Skip to content

Details

June 4-5. Massasauga Provincial Park.

Start dreaming http://www.flickr.com/photos/zelcam/3890081528/in/set-72157594234988366/ (click on photo to full-screen)

Estimated duration of drive north is four hours. Caravan leaves Saturday, June 4th, at 7am, from Tim Horton's, Northfield and Weber, Waterloo. If carpooling, leftover cars can park at my place which is close by. Returning Sunday.

Massasauga Provincial Park, Three Legged Lake access point, Spider Lake, Site 012 reserved, the best sites were already taken. $11.75/person/night for a backcountry permit, only Saturday night required in our case. Pickup permits at Oastlier Provincial Park on the way in.

Estimated 6 km paddle to the site requiring one 370 meter portage. No motorboats on Spider Lake.

=======================================

Canoe Rental:

The park itself, 705-378-2401, rents at $42/day, however, they don't deliver to the access point.

Two outfitters do deliver but delivery charges are prohibitive, you don't want to know! The solution is to pick up canoes ourselves if renting.

Swift Canoes, 705-538-0881, $35/day, $10 for kit to strap to car roof. Swift is on the way up. They are open until 7 pm Sunday for returns. Their Waubaushene store is the closest to the park. http://swiftoutside.com/stores/rentals.php

White Squall Paddle Center, 705-342-5324, $28/day, strapping to roof is part of the rental fee. White Squall is 40 minutes north of our exit off hwy 400. They are open until 5:30 Sunday, with options to drop off later. http://www.whitesquall.com/rentals.html .

Adventure Guide, Waterloo, $40/day, pickup Friday, return Monday

Conclusion: White Squall is the cheapest but time consuming. Swift works fine if a car roof is available on the way up. Adventure Guide results in no messing around the days of. The park isn't a bad option, if needs be, drop off one canoe, return 9 km with roof-racked car for another. As of June 1, we have two vehicles going, both with roof racks. The no-brainer is to rent and shuttle additional canoes from Oastlier Provincial Park on the way in.

=========================================

Adventure Guide, Waterloo, sells Massasauga Park maps, $10.

You may also like