Muldrew - Onaping Lake Loop | ||
| Route description submitted By: | ||
General Info | Difficulty Ratings | |
| Distance: 41 km Duration : 3 days Loop Trip : yes | River Travel : novice Lake Travel : novice Portaging : Moderate Remoteness : novice | |
Portage Info | Maps Required | |
| No. of Portages : 9 Total Length: 2350 m Average Length: 261 m Longest Portage : 750 m | Topo Maps (1:50,000) 41 P/4 Low Water Lake | |
Handicapped Accessibility | GPX Data for this Route | |
 Suitability : poor | no gpx data found | |
Route Description | ||
| Acess via Hwy 144 north of Cartier
South through narrows then northeast Into Muldrew Creek P 300 m around rapids P 200 m L around rapids Swift Beaver Dams P 150 m R around rapids into Muldrew Bay on Onaping Lake Southeast along Muldrew Bay to Green Bay Into Fairburn Lake Into shallow, marshy creek P 200 m at end of Fairburn to Hough Creek widening P 350 m R into small marshy lake P 100 m into Twisted Lake To west end of Twisted Lake P 100 m into Hough Lake To west end of Lake P 150 m to McDougall Lake To west end of Lake P 750 m to Muldrew Lake North through Muldrew Lake to finish at Hwy | ||
General Comments | ||
Trip Log / Diary | ||
| Put in 42 km north of Cartier on Hwy 144. There is a boat launch with lots of room for parking and you can camp there if necesary. Paddle south for 1 1/2 km and east through narrows and follow the lake . There is a campsite with room for a couple of tents (45200e 5213300 n)
Heading northeast takes you to a shallow swift that usually can be floated through on the left or may have to be waded. Further down there is a campsite on the point (453300e 5216100n) suitable for a couple of tents. Also just past the point at (453600e 5216300n) on the island and room for 3 or more tents. At the far northeast end of the lake is Muldrew creek . This starts out as a shallow bouldery rapids with an old log sluice still in evidence . The portage is on the right about 300 meters and gently rolling . From there follow the creek to another rapid with the portage on the Left about 1 1/2 kilometers down . Portage is fairly flat and about 200 meters in length. Not far down is a swift that can be floated down and then there is a few low beaver dams to paddle over . The next portage is on the right at the start of the rapids that flow into Muldrew Bay of Onaping Lake. About 150 m to the first put in near the bottom of the rapid or on another 50 meters to Muldrew Bay. Again a fairly easy portage . There were a few potential campsites along here but we didn't stop to check them out. They would need some clearing though as this route has not been used since the log drive days. Paddle southeast along Muldrew Bay. There is a campsite at (459300e 5259300n) Good for 1 or 2 tents. On into Green Bay. There looked to be a fairly large campsite on one of the islands just north of the Onaping tp. line. It was in use at the time so we didn't check it. From there on down we didn't notice any campsites till Fairbairn Lake. There is a nice small campsite here (459150e 5209100n) good for one tent. At the south end there is a shallow, marshy creek with a Beaver dam. The water was too shallow for a section and the canoe had to be pulled to and over the beaver dam. The bottom is fairly solid. From there to the portage was good paddling in a small unnamed lake. The portage is uphill at first and then back down at the other end . From here, paddle along the right shore to the outlet of Hough Creek. The portage is along the right side and is fairly level for about 350 meters to a small marshy lake. Paddle across to the portage into Twisted Lake. About 100 meters starts out marshy but you can keep your feet dry. Twisted Lake is a very beautiful lake and is reported to have good fishing for pike. There is a fair campsite on an island at (456900e 5206750n) At the west end of Twisted Lake is a 100 meter portage into Hough Lake. The east end of Hough is pretty with the west being shallow and marshy. From the west end of Hough is a 150 meter portage into McDougall Lake. Another pretty lake with fishing for pike and lake trout. At the west end the portage back to Muldrew is located. At 750 meters the longest but the last carry of the trip. Starts out boggy but goes to gently rolling. There are a few sections of boulders to carry over. At reaching Muldrew there is an excellent campsite a bit over 1 km to the south with room for at least 3 tents (453350e 5205200n) just off the edge of the map. From there paddle north. There is an old lumber camp with decaying log buildings and old sled runners at (452750e 5209750n). There is a possible campsite on the sand beach on the west bank opposite the log camp. Good place to go for a swim. Paddling on north, the lake gets gradually shallower but is still deep enough to go through with a canoe. Then you get back to deep water and the section you paddled on the way in and back to your vehicle. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me Scouter Joe | ||
Photo Gallery | ||
User Submitted Information | ||
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Submitted by: Helen Heubi | ||
Soooo, there are two Muldrew Lakes. I know of one southwest of Gravenhurst. Where is this one? Helen | ||
Submitted by: Doug Munn | ||
The campsites on Onaping were very used and abused with a lot of broken beer bottles and other trash. From Fairbairn Lake to the small unnamed lake the beaver dams and marsh were grown in and we dragged the canoes through the tall grass on the muskeg for 200m. The other portages were rugged and challenging. Our trip was excellent and very enjoyable! | ||
Submitted by: Sid Bredin | ||
A photo log of this loop can been viewed at: http://canoedog.ca/trips/muldrewonapingloop.asp | ||
