North Killarney: Mountain Cove to Great Mountain Lake Loop (6 days / 96 km)
Most people think of Killarney Provincial Park as the George Lake Campground and the lakes closer to Highway 637. After a few trips to both the campground and the backcountry in that area, we decided to explore the northern lakes of the park. A big goal of the trip was to visit Nellie Lake and its famous clear, blue water. We also like to see as many different lakes as possible on a trip, so we planned a loop that reduced repeating lakes as much as possible. We were rewarded with stunning views, challenging portages, and mostly excellent weather.
Trip Completed: August 2024
Trip Summary
| Starting Point | Mountain Cove Lodge (private lodge on a lake just outside the park) |
| Ending Point | Mountain Cove Lodge |
| Duration | 6 days / 5 nights |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Total Distance | 96 km |
| Portaging Distance | 9960 m |
| Number of Portages | 23 |
| Elevation Gain | 2235 m |
Location: Killarney Provincial Park
Traditional Territory: This route takes place on the traditional territory of the Mississauga – Anishinabewaki
Maps & Resources
Guidebook: Top 70 Canoe Routes of Ontario – Kevin Callan
Maps Used: Unlostify Killarney Camping Map – 1st edition
Interactive Map: Click here to view and modify this route using the Canoe Route Planner
Daily Garmin GPS Maps:
Permits & Reservations
Campsite Reservations: We reserved specific campsites for each night through the Ontario Parks Reservation system.
Permits: We didn’t pick up permits since we accessed from outside the park, but we had copies of our permits with us. No rangers were seen asking for permits.
Know Before You Go
Season: August was a perfect time to do this route. We had warm, dry weather, almost no bugs. There were a couple of lakes with low water levels that would have been easier to navigate earlier in the summer.
Cell Reception: No cell service for most of the route but we had Garmin 67i with inReach.
Water: The water in some of the lakes is crystal clear, especially Nellie Lake. However, clear doesn’t necessarily mean safe to drink, so we always use a Platypus water filter.
Wildlife: We did not see any bears, although they are known to be in the park. The largest animal we saw was a deer. We did hear wolves at night a couple of times while on Great Mountain Lake but we didn’t see them.
Waste: Thunderboxes were on every site and were always in good repair.
Outfitters & Shuttles
Outfitter: We brought our own gear. There are outfitters along Highway 637 near the south side of the park. It would be a long way to use those outfitters for a trip that starts and ends on the north side, however, you could find routes from the south that join with the route we did.
Shuttle: Shuttle not needed.
Trip Report
Day 1: Mountain Cove Lodge to Murray Lake (17 km)
After almost 5 hours of driving from home, Mountain Cove Lodge allowed us to park my truck for about $10/night. If we had travelled further, I would have inquired about staying there the night before we launched. An easy paddle out of the cove brought us to the dam.
Portage from Mountain Cove Lake to Walker Lake (180 m): A short portage with little elevation that brings you into the park.
We like our comforts like chairs and tarps, etc., so we don’t pack as light as some trippers. We also enjoy eating very well, so our food barrel was HEAVY! This means that we double carry every portage, and my Garmin measured our total distance, including the extra trips over the portages.
Walker Lake crossing was very windy. Whitecaps splashed water over the gunnels, and we had to track into the waves a bit to maintain balance. There is another starting point on Walker Lake, but it means leaving your vehicle unattended. We preferred a little extra paddle for the security of parking at the lodge.
Little Bear Lake takes you from Walker to Plunge Lake and our next portage. It’s an easy paddle passing several sites, some of which are on small islands.
Portage from Plunge Lake to Leech Lake (370 m): An uneventful portage, but the put-in on Leech was a little tricky due to steep banks.
Leech Lake didn’t seem to live up to its namesake, but we didn’t swim, so I can’t guarantee there are no leeches in there. A couple of sites are located on Leech, but they were unoccupied, and I didn’t see much appeal to any of them.
Portage from Leech Lake to Murray Lake (1060 m): This is where the long drive and some windy paddling started to have an effect. 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.
Campsite: The campsite numbers at Killarney have been updated for the 2022 season, when they implemented site-specific bookings, so the numbers on our map were out of date. We stayed on site 222 on Murray Lake the first night.
Located on the north shore, this site has a nice view of the La Cloche Mountains on the south shore. The fire pit and tent pads are set back from the water a bit. We were in hammocks, but two or three small tents could easily be set up here. The water entry was a little steep, but the swimming was good with a nice weed-free swimming area. No ‘jumping rocks’ at this site.
My friend Ross was in charge of dinner that night, and we ate grilled steaks that could have fed 6 people! We enjoyed our well-earned meal while looking across the lake at the mountain that held our goal for the next morning, Nellie Lake. I fell asleep in my hammock watching a full moon over the mountain.
| Total Distance | 17 km |
| Portaging Distance | 1610 m |
| Number of Portages | 3 |
| Elevation Gain | 348 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Reservation by Site: 222 – Murray Lake |
| Garmin Connect Post | https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16771784444 |
Day 2: Murray Lake to Rocky Channel (20 km)
Day 2 was scheduled to fulfill a long-time goal for Ross to visit Nellie Lake. There are many beautiful, clear, blue lakes in Killarney, but Nellie is reputed to be the most stunning. It is also the subject of a well-known painting by Group of Seven painter A.Y. Jackson.
We began the day with a hearty ‘Mexican breakfast hash’ that I had prepared and frozen ahead of time. We added some leftover steak from the night before so we were well nourished to tackle the day’s adventure. We packed up our gear but left it on the end of the portage leading back to Leech Lake since we only planned to paddle Nellie and then return before moving to our next site for the night. The sky was overcast and threatening rain, but we got on the water and headed across the lake to the portage before any precipitation.
Portage from Murray Lake to Carmichael Lake (1420 m): 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.
A short 10-minute paddle brings you to the narrow passage into Nellie Lake. As we passed through the small channel, I looked at the rocks I could clearly see on the bottom and wondered if it was so shallow I’d hit bottom. A family on the campsite told me not to worry as it was several feet deep. The water became even more blue- the colour of blue GatorAde – as we entered Nellie Lake. It is definitely a site worth seeing. Nellie was beautiful, but with the rain starting not long after we entered the lake, we didn’t spend a lot of time exploring before returning to Murray Lake to continue our trip. I’d like to come back and spend a couple of nights on Nellie Lake sometime.
Portage from Carmichael Lake to Murray Lake (1420 m): 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.
After crossing Murray back to our gear at the portage, we retraced our portage from the day before back to Leech Lake.
Portage from Murray Lake to Leech Lake (1060 m): A little muddier than the day before, but not a bad portage. We were somewhat fatigued from climbing up to Nellie Lake, though.
Leech Lake was small and uneventful, and we took the portage on the south shore across from where we had come in from Plunge Lake the day before.
Portage from Leech Lake to Hanwood Lake (150 m): This was a short, non-descript portage.
Hanwood Lake is nothing special, and we quickly landed at the east end.
Portage from Hanwood Lake to Vanwinkle Lake (90 m): It’s a steep one, but it’s not lon,g so no need to worry about this one. Just watch your footing.
Vanwinkle Lake also did not leave much of an impression on us, but we were feeling fatigued and focused on getting to our site after a pretty long day.
Portage from Vanwinkle Lake to Rocky Channel (180 m): 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.
We finally got to our site on Rocky Channel around 6 pm. It was a long day with plenty of hills and paddling. Rocky Channel connects to some private and crown land properties, so motor boat traffic is allowed. We saw a couple of small boats motor by us this evening, but otherwise it was a quiet night. We chose to come this way to get to Great Mountain Lake because the more direct route from Murray Lake through Howry Creek has low water levels, and we weren’t sure we could get through. This longer route also allowed us to explore more of the park.
Campsite: Site 422 on Rocky Channel wasn’t a great one. As the name suggests, it was rocky and not especially pretty. A swim was in order before dinner, and the water is weed-free, but the access is a little rough. We just needed a place to hang our hammocks for the night, so it didn’t matter to us. It has a thunderbox and a partial view of the sunrise.
| Total Distance | 20 km |
| Portaging Distance | 4320 m |
| Number of Portages | 6 |
| Elevation Gain | 755 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Reservation by Site: 422 – Rocky Channel |
| Garmin Connect post | https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16771785233 |
Day 3: Rocky Channel to Great Mountain Lake (17 km)
We had a late start to the day today, as we were quite tired from the day before. Not many motorized boats on the water, thankfully. Just a couple of fishermen. Our goal today was to get to Great Mountain Lake, where we planned to spend two nights. The first 10 km of the day were somewhat slow as we had a bit of a crosswind on Bear Lake. A few short portages and small lakes brought us to our next significant lake – Fish Lake. We were curious if the lake was worthy of its name. More on that to come.
Portage from Bear Lake to Goose Lake (280 m): 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!
Portage from Goose Lake to Round Otter Lake (590 m): This is a relatively level, easy portage with nothing to worry about. Round Otter is not much more than a pond.
Portages from Round Otter to Fish Lake (100 m and 280 m): Again, these are not steep, but the access points are weedy and muddy so be prepared to get in there and get wet. There are two portages because you pass through an unnamed pond.
When we finally made it to Fish Lake, we pulled out the fishing rods for the first time on this trip. Neither Ross nor I are knowledgeable fishermen, but we will throw in a line sometimes on our trips. Most of the time, we get shut out because we don’t put much time into it, and we don’t know what we’re doing. But FISH LAKE! That had to be the place. About halfway down the lake, we approached a shallow rocky area just before the island, and I tossed in my line. A nice bass on my first cast earned me the ironic nickname ‘1 cast Craig’ from Ross. Since we still had another portage to go before camp, I didn’t keep it for dinner. Ross took a turn shortly after, and he pulled in another on his second cast! Not bad for the likes of us.
At the east end of the island, there was a solo camper standing on shore. He had been there fishing for a few days. He told us that he had caught almost 100 fish! And I believe him.
We packed up our fishing gear to head to the shallow east end of the lake and the portage leading to Great Mountain Lake.
Portage from Fish Lake to Great Mountain Lake (440 m): 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.
Campsite: We came out into the lake and headed east to our site, which would be home for the next 2 nights. From that part of the lake, you cannot see the huge rock face that gives this lake its name. The site, however, makes up for it.
It has a gorgeous white quartz ‘dock/beach’ that seems to have been custom-made for lying in the sun to rest tired bodies. The swimming is beautiful with only the odd weed to tickle you. A west-facing point provided a nice view of the setting sun each night. The site is actually on an island, so the firewood was scarce, and we paddled across to the mainland and found plenty of wood for our meals. Tent pads are plentiful, as are well-positioned trees for our hammocks. The thunderbox was in good repair. It is a really nice site.
| Total Distance | 17 km |
| Portaging Distance | 1650 km |
| Number of Portages | 5 |
| Elevation Gain | 323 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Reservation by Site: 242 – Great Mountain Lake |
| Garmin Connect Post | https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16772004185 |
Day 4: Great Mountain to Shigaug Lake and back to Great Mountain (13 km)
The night before, we debated just spending this day relaxing on our beautiful site and maybe doing some fishing. In the morning, we both felt refreshed and wanted to go ahead with our original plan to hike a portion of the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. To get to the trail, we had to go through Little Mountain Lake at the south end of Great Mountain. There is a campsite near the portage and, unlike our site, it has a stunning view of the high cliffs. When you come around into that bay and you see the rock wall, it takes your breath away.
Portage from Great Mountain Lake to Little Mountain Lake (50 m): This is another easy portage with nothing remarkable to note.
Little Mountain is surrounded by steep hills and is quite pretty. There are no canoe sites on the lake, but there is one hike site (H33). We pulled our canoe up and stored it at the south end of Little Mountain Lake. This begins a series of portages over 2km long that would take you to Three Narrows Lake. We had no interest in doing that.
Our goal was to hike a portion of the La Cloche Silhouette trail and take in the views. We could have gone east or west, but the map showed a small lake to the west that looked like a good spot to aim for lunch. The portage trail intersects the hiking trail just a couple of minutes from the water. We met a group of young hikers heading east just as we hit the intersection. They informed us that the trail section we were heading to was one of the steeper portions of the trail. Fortunately for us, we only had a small pack with the day’s necessities and some emergency supplies.
The treed trail quickly gave way to open, rocky paths and headed upward. In some instances, you need to grab onto the rocks, roots and branches above to help ascend the trail. As the trail continues, you get views to the north of Killarney and eventually to the south as well. We were able to make out the famous “Crack” landmark on the southern portion of the trail, far away across the lower valleys. A beautiful deer having lunch allowed us to observe her for a few minutes while we took a shady water break. We passed a couple of other hikers whom we chatted with, and they were impressed at how lightweight we were packed with just one small pack for the two of us! Little did they know we had about 60kg of gear back at our site.
Shigaug Lake is set high up in the mountains, and the side trail to get to it from the main trail requires a steep descent and then a steep ascent again. It’s about 3km from the Little Mountain Lake, but it’s worth the effort!! I felt like we had walked into a fantasy land. The little lake has two sites, both of which were vacant, so we had the lake to ourselves. A swim in the absolutely crystal clear water, followed by lunch and a rest, was amazing. I would love to spend a couple of days on this lake. We then retraced our steps to return to our site on Great Mountain Lake, where we stuffed ourselves with pizzas from the reflector oven and relaxed to views of another spectacular sunset. As the last few embers of our campfire burned out, we heard wolves howling for the second night in a row.
| Total Distance | 13 km |
| Portaging Distance | 100m |
| Number of Portages | 2 (repeated the same one twice) |
| Elevation Gain | 405m |
| Campsite Reservation | Reservation by Site: 242 – Great Mountain Lake |
| Garmin Connect Post | https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16772004521 |
Day 5: Great Mountain to Howry Lake (15 km)
This day was the beginning of our return home. The easiest way would have been to go back to Rocky Channel the way we came, but we planned a slightly different route so we could explore as many different lakes as possible. If you’re counting, we visited 22 lakes, including Shigaug, which we hiked to. To begin today, we backtracked through Fish Lake, but rather than returning along the northern portage to Round Otter, we continued to the west end of Fish and portaged into Howry Creek. We could have come from Murray Lake through Howry Creek and Howry Lake to get to Fish Lake originally but the creek between Murray and Howry Lakes is not passable or very difficult most of the time. That’s why we chose to go up and across Rocky Channel.
Portage from Fish Lake to Howry Creek (120 m): 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.
Howry Creek, between Fish and Gem Lakes, is a meandering creek filled with lily pads and bordered by a beautiful rock wall along the north shore. Water levels were low but passable through the valley except at the portages where we had to carry gear along the creek until we reached deeper water. Howry Creek opens up into Gem Lake which I would say is a bit of an exaggeration. It’s clear enough that we could fill up our filtered water bottles and enjoy lunch on the water but it’s very small and we crossed it in a matter of minutes.
Portage from Gem Lake to Howry Lake (150 m): 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.
We faced some stronger winds paddling westward down Howry Lake, but since this was our final destination, we decided to do a little fishing and were rewarded with a couple of bass. Our luck continued! There is an island about halfway down the lake with a private cottage. We paddle around the island to check it out. It looks like it hasn’t been used in some time, but there were a number of buildings and some aluminum boats on shore. Access to Howry wouldn’t be difficult from Rocky Channel, so I can see why someone chose to set up camp here.
There are only 2 sites on Howry, and most of the shoreline looks too steep to find other suitable sites. We arrived at our site, near the portage trail, around 4 pm and set up camp for the last time on this trip. I had saved my homemade dehydrated chilli for this final dinner and baked a fresh loaf of cornbread in the reflector oven to go with it. Mmmmm!
Campsite: Again, we had a great site with a neat little rock formation next to the fire pit that made a handy table for food prep. As usual, a nice swim spot welcomed us for a refresh after a great day of exploring. The thunderbox was up to standard again. Thank you to the park rangers who maintain these sites for us! Only room for a couple of tents here, likely, but from my hammock spot, I fell asleep with a view of the moon over the La Cloche Mountains.
| Total Distance | 15 km |
| Portaging Distance | 710 m |
| Number of Portages | 3 |
| Elevation Gain | 175 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Reservation by Site: 246 – Howry Lake |
| Garmin Connect Post | https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/16772004760 |
Day 6: Howry Lake to Mountain Cove Lodge (14 km)
A long drive home was waiting for us, so we rose early and ate a simple breakfast so we could be packed up by 7:00 am. Our tired bodies were ready to head hom,e and we were thankful the food barrel was finally almost empty. We brought so much food, I think we may have gained weight on this trip despite all the portages and paddling! We moved a few things from our dry bags into the barrel to even out the loads for today. There were 4 portages to conquer, and they all had some significant elevation. Our site was adjacent to the first portage, so we just packed up and carried the first load across to Cat Lake.
Portage from Howry Lake to Cat Lake (720 m): 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.
Cat Lake is tiny and can be crossed in a few minutes. Jeff’s Maps indicate there is an old cabin on this lake, but we couldn’t see it and didn’t want to take the time to look for it.
Portage from Cat Lake to Vanwinkle Lake (490 m): 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.
A few strokes of the paddle and we had crossed Van Winkle and unloaded for another short portage to Rocky Channel. This is the same portage we took when coming from Murray Lake on day 2.
Once into Rocky Channel, we had 4 or 5 km of easy paddling before reaching the final portage back into Mountain Cove. Not many of the sites along this route were occupied, which was true of most of our trip. This side of Killarney is much less busy than the lakes closer to Highway 637 and the George Lake campground. Thankfully, the high winds we faced on Walker Lake on day one were lighter and helped us this time across. We landed at the portage around the dam and made a quick transfer into Mountain Cove for the last half hour or so of the adventure.
The people at Mountain Cove Lodge were very accommodating and even let us use the bathroom in their personal home before we left. We usually like to find a restaurant with cold beers and pizza or burgers after a trip, but the nearest town of Espanola, had very few options, unfortunately, so we had to drive to Sudbury to find someplace to quench our thirst. By dinner time, we were home and unloading the gear while thinking about the next trip we could tackle.
North Killarney may not be as popular as the southern part, but that’s one of its most appealing characteristics. That and the beautiful scenery framed by the white quartz La Cloche Mountains.
| Total Distance | 14 km |
| Portaging Distance | 1570 m |
| Number of Portages | 4 |
| Elevation Gain | 229 m |
| Campsite Reservation | N/A |
Reflections
We definitely are happy with the trip but day 2 was a bit too much. We should have had two days on Murray Lake so we could spend a whole day exploring Nellie Lake. We tried to do too much on Day 2 and it took a bit out of us that we felt for a couple of days. The day hike up to Shigaug Lake was definitely worth it!
Author Bio
I’ve been canoe tripping since I was a child. I have a group of friends who all enjoy canoe tripping. We mix and match the group depending on who’s available. If none of them are available, I’ll go solo. I really enjoy taking people who have never experienced canoe tripping and helping them develop a love for it. In the last decade, I have tried to increase the number and duration of my trips. I enjoy challenging routes, and I enjoy leisurely routes or even base camping for a few days. My happy place is when we reach a lake that has no cell service!
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