La Verendrye Circuit 34 Portage Larouche

CanadaQuebec04 Ottawa
Submitter & Author Information
Route submitted by: 
Andrew Chapman
Trip Date : 
July 6-9, 2022
Additional Route Information
Distance: 
44 km
Duration: 
4 days
Loop Trip: 
Yes
Portage Information
No. of portages: 
6
Total Portage Distance: 
735 m
Longest Portage: 
360 m
Difficulty Ratings
River Travel: 
Not applicable
Lake Travel: 
Novice
Portaging: 
Easy
Remoteness: 
Novice
Background Trip Info
Water Levels: 
High
Route Description
Access to Put-In Information: 

We drove from Montreal on July 6, 2022, and checked in to Le Domaine. We drove for another half an hour or so, up the 117, and onto road #28. Turn left at the “Portage” sign. There is a sign indicating where to park for canoe-camping at the Portage camping site.

Technical Guide: 

Put-in at Portage campground site
West on Lac du Portage.
Runnable passage into Lac Larouche
South on Lac Larouche.
185 m portage into Lac Fada and Lac Moran
Push over multiple beaver dams to avoid 360m portage into lac Quenelle
Runnable stream to Lac Mitchell
Portage over road onto Moran Creek.
West on Lac Duman
Runnable creek into Lac Nizard
Rocky portage to Lac Racine.
Mandatory portage into Grand Lac.
Portage at camping Grand Barrage.
Take-out on Lac au Barrage.

Trip Journal/Log/Report/Diary: 

The route has a lot of beautiful creeks and relatively small lakes that are sheltered from the wind. Most campsites have a great character, located on rocky points of land.  Most portages cannot be avoided, and go around roads or chutes, but they are at least short. There are no rapids to navigate.

I suggest doing this circuit over 4 days and three nights, to allow time for driving on the first and last days. 

 We put-in around 1:00 at the Portage campsite. Weather was ideal, with low wind and waves.  (In 2020 we had a hard time paddling in strong wind and waves, and stayed at the island site in Lac du Portage which was an okay but not awesome campsite). Avoid the low-lying site 34-14 on Lac Larouche. We paddled about 3 and a half hours, and stayed at 34-24 on Lac Larouche.  Both this site, and the nearby island site 34-23 are great.

After portaging over the road, and getting on Lac Fada and Moran, we had to push over 8 small beaver dams in a very serpentine creek, to avoid the portage to get to Lac Quenelle.  Ask if the water is high or low, because low water would mean either getting out to walk the canoe, or portaging, which would probably be much easier. We had lunch at Lac Quenelle at the second campsite which up on the hill a bit with a good view.

We did not see much in the way of beaver dams on Moran Creek when we were there.  Wonderful scenery in all of these streams connecting the lakes. Turtle and beaver sightings.

We stayed at 34-43 in Lac Duman on the second night.  Nice rocky point but not much Feng Shui for seating around the fire, with bushes blocking the view.  Small snake hung out at the fire pit. Avoid 34-47.

There are two awesome campsites on Lac Nizard, at the southernmost part of the route; 33-14 (where we had lunch) and 33-16.

The 100 m portage exiting Lac Nizard, on the right side, is over an irregular jumble of sizable rocks, so you need grippy footwear.  The beaver dam was easily passable when we went.  The campsite just afterwards, 33-10 on a small rocky point, looked small but interesting, with a nice view of a small lake. 

The next 100 m portage is on the left, and a bit easier to navigate.

We stayed at 30-08 on Grad Lac on the third night. Fireplace a bit exposed, but we had low wind.  Site 30-10 is also a good site.

The portage at the Grand Barrage campground is separate from the boat put-in for the campground, and it has a separate portage sign to the left.  You can take either the direct, rough trail, or walk on the road through the campground. Takes about the same amount of time.

At the take-out, to avoid the steep 245 m portage, you can take the canoe out of the water at the Overnight Camping location.  There is a sign for it in the corner of the bay, to the left of the portage sign in the middle of the bay.  You can then walk over to bring your vehicle to the canoe.  The Overnight Camping location is large, barren, and has an outhouse.  At the time we went, the short access road to this area was very uneven, with big rocks and holes, and we were worried about getting stuck. You will likely need at least a small SUV to access the area.

 

Maps Required
Topo Maps (1:50,000): 
Topo Maps (1:250,000): 
Other Maps: 
Canoe Camping de la Verendrye Carte #2, obtained online or at the reception desk.
Other
Suggested Resource Material: