View topic - Route Recommendations - 10 day trip Algonquin

Hello!
My partner and I are planning on doing an approximately 10 day canoe trip in July. We are thinking of Algonquin but would also consider Temagami. We don't have a canoe and have nowhere to keep a canoe at this time so we need to be able to rent one. We have done short (three day) canoe trips in the past and are competent but not expert paddlers. We have spent a lot of time backcountry hiking and camping. We are a bit overwhelmed with all the possibilities right now in terms of planning a route and would appreciate if anyone could offer advice on good starting points, particularly nice areas, or any nice routes we could consider.
Thank you in advance!!

You can pick up a canoe in Oxtongue Lake or in Whitney. Then transport it to wherever you want . Or you can start at Canoe Lake, Opeongo or Britt, where there are rental facilities. Or you can have an outfitter drop off a canoe at the entry point of your choice.

Where are you coming from? How do you feel about portaging? There are dozens of places to start, and ten days is a lot of time to fill. Get an Algonquin map and start dreaming.

To plan a trip I assume I can travel an average of 20 km in a day
I then cut a string to the map scale 20 km long.
Then I put one end of the string on an access point and lay the string on the proposed route, moving it for each day, making some kind of big circle.
Then having roughly decided the route, I check the distance each day for paddling and portaging and adjust each day accordingly.
I plan to paddle 4 km/hr and portage 1 km/hr (two carries). I impose a maximum total portage of 6 km per day and a maximum travel time of 10 hours (but not 2 ten hour days in a row). Of course you should adjust all the figures to what you would like)
The first and last days I often plan shorter to allow for travel time, otherwise I get up very early and arrive at the park office at 8:00 am when they open. Some people plan rest days with no travel, but I get too bored in camp.


Here are a few suggestions that I have done. They can all be shortened or lengthened by going in a slightly bigger or smaller circle.

Access Kiosk
1 Cauchon
2 Cedar
3 Catfish
4 Burnt Root
5 Nadine
6 Erables
7 Three Mile
8 Manitou
9 Rest day somewhere
End at Kiosk

Acess Opeongo
1 Opeongo North Arm
2 Big |trout
3 Lake La Muir
4 Big Crow
5 Lavielle
6 Dickson
7 McKaskill
8 Booth
9 Opeongo East Arm

Access Tim Lake (town of Kearney, rental available)
1 Nippising River
2 Nippising River
3 Nippising River
4 Cedar
5 Catfish
6 Burnt Root
7 White Trout
8 Misty
9 Rosebary

If you want to get away from the crowds I would recommend the west side of Temagami

Access Sturgeon River at Gervais Rd. (canoe rental in Sudbury)
1 Ghoul (there is a good campsite at the portage)
2 Perkins (following the Sturgeon River)
3 Pilgrim Triangle
4 Seagram (via Yorston Lake)
5 Blue Sucker (via the Yorston River)
6 Florence
7 South Lady Evelyn River
8 McCulloch
9 Woods

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shearjoy Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh

Thanks for the response! We are coming from Aurora. We don't mind portaging but would rather it not take up the majority of the day sort of thing.





Wow thanks so much Shearjoy. That is extremely helpful! We will have a look into some of those routes.

Very good advise from shearjoy but I'd avoid traveling South Lady Evelyn, day 7 - even in high water, even downstream it could be a long walk in the mud.