Killarney - Walker lake to Van Winkle

CanadaOntarioGeorgian Bay coast
Submitter & Author Information
Route submitted by: 
Carole
Trip Date : 
Additional Route Information
Distance: 
20 km
Duration: 
2 days
Loop Trip: 
No
Portage Information
No. of portages: 
1
Total Portage Distance: 
195 m
Longest Portage: 
0 m
Difficulty Ratings
River Travel: 
Not applicable
Lake Travel: 
Novice
Portaging: 
Easy
Remoteness: 
Novice
Background Trip Info
Water Levels: 
Unknown
Route Description
Access to Put-In Information: 

We used the Killarney park map - entrance is via Espanola off of Queensway Ave to Panage Lake road - make sure to get your parking pass prior to heading out

Make sure to use a map as it is hard to find the entrance

There is also a resort in the area - Mountain Cove Lodge

Trip Journal/Log/Report/Diary: 

The drive to Walker Lake is good except the last kilometer or so.  It’s very rough!!!  We arrived at Walker Lake and loaded the canoes and headed to the portage.  It took us a couple of hours to paddle.  We stopped for lunch at Picnic Island.  We paddled through Little Bear to Rocky channel and saw a sign “Active bear bait in area, camp at own risk”.  We were not too impressed at seeing that sign at all especially on a park campsite.  We took a peak at a couple of sites as we paddled through the area and went on to the portage to Van Winkle.  It’s not a terribly hard portage, a little steep but not a long one.  At the other end of the portage there were boats and canoes lining the shore. We loaded our boats and paddled to the very far island and spent two nights there.  The island has many flat spots for tents.

 On Saturday we had our coffee and sat around contemplating our day.   The wind was fierce so we decided to put the tarps up.  Glad we put them up to make a shelter around the fire pit cause the wind was nasty that evening.  There were wolvees in the area and they were very vocal!!!

On Sunday we packed and headed back to the portage.  We paddled down Rocky Channel made a quick stop at picnic island  for a rest and snacks then went on to the access point on Walker Lake.

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