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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 7:26 am 
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Always gone to LaV but never been to Algonquin, thinking about trying something different this Sept. From what I gather Algonquin get much more visitors but you can reserve a site on a lake, but not the specific campsite, that’s still first come first served? Ie you have a reservation to camp on X lake not Y site on X lake?

Unlike LaV where on a holiday weekend if you paddle out from le domaine you could have difficulty finding a free campsite, unless you’re a group and can reserve an R site. I know this isn’t an issue on the more remote loops north of le domaine. It would be nice to be able to reserve specific sites at LaV

LaV routes mostly have minimal portages, and usually short. It seems Algonquin routes tend to have more or longer portages?

Algonquin better for big wildlife because there’s no hunting season?

LaV big lakes almost all have motorboats, does Algonquin?

LaV has some areas where there are lots of great beach sites, does Algonquin have some great beach sites/lakes?

Any other comparisons worth mentioning?


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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 8:31 am 
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LaV is way bigger - like twice the size or more.

LaV they limit how many people go on the routes - so if you showed up to do 10+11 you might be simply told "no" that it is too busy, and they'd suggested a different route that is less busy. So you don't necessarily always get to go where you want, but usually that is only an issue if you show up on a Friday. If you can start your trip earlier in the week you should be good.

LaV portages tend to be a lot shorter than Algonquin though there are a few marathons as well. There are also Sepaq scattered throughout LaV so it is possible to go car camping even in the remote areas.

I've done a bit of Algonquin and do want to do a bit more - but I'm wary of not being able to book a specific site. Also wary of the long portages. I know LaV you can't book either but they control traffic and my trips would mostly be starting on a Monday or Tuesday so the system there works well for me. I've also travelled a lot in groups of 10-15 so have taken advantage of the R sites.

Oh in addition to the R resevable sites there are also F reservable sites that are meant for families, and you can stay on them for multiple days in a row unlike the R sites.


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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 8:51 am 
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Joined: April 5th, 2011, 5:30 pm
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Prospector16 wrote:
LaV is way bigger - like twice the size or more.

LaV they limit how many people go on the routes - so if you showed up to do 10+11 you might be simply told "no" that it is too busy, and they'd suggested a different route that is less busy. So you don't necessarily always get to go where you want, but usually that is only an issue if you show up on a Friday. If you can start your trip earlier in the week you should be good.

LaV portages tend to be a lot shorter than Algonquin though there are a few marathons as well. There are also Sepaq scattered throughout LaV so it is possible to go car camping even in the remote areas.

I've done a bit of Algonquin and do want to do a bit more - but I'm wary of not being able to book a specific site. Also wary of the long portages. I know LaV you can't book either but they control traffic and my trips would mostly be starting on a Monday or Tuesday so the system there works well for me. I've also travelled a lot in groups of 10-15 so have taken advantage of the R sites.

Oh in addition to the R resevable sites there are also F reservable sites that are meant for families, and you can stay on them for multiple days in a row unlike the R sites.


Thanks, scenery wise, similar? Much motorboat activity in Algonquin?


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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 10:04 am 
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Joined: December 29th, 2002, 7:00 pm
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Location: Bancroft, Ontario Canada
Many APP lakes are closed to motorboats... wrt scenery, if you are going in late Sept about 2/3 of APP on the west side is dominated by sugar maple forests which can provide some great color if the timing's right. IIRC La V is closed for hunting at this time.

The maple dominated forests will be different in character... IIRC there are some sugar maples in La V but not dominant like in APP. From the Wiki...

La Vérendrye's landscape is typical of the Canadian Shield. The main tree species include black spruce, white spruce, jack pine, eastern white pine, red pine, and white birch.

Late Sept is also a good time for brook trout fishing once the surface waters cool off... simply amazing fact for the day - APP contains the world's most concentrated distribution of brook trout lakes, about 230 IIRC.

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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 2:10 pm 
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Location: Kingston, ON
While Lav is bigger than APP, Algonquin has more canoe routes and offers more environmental variety. Lav caters to canoe, RV, ATV and fishing boat crowds. Logging is also more prevalent in the summer months. For the most part it is held off until the shoulder seasons in APP. On the other hand Lav is not as buy as APP. Unless you are leading a Scout group the reservable site thing isn't an issue. I'm think most trippers would prefer the flexibility of not having defined site reservations.


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PostPosted: August 16th, 2020, 3:37 pm 
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Used to do lots of Algonquin tripping. In June no crowds( the blackflies are good crowd control) and after school started the crowds diminished in Sept. Its been about five years but I never reserved a route ahead of time. I did march up to the office with several routes in mind just in case.

The funniest thing is starting at Canoe Lake midweek in Sept and emerging ten days later from that Joe Lake. Thought I was going to get runover by people who could not steer. Hordes on a Friday! But put a few ports inbetween you and the entry point and you will be fine.


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PostPosted: August 17th, 2020, 5:10 pm 
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LaV shuts down mid Sept for hunting.


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