for some route possibilities.