Trip Rating: 5/5
Every year we rent a cottage as a family. We try to find something off the beaten path and not in the traditional "cottage country". After much research, we decided to rent one of the very few cottages available on LaCloche Lake. Most of the bell shaped lake is an unserviced Provincial Park, the North East side has the only public boat access and less than 20 cottages.
The park features the west end of the LaCloche Mountian range, made famous on the east end of the range by the Group of Seven's paintings of them in Killarney Provincial Park. As well, there are small streams and waterfalls to be explored. It's close proximity to the North Channel was another plus, that will be covered in a future post.
For information on the cabin we rented, visit www.laclochelakecamp.com
Launch Sites:
There is a public boat ramp at the end of LaCloche Lake Road. Parking is a real issue but get there early and respect all of the signs.The park is unserviced, there are no washrooms nearby. However, the Town of Massey is a 15 minute drive away.
Trip Lengths:
1. Heading to the East side of the Lake and back is about 16-18km round trip if you see all of the features. It is gorgeous. Huge rock faces, natural springs and towering pines, every where you look is amazing. Something to note is, there was a steady wind across the entire week that we were there. In some cases it caused large waves (for the size of the lake) and difficult paddling conditions. I had to make sure I was prepared.
2. To the West is the park: This part of the park features the mountains, they are stunning. On the first day, we watched a storm roll over the mountains, it was beautiful. I decided to paddle this stretch of the lake twice, the first time to see if I could find the creek that comes off of the lake and empties into the North Channel. I found a small chute with a hiking trail, the creek winds its ways through the mountains and over 2 waterfalls on its way to the channel.