| Starting Lake | Ending Lake | Distance (m) | Commentary | Photos | Season | Report Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Lake | David Creek | 680 | The trail was well-maintained and fairly easy to locate (to the right of the Silver Peak trail dock), and we finished it in around 45 minutes with a double-back. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| David Creek | David Lake | 210 | We paddled for about 10 minutes to the 210m trail, which was very well maintained and easy to navigate. It took us a little over 15 minutes to get all of our kit across, with a double back! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| David Lake | Great Mountain Lake | 2780 | The beginning of the portage was fairly flat, although not particularly well maintained, as much of the first 200~ metres was overgrown, and there were multiple fallen trees to clamber over. One tree was of such a diameter that my co-tripper (5’2”) couldn’t get over the log without her feet leaving the ground. After a stretch of fairly manageable and much more open forest, we made it to what I thought would be a good break point. We headed up a steep embankment - marked at 11 degrees for 60m on Jeff’s map. The hill was hard work, but not overwhelming, and we powered through. It was at this point that I became aware that we were less far along the trail than I had initially thought. The track was seemingly neverending, winding through endless identical swathes of forest. If not for some helpful red pieces of marking tape along the way, it would have been very easy to lose our way. After another 20 minutes of walking, we reached the second stretch of significant elevation, marked at 13 degrees for 190m. This was brutal, a steep woodland path that opened out to an exposed rock face. With a canoe and a pack, balancing on the exposed rock was especially difficult, and at one point, I opted to ‘lunchbox’ the canoe with the help of another person to make sure that I didn’t lose my footing! After some winding forest (including some muddy patches) we finally reached the end, heading down a steeper woodland trail to the put-in, which was rather narrow and steep. All in all, it had taken a little less than an hour to reach the end. With a double-back and some more breaks, we had spent roughly 3 hours on this particular portage, and it was definitely the most challenging aspect of our trip! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Great Mountain Lake | Fish Lake | 440 | The trail was well-maintained and relatively flat, although the unload was pretty boggy. After about half an hour on the portage, we reached the other side, and explored the abandoned cabin on Fish Lake - with beds, tables, plates and bottles all intact (although definitely worse for wear). | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Fish Lake | Gem Lake | 150 | This portage was decently well-maintained and the trail itself posed no issues. However, the other end was extremely muddy and boggy, and we decided to cut a path around to the right of the put-in to avoid the muddiest stretches. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Gem Lake | Howry Lake | 150 | After a very slow paddle to the next portage, savouring the majestic view, we crossed the final 150 metre stretch with relative ease. The put-in to Howry Lake was a little steep, but following some precise footwork we progressed to our campsite (#246) after a further 45 minutes of paddling, having been on the move for about 5 hours. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Howry Lake | Cat Lake | 720 | We were able to carry all of our kit to the start of the portage overland, heading straight from site #246 to the 720m trail. The track was very steep to start, (Jeff says 13 degrees for 140m), but after the initial hill was very manageable. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Cat Lake | Van Winkle Lake | 490 | We reached Cat Lake at the other end and paddled across without any trouble, sighting the 490 m portage from the other side. This one was also steep at the start, and the unload was pretty challenging, but thanks to our mountain goat-like agility, we scampered up and finished the rest of the portage without much fuss. Then we reached Van Winkle Lake, a pleasant, if unremarkable lake, and paddled its length within an hour or so, not including a brief bagel stop at site #232. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Van Winkle Lake | Hanwood Lake | 90 | The 90m portage at the end of Van Winkle was a little hard to locate, and very steep, so we opted to ‘lunchbox’ the canoes with two people at each end. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Hanwood Lake | Leech Lake | 150 | After following Hanwood Lake westwards for another half an hour, we got to a 150 m portage that was marred by a fallen tree. I had to deploy my 6’2” frame and long (model-like) legs to carry the canoes over the log, as my co-tripper’s shorter legs couldn’t successfully straddle the tree! The entrance to the portage was a little concealed in the undergrowth, but we managed to find it alright. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Leech Lake | Murray Lake | 1060 | We then headed down Leech Lake towards our final portage, with the incredible La Cloche mountains looming in front of us. Savouring the view, we made our way to the start of the 1060m portage, which can be found almost immediately to the east of site 224, down a short creek. The portage was fairly straightforward, ending with a steady descent down towards Murray Lake. Jeff and his Maps had warned us of poison ivy at the portage’s end, so we walked carefully and kept our kit away from the trail’s edge. We didn’t see much, but there’s no harm in being cautious! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Murray Lake | Carmichael Lake | 1400 | It was certainly steep at the start (Jeff marks it at 23!!! degrees for 110m) and a definite workout, but after the opening steep section was much more manageable. About midway through, the trail was extremely overgrown, and we opted to drag the boats through some black, mucky water for about 100m to avoid the restrictive branches of the track around. After another steep section towards the end, we finally emerged onto Nellie Lake. All in all, the portage had taken a little under two hours (with a double-back). We’d also stopped to enjoy the two waterfalls along the side of the portage. One waterfall is the subject of Canadian Group-of-Seven superstar painter Franklin Carmichael’s 1939 work ‘Waterfalls on the Way to Nellie Lake’, and was suitably pretty to warrant being recorded in landscape. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Carmichael Lake | Helen Lake | 2420 | We headed hastily down to the 2420m portage at the south of Nellie/Carmichael, and quickly unloaded. This trail was long, but surprisingly manageable heading southwards. The portage was gorgeous, with beautiful open forest that allowed the last vestiges of sunlight to filter through the leaves, creating an almost dream-like dappled light. The final stretch was much more densely forested and a little more hilly, but manageable, and we finished the trail in about 2 hours (with a double-back). | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Helen Lake | Low Lake | 100 | We reached the first portage after about 10 minutes of paddling, and the unloading point was extremely swampy, something that would become a theme throughout the day. The portage itself was quite a steep descent, so watch your footing! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Low Lake | Unnamed Creek | 30 | This portage was again extremely swampy and short, and we quickly progressed onwards to a very boggy and overgrown pond, filled with lilypads. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Unnamed Creek | North Channel | 60 | We struggled to locate the start of the next 60m portage, eventually finding it through a gap between grassy banks. We had to drag our canoes through the narrow gap to the start of the trail, but eventually we burst through and into the North Channel! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| North Channel | Baie Fine | 890 | Regrettably, the 890m portage, although flat and minimally overgrown, was one of the buggiest we’d seen, and we sped quickly through the forest to emerge onto Baie Fine. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Baie Fine | Artist Lake | 490 | The 490m stretch felt much longer, as it winded along some narrow paths along the river’s edge. The portage was also not particularly well signed, so make sure to keep following the water on your right, and eventually you’ll pop out on Artist Lake! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Artist Lake | Arist Creek | 180 | This one had a very steep unload, with deep water making it challenging to take our boats out, but we persevered! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Artist Creek | Muriel Lake | 170 | Once we got to the other side we followed the next pool’s southern edge round to a straightforward 170 m portage. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Muriel Lake | O.S.A. Lake | 590 | We then came to a 590m portage, which was fairly straightforward, opening with a section that weaved via boardwalk across the stream between Muriel and O.S.A. Lakes. There was a fairly steep stretch about midway through, but this was very manageable, and with that we reached O.S.A.! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| O.S.A. Lake | Killarney Lake | 110 | There was a lovely, wide beachy landing, and we made light work of the well-maintained trail to reach the start of Killarney Lake. We came across a pretty solidly constructed beaver dam and were forced to hop out of our canoes and drag them over, before winding around the corner through some lilypads into Killarney Lake proper. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Killarney Lake | Norway Lake | 230 | Eventually, the swampy river started to narrow until it became impassable, and I ventured into the trees to find the start of the 230 m portage. It turned out that we’d gone straight past it, as the muddy entrance to the track was hardly marked at all, so keep a lookout for boggy openings to your left at the end of this track. With the benefit of hindsight, we would choose to take the 1380m portage to the north to avoid the hassle of constant drags and beaver dam negotiations! (Although we haven’t used this portage so it might be horrible!) | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Norway Lake | Kakakise Lake | 1430 | The paddle down to the start of the 1430m portage was very straightforward, although the trail’s start was a little confusing (overlapping with the aforementioned LCS Trail), and the wooden boardwalks were very slippery, thanks to heavy rainfall overnight. After a steeper section up to the high point of the portage, we branched off towards Heaven Lake and our viewpoint, leaving our kit at the junction. The trail was steep and narrow but well maintained, and we made it up to the viewpoint in about 15 minutes. Although it was a little foggy, we could see all the way out to Georgian Bay, and it was a worthwhile diversion, especially with our shorter day. We finished the rest of the trail (all descending and straightforward) and arrived at the end of Kakakise Lake. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Kakakise Lake | Carlyle Lake | 860 | The start of the portage was extremely steep, so we carried our canoes up for the first 20 m in ‘lunchbox’ fashion. From there on out, things were much easier, and after the initial hilly element, the trail was easy to follow and not too muddy, with some slightly dodgy boardwalks over the muckiest stretches. With the 860m finished (in a little less than 45 minutes with a double-back) | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Mountain Cove Lake | Walker Lake | 180 | A short portage with little elevation that brings you into the park. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Plunge Lake | Leech Lake | 370 | An uneventful portage, but the put-in on Leech was a little tricky due to steep banks. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Leech Lake | Murray Lake | 1060 | The portage is fairly well used but it has some rolling hills and long incline/decline sections. It’s only a kilometre long, but it feels longer. At the end of the portage we realized that we didn’t need to paddle to our site because we could just walk about 100m along the shore to get to it. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Murray Lake | Carmichael Lake | 1420 | We were glad not to have to carry all our gear up to Nellie Lake because the portage has a steep 70m elevation gain. At one point, the portage, known as “The Notch Creek Portage,” reaches a 17-degree angle according to Jeff's Maps. It’s definitely a bit of an effort to get up this trail. The top of the portage brings you to a small lake called Carmichael Lake, which is very clear and beautiful. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Carmichael Lake | Murray Lake | 1420 | Downhill was somewhat treacherous as we returned down the Notch. If we’d had more time and the weather had been better, we would have explored the creek and its falls. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Murray Lake | Leech Lake | 1060 | A little muddier than the day before, but not a bad portage. We were somewhat fatigued from climbing up to Nellie Lake, though. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Leech Lake | Hanwood Lake | 150 | This was a short, non-descript portage. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Hanwood Lake | Van Winkle Lake | 90 | It’s a steep one, but it’s not long, so no need to worry about this one. Just watch your footing. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Van Winkle Lake | Rocky Channel | 180 | The last portage of the day wasn’t the longest, but it was definitely steep. You need to tilt your head to look up at the trail and take your time so you don’t lose your balance. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Bear Lake | Goose Lake | 280 | Despite being quite short, this portage featured a steep access to the water that required strength and balance to carry our large food barrel, which did not seem to be getting any lighter! | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Goose Lake | Round Otter Lake | 580 | This is a relatively level, easy portage with nothing to worry about. Round Otter is not much more than a pond. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Round Otter Lake | Fish Lake | 380 | This portage is not steep, but the access points are weedy and muddy so be prepared to get in there and get wet. This is really two portages (100 m and then 280 m) because you pass through an unnamed pond in the middle. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Fish Lake | Great Mountain Lake | 440 | The take-out at Fish Lake is a nice rocky shore that would be a little easier if the water level were higher earlier in the season. An old, decrepit cabin sits in the trees here. It warranted a few minutes to explore the contents left behind by a possible group of hunters long ago. This portage trail is beautiful and gently rolling with no memorable hills. It ends at a weedy river winding out into Great Mountain Lake. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Great Mountain Lake | Little Mountain Lake | 50 | This is another easy portage with nothing remarkable to note. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Fish Lake | Howry Creek | 120 | Another short portage, but the water is shallow at both ends and you will likely need to line your canoe or carry over very shallow parts. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Gem Lake | Howry Lake | 150 | This portage has a steep ascent, but thankfully, it was another short one. The portage sign on the Howry Lake side was missing but had been replaced with duct tape attached to a rusty old bed frame that must have belonged to an ancient hunt camp. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Howry Lake | Cat Lake | 720 | This portage was not especially long, but it was steep at each end and had a fairly long section that continued uphill towards Cat. No mud or bogs to worry about, and the put-in / take-out is fine, but if you’re a little tired like we were, just take it slow. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Cat Lake | Van Winkle Lake | 490 | Get ready for another portage that gets your heart rate up quickly. A steep access to the water at both ends requires careful footing when you’re carrying a load. | August 2024 | Trip Report | |
| Three Mile Lake | Balsam Lake | 40 | Coming out of Three Mile Lake, the portage is on the right-hand side of the creek. You actually have two choices for the portage…the ‘official’ trail over the gnarled roots of a spruce tree, or along the remains of a retired marine railway, once used to help people move motorboats between the two lakes. We chose the latter, which essentially amounted to carrying our gear along a concrete sidewalk. Literally the easiest portage I have ever done. Gravel and mud takeout on the Three Mile side, swampy muck on the Balsam side. | Photo | July 2025 | Trip Report |
| Balsam Lake | Pine Lake | 380 | The impression that I had was that the trailhead was farther into the weedy bay than the map indicated, and rather than the regular big yellow sign, the trail was marked with a small yellow diamond, but once we got close, it was clear where the trail was. This portage was flat and easy, with good level take outs on either end. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Pike Lake | Harry Lake | 610 | The takeout for this portage is a bit sketchy; steep with lots of boulders and no logical place to land the canoe. There’s a clearing at the top of rise with plenty of room to organize boats and gear before heading down the trail. | Photo | July 2025 | Trip Report |
| Harry Lake | Cat Lake | 250 | Easy carry with decent landings on either end. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Cat Lake | Brown's Bay (Lake Panache) | 470 | Coming across Cat Lake, we didn’t see the portage sign…but we did see a pair of cached boats overturned on a bedrock landing, so that’s where we took out the canoe. Turns out that the official portage trailhead is about 50m to the right of the boat cache, but the landing there is weedy and mucky, so we were happy to carry the extra few metres in exchange for the better take out. The first half of this portage is flat and easy. When you get to the fork in the trail, go right (look for a yellow trail marker). Past the fork the trail heads downhill along a dry (in July) creek bed. This half of the trail is pretty sketchy footing…lots of hopping from boulder to moss-covered boulder. The put in at Brown’s Bay is also steep, but sheltered from the main part of Lake Panache. There is an old-style Ontario Parks fire grate set in concrete here, though it looks like it hasn’t been used in a long time. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Brown's Bay (Lake Panache) | Taylor Bay (Lake Panache) | 120 | This easy little portage is simply up one side of the hill and down the other, but it saves five kilometres of paddling that you’d otherwise have to do to get out of Brown’s Bay. There’s a hunting blind in the middle of the portage, at the top of the hill, and a trail camera chained to a tree on the Taylor Bay side…wasn’t a problem for us, but something to be aware of if you’re using this portage during the hunting season. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Hideaway Lake | Peter Lake | 470 | In my opinion this was the worst portage on our route; it wasn’t the longest, and there weren’t any trees down on the trail, but somebody has been driving an ATV along the portage, presumably to access the boat cached on the Peter Lake end. As a result, the trail is deeply rutted, muddy, with water accumulated in the ruts. It’s a wet, slimy walk and aesthetically upsetting to see in a provincial park. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Peter Lake | Fox Lake | 1430 | A short paddle from our lunch spot was the longest portage on our route. Under ideal conditions, this probably wouldn’t have been a difficult carry; despite its length, the portage is fairly flat. However, when we were there, there were several large trees recently down across the trail that we had to bushwhack around. This, combined with muddy conditions and plenty of bugs, made for a fairly frustrating hour. We notified the park staff of the condition of this trail, hopefully they got a trail crew out there later in the summer. We also had an interesting wildlife encounter on this portage…a very large snapping turtle lounging in the mud halfway along the trail. I almost stepped on it, thinking it was a rock! | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Fox Lake | Deacon Lake | 150 | An easy carry between two small lakes. The landing on Fox Lake is good; the Deacon Lake landing is flat, but the bottom is soft, deep muck. There’s a convenient log on the east side of the Deacon Lake landing that obviously gets a lot of use for loading and unloading canoes. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Deacon Lake | Balsam Lake | 680 | Wide and easy with flat landings on either side. This portage clearly gets a lot of use, low water or not. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Balsam Lake | David Lake | 560 | This portage starts with a steep and significant climb on the Balsam Lake end, but the rest of the trail is flat and easy, with good landings on both ends. In addition to being steep, the first hill has many basketball-sized rocks sticking out of the ground, all of which are covered in deep scratches. Clearly, more than one person has taken the saying “treat it like a rental” to heart on this portage. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| David Lake | Boundary Lake | 520 | This trail is steep and eroded on the David Lake side, up to the point it crosses the La Cloche Trail. The intersection is well-marked. The Boundary Lake side of the portage clearly receives less use than the first half; it’s a bit overgrown by Killarney standards, and requires a bit of rock-hopping down slope until the trail emerges from the treeline about 100m before the lake. From here, it’s a bit confusing where to go; the spot we chose to put it ended up not being the official end of the trail, which is at the east end of the clearing. We put in at a steep and rocky spot that was a pain in the butt to launch from (though easier without packs). On the way back, we used the designated landing spot and found it much easier to disembark. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| David Lake | David Creek | 180 | The landing on the lake side of this portage is wide and open, with a gravel take out. Probably the best landing on any of the portages on this route, apart from the trash previous people had left (we cleaned it all up). This is actually the trailhead for two separate portages; one to David Creek, and the other to Clearsilver Lake…make sure you take the left-hand trail. The creek end of the portage is next to a pretty little waterfall. Short, flat and easy. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| David Creek | Bell Lake | 750 | Despite its length, the last portage on the trip was also the easiest. Flat and wide, with boardwalks over all the muddy spots. | July 2025 | Trip Report | |
| Howry Creek | Murray Lake | 140 | There was a short portage from Howry Creek to Murray Lake. There is almost no elevation gain on this portage, and the portage is flat and well-maintained, making it a super easy one. | Photo | September 2022 | Trip Report |
| Murray Lake | Carmichael Lake | 1400 | This portage trail isn’t easy to spot from the water so be sure to keep an eye peeled. Not only is this one not easy to find, it’s also just not easy in general. The trail is steep and rugged, full of large rocks and uneven terrain. This portage will make you appreciate thoughtful, efficient packing as well as supportive footwear and a good attitude in adverse conditions.There is a lot of downhill travel on the first half of the portage and the second half is primarily an uphill slog. Make sure you account for time spent on this portage because you won’t be able to cover ground quickly. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Carmichael Lake | Grace Lake | 1900 | This portage was 2 km long and would take us from Carmichael Lake to Grace Lake. Although this portage is longer than the one we did on the first day, this trail is much easier to travel with flatter terrain and in general, is mostly downhill. | Photo | September 2022 | Trip Report |
| Grace Lake | Frood Lake | 1700 | This was another long but relatively easy portage, as travelling west, the portage is entirely downhill. | September 2022 | Trip Report |