| Starting Lake | Ending Lake | Distance (m) | Commentary | Season | Photos | Report Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickerel Bay | North Arm of Lake Temagami | 410 | The portage was not too demanding or memorable but the distance required us all to take two trips as we had some heavier items that were not necessities yet deemed worthy when planning the trip. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Sharp Rock Portage) | Lake Temagami (Sharp Rock Portage) | 115 | The most obvious challenges for this portage were the abundance of rocks and awkward footing as we tried to find the best route to get to the put-in. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | 760 | This portage was the most difficult we’d cross on the trip, as it was uphill to start for quite a distance, with sections that were difficult finding solid footing. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn River (around Mattawapika Dam) | Montreal River (around Mattawapika Dam) | 360 | A short paddle across the Montreal River takes you to the first portage. This portage is paved and large. There is a shuttle service which ferries larger boats around a dam into Lady Evelyn River for a fee, however, canoeists can walk around the well-signed private property without any costs. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn River (Frank Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (Frank Falls) | 170 | The first portage is to the left around Franks Falls. It was rocky, but well marked and an easy short walk. Although these falls were very aesthetic, it was just a taste of what was to come later on! We took some photos and jumped back into the boat to carry on our way. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn River (Centre Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (Centre Falls) | 400 | The next marked portage was to get around Centre Falls (reads 420 m but was probably longer). The portage is to the left, and although you can hear the falls on approach, the portage wasn’t very close to the bottom. This is probably the most difficult portage, aptly named the “Golden Staircase”. It’s basically a windy path that meets a vertical wall of stone where you need to climb and then have the gear and boats passed up (or down depending on the direction of travel). The put-in at the top was rocky again but not difficult. Soon after, there was a bouldery set of rapids that required us to walk the shore (very rocky and slippery). After that, we continued north for a few minutes before arriving at the base of Helen Falls. | July 2023 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Lady Evelyn River (around Helen Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (around Helen Falls) | 340 | A steep uphill climb got us to the top of this portage, which was then followed by a short paddle. | July 2023 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Lady Evelyn River (around Twin Sister Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (around Twin Sister Falls) | 160 | Another short paddle brought us to Twin Sisters’ Falls, home to Hap Wilson’s Ecolodge. The portage is on the left and the Ecolodge was on the right. We caught glimpses of the beautiful property as we hiked down the falls but made sure we didn’t get close enough to invade the space of the people who may have been there. | July 2023 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Lady Evelyn River (around Fat Man Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (around Fat Man Falls) | 90 | Next was a 90 m walk down and around Fat Man’s Falls which was very steep and ended up at a very small, dodgy put-in at the bottom of a huge chute | July 2023 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Willow Island Lake | Lady Evelyn Lake | 730 | Hugging the eastern shore, we found the first portage (420 m) and followed a well used footpath into a small pond, crossed it, and took another clean portage (310 m) that ended back on the southern edge of Lady Evelyn Lake. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn Lake | Carpmor Lake | 540 | A muddy portage took us off the creek (stay right or you’ll end up taking another 900 m walk into Goodfish Lake) and into a pond. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Sugar Lake | Lady Evelyn Lake | 1235 | This portage was well worn and there was a boat cache on the Sugar Lake side which made it easy to find and easy to navigate. The other side was the south end of the East Arm of Lady Evelyn Lake. | July 2023 | Trip Report | |
| Willow Creek | 100 | The windy creek eventually started to flow better and led to our first of three portages. The first one has quite a nice takeout, and although it starts in some of that recent burn, about halfway through you cross the fire boundary and are back into proper forest. Watch out for deadfall, as there are lots of fallen trees to pick your way over on this portage. The end of this portage had evidence as to why the portage was there. | September 2021 | Trip Report | ||
| Willow Creek | 50 | The second of the Willow Creek portages was fairly inconsequential, a decent trail through regular forest. Note: Many maps don't have this portage listed on them. | September 2021 | Trip Report | ||
| Willow Creek | 50 | This portage was a bit trickier. It’s still short, which is nice, but the takeout is made more challenging by a beaver dam and some tricky rocks. The portage itself has some narrow negotiations between trees and a bit of a boulder garden to pick through at one point. Note: Many maps don't have this portage listed on them. | September 2021 | Trip Report | ||
| Anvil Lake | Inez Lake | 100 | The portages through Inez Lake, Bessie Lake, and Old Bill Lake are all fairly similar in style, all with good clear trails with very minimal elevation change. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Inez Lake | Bessie Lake | 200 | The portages through Inez Lake, Bessie Lake, and Old Bill Lake are all fairly similar in style, all with good clear trails with very minimal elevation change. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Bessie Lake | Old Bill Lake | 280 | The portages through Inez Lake, Bessie Lake, and Old Bill Lake are all fairly similar in style, all with good clear trails with very minimal elevation change. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Chris Willis Lake | Lady Evelyn River | 365 | The first portage of the day, from the south end of Chris Willis Lake onto the Lady Evelyn River, can be pretty brutal. We got lucky with it not actively raining while we were there, but there are a few steeper rocky sections that are hard to negotiate at the best of times. Take your time, watch your footing, and you should be good to go. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn River (Frank Falls) | Lady Evelyn River (Frank Falls) | 160 | This portage is short, and a little steep and rocky at times, but overall pretty manageable. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Willow Island Lake | Lady Evelyn Bay (Peanut Butter and Banana Bay) | 725 | The two portages through the unnamed lake between Willow Island Lake and Lady Evelyn Lake are a little bony and rocky at times, but overall fairly flat and way nicer than the two from the day before. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn Lake (around Lady Evelyn Falls) | Lady Evelyn Lake (around Lady Evelyn Falls) | 25 | “Falls” is definitely a slight exaggeration, as it is really more of a chute, which if you were coming the other way in high water could probably just paddle down. Unfortunately, we were going south, and our water levels were fairly average, so we had to make the short portage across it before launching while overlooking the babbling water. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Diamond Lake (Sharp Rock Portage) | Lake Temagami (Sharp Rock Portage) | 115 | We continued to the southeast, passing a few islands with some campsites on them that looked quite nice, then arrived at our last portage of the day. Sharp Rock portage lives up to its name, but if you stick to the left side when heading towards Lake Temagami, there is a little bit more of a trail and you can avoid the worst of the rocky bits. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | 755 | This portage has a really easy takeout on this side, flat and sandy. The portage itself is also quite nice for the most part, it’s just the last 30 metres or so that you need to watch out for, as it gets quite steep. There is also a small patch of poison ivy just off the trail on the right as you are approaching the put-in, but there is a small sign and as long as you’re not dropping gear on that side of the portage you will be totally fine. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Sandy Inlet) | Lake Temagami (Sandy Inlet Access Point) | 400 | The portage up to the parking lot is quite nice, and if you have a nice off-road vehicle could be a lot shorter, but for the average person you’ll be walking on the road some as well. It is truly a terrible road in some spots, and after the storm we got on night 2 had become even worse, with some puddles easily reaching knee-height in their deepest spots. | September 2021 | Trip Report | |
| Iceberg Lake | Driftwood Lake | 280 | The portage from Iceland Lake into Driftwood is easy enough, especially coming from this side, but there are a few meandering trails that all make their way eventually to the end. If you stick to the widest of them you shouldn’t have any trouble. Driftwood Lake (and Wasaksina connected to it) is a popular fishing spot among locals, and so the Driftwood side of the portage has a dozen or so tin boats that people leave for their fishing excursions. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Wasaksina Lake | Cross Lake | 1080 | We were a little apprehensive about the long portage to come, because a few of our group hadn’t tripped in a while and were already feeling sore from yesterday, but it turned out there was nothing really to worry about. There were a few fallen trees to negotiate over and under, but everything other than the highest and lowest had already been mostly cleared by people who came before us. Aside from a few short marshy bits (and those no more than a few inches deep), the trail was easy and dry. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Cross Lake | Cross Bay Lake | 750 | Once we started the portage, we could understand why. It was 750 m of swamp, and with the amount of weaving we needed to do to find usable ground we could actually travel, it felt like more. Still in good enough spirits, because the rain had started to clear, we had a bit of a chuckle at the oh-so-very original naming scheme of Cross Lake, Cross Bay Lake, and Cross Bay, and then had a quick snack before paddling our way towards the second portage. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Cross Bay Lake | Cross Bay | 295 | This next portage started giving us trouble before we even got there, as the west end of Cross Bay Lake is a tangled mess of drowned stumps, fallen logs, and marshy mounds of vegetation and debris coming up from the lake bed. After some figuring we were able to get close enough that a couple of us deemed it worthwhile to sacrifice our lower legs to the mud and walk the canoes the rest of the way. The other two were immensely grateful and promised us beers in exchange for our glorious service. The portage itself was actually incredibly reasonable after what the last one was like. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Kokoko Bay | Kokoko Lake | 120 | There are two portages from the bay into the lake, and we opted for the eastern one, for the simple fact that it was marked as shorter on the map. I’m not sure what the western one is like, but this one was fine. The takeout was a little rocky, but once we were moving it was super reasonable. Kokoko Lake was a gem, as it always is, and we were thrilled to once again be in another patch of old-growth forest. We paddled past some lovely island campsites in Kokoko Lake and then reached our last real portage of the trip, other than the one we would need to get to the van at our pickup. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Kokoko Lake | Upper Kokoko Bay | 570 | This portage, in spite of being longer, was an absolutely lovely trail. Kokoko Lake is a popular fishing spot, so the trail sees enough use to be kept in top form. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Ferguson Bay) | Lake Temagami (Ferguson Bay) Take Out | 1000 | The first few hundred metres are a nice wide trail, but since we were getting picked up by Temagami Outfitting we had to keep going a bit to get to the next parking lot. The stretch of road between the two is absolutely terrible and can be impassable after hard rains. Only attempt if you’re incredibly confident in the off-roading abilities of your car. There will be a great many puddles to either walk through or pick your way around. The worst of them usually have a slight trail going around one side of them, but for the ones that don’t you’re going to want to walk straight through the middle, the wheel ruts can be a good foot or so deeper. | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Smoothwater Lake | Apex Lake | 690 | The portage between Smoothwater and Apex Lakes was 690 m along a fairly even though sometimes rocky forest path. Apex Lake was gorgeous, with no wind (and finally no more snow) and so the trees and rocks reflected on the still water. | September 2018 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Apex Lake | Pond (South of Apex Lake) | 1085 | Muddy trail but not a bad portage. | September 2018 | Trip Report | |
| Pond (South of Apex Lake) | Middle Pond Between Apex and McCulloch Lake | 50 | Short, easy and uneventful portage. | September 2018 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Middle Pond Between Apex and McCulloch Lake | Pond (North of McCulloch Lake) | 30 | Short, easy and uneventful portage. | September 2018 | Trip Report | |
| Pond (North of McCulloch Lake) | McCulloch Lake | 170 | Short, easy and uneventful portage. | September 2018 | Photo | Trip Report |
| McCulloch Lake | Mihel Lake | 120 | Short, easy and uneventful portage. | September 2018 | Trip Report | |
| Mihel Lake | Small Lake (South of Mihel Lake) | 60 | Short, easy and uneventful portage. | September 2018 | Trip Report | |
| Small Lake (South of Mihel Lake) | Scarecrow Lake | 1260 | Despite its length, this is a nice trail through the forest. | September 2018 | Trip Report | |
| Lady Evelyn River (Chance Lake Outflow) | Lady Evelyn River (Chance Lake Outflow) | 40 | We had high enough water and sturdy enough boats that we were able to drag down it, but in lower water, you might have to do the short portage (40 m). | September 2022 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Sandy Inlet Access Point) | Lake Temagami (Sandy Inlet) | 1000 | We were lucky in that it had been pretty dry leading up to the trip, so the road was in great condition, but if there’s a storm this particular road just turns to garbage. The wheel ruts fill up with over a foot of water, and only the worst puddles have trails around them. Once you get to the last parking lot and it becomes an actual trail, it’s way better. Wide and sandy, it takes you on a gentle slope down to Sandy Inlet, and after waving goodbye to Erik from Temagami Outfitting we went on our way. | September 2020 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | Lake Temagami (Napolean Mountain Portage) | 755 | We only faced slight winds paddling across the inlet, so we were able to make good time to the Napoleon portage. It wasn’t there back in 2020, but I have noticed that a fairly large patch of poison ivy has sprouted up on the left side of the trail right near the takeout on the Sandy Inlet side. Some lovely folks have put up a sign, and it’s very easy to avoid. While the portage starts difficult, with 20 or 30 meters of steep, rocky, uphill, the trail afterward is very reasonable. It meanders its way slowly up, and then down the other side back to the lake. There are a few downed trees, but all of the big ones have been cleared by chainsaw, and the only rocky bits are easy to pick your way through. If you’ve got time, I would also highly recommend popping up the trail to the top of the hill! It splits off to the north, and can be a little hard to follow, but there are a few winding trails that all lead up to the top. It can definitely be a bit of a scramble, so only do it if you’re confident in your group’s footing. But the view at the top is excellent. The put-in is also lovely, flat and sandy with patches of reeds, and we loaded up our canoes before paddling the few minutes across to our campsite. We set up camp in the late afternoon light and then grilled up some steak and green beans for dinner. A few boats went by on their way into Sharp Rock Inlet, but for the most part, we had the lake and the evening to ourselves. | September 2020 | Trip Report | |
| Lake Temagami (Sharp Rock Portage) | Diamond Lake (Sharp Rock Portage) | 115 | The portage itself is aptly named, through a bit of a boulder field of fairly sharp rocks. However, if you stick to the right on your way towards Diamond Lake you can avoid the worst of it. | September 2020 | Photo | Trip Report |
| Diamond Lake | Lain Lake | 305 | The takeout for this first portage was not the best, at least at our water levels, and involved shin-deep muck and hopping precariously between rocks to reach the shore, but eventually the boats were unloaded and we could start the portage. The trail itself is a little rocky and uneven in some places but with little elevation change overall. | September 2020 | Trip Report | |
| Lain Lake | Wiakimiki Lake | 375 | The next portage starts at a campsite, and I would really like to come back here and stay a night on Lain Lake, because it feels very calm and peaceful, with big rock faces that catch the light quite nicely. The portage takes you from the campsite up to an old road/ATV trail, and you turn right to follow it for a few hundred meters. The trail then cuts off to the left where there is a bunch of flagging tape, and descends to Wakimika Lake. Easy walking overall, but if you’ve got your head down it can be hard to catch the turns, so when I’m with a larger group I’ll often leave a paddle on the ground to show the way. | September 2020 | Trip Report | |
| Obabika Lake | Obabika Inlet | 810 | This portage is in great condition. Very minimal elevation change, and close to 1.5 meters wide for much of it, it’s a dream to walk down. I’m a big fan of narrow, winding, sections of lake, so Obabika Inlet is really enjoyable to me. | September 2020 | Trip Report | |
| September 2023 | Trip Report |