Montreal or Ottawa suggestions

[coldfeet]

Hello folks, thinking about going on a short 4-5 day paddle trip in those areas. Will be in the NY ADK area on a group paddle and then hoping to take a drive up North for a few days. Any suggestions? I would like to do a 3 day loop if possible. Maybe even a neat base camping idea with day tripping. I saw a few wildlife sanctuaries north and northwest of Montreal. I went to Algonquin a few years ago and would like to visit Canada again, especially since I'm a Chestnut owner! thanks

 

[recped]

If you are looking for flatwater paddling in a loop check out La Verandrye, for sure you can find one that suites your needs.

http://www.canot-camping.ca/home.html

The area is somewhat like Algonquin with about 5% of the people. Motorboats are allowed on some of the bigger lakes but they rarely venture far from the campgrounds.

A few years ago I took a newbie friend there, we spent 5 nights on Grand Lac Victoria in August. There were lots of car campers and motorboats at the put-in, we paddled a couple of hours down the lake and then never saw or heard anyone the entire time. If you do 1 or 2 portages you likely won't encounter anyone for sure. There are many route options and if you want to try something that is not a loop there are shuttle services available.

Closer to Ottawa or Montreal it's more river travel rather than lakes.

 

[sweeper]

Frontenac or Kawartha Highlands I have been to either but have the maps.

 

[Odyssey]

Here is an interactive map for some Quebec destinations: https://www.sepaq.com/quoi-faire/canot.dot?language_id=1
Years ago I paddled a loop in both Mastigouche and La Mauricie, both worth the 2 hour drive out of Montreal.
Here are some Ottawa valley region ideas: http://www.ottawavalley.travel/docs/paddleroutes.pdf
And a return to Algonquin is not a bad idea either.

 

[coldfeet]

oops, forgot to mention it's for next August 2019

Will do some reading on it, thanks folks.

 

[sweeper]

I assumed you weren't packing for it.

 

[frozentripper]

A base camping idea in Algonquin and not too far from Ottawa could be to drive to the end of the Achray road and reserve a campsite on Travers well in advance. August will be crowded, however, not as bad as the Hwy 60 campgrounds and the Travers campsites are separated by some distance. Day trips should get you into areas with few others. Some of the area features and activities are listedbelow... some are on the lake, others are daytrips and others are drive-in.

- sand beach campsites
- fishing
- white water play in the Petawawa if there's enough water in it
- day hike to the Eustache cliffs
- day trip to the Barron canyon, hike in or paddle, very popular
- bike the cart trail into White Partridge lake
- natural features and wildlife along the Achray road (Mike Runce's book on exploring APP)
- paddle Grand lake and Carcajou Bay
- visit the waterslide near Stratton and St. Andrews
- theater presentations at Achray
- wolf howls, maybe
-

 

[coldfeet]

Thanks folks, looks like I'[ll end up staying in the states and possibly work on some of the NFCT sections in NY or VT instead with a few others. I really did want to get up North, guess it will have to wait another summer. Will keep your ideas written down, thanks.