Kinmount Paddling Routes

Routes designed by: The Land Canadian Adventures

In Kinmount, we were able to put the finishing touches on our preparations for one of the best backcountry routes Kawartha Lakes.  The Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, affectionately referred to as QEII, are part of an amazing protected corridor of The Land Between, surrounded as it is by other parks and protected lands, including Kawartha Highlands to the east, Haliburton Highlands Water Trails to the northeast, Algonquin to the north and the Muskokas on its western flank.  Accordingly, QEII offers extraordinary opportunities as a  wilderness playground accessible from a variety of jumping off points. 

Designated campsites and portages are marked using typical Ontario Parks orange markers for campsites and yellow portage markers. Some sites are equipped with thunder boxes, otherwise, you might have a chance to practice your leave no trace skills.  Sites range in size but generally will accommodate 3 tents, and include a rock fire pit.

Most of it is very rugged terrain characterized by the remnants of four mile-thick glaciers whose retreat scrubbed this portion of the Canadian shield 10,000 years ago.  It is home to moose wading the veggie-rich shorelines of its waterways, and acres and acres of sweetgale-lined creeks and bogs.  Blackbear pad the edges of rivers, looking for grubs, roots, and berries depending on the season. However, the most common mammal in evidence in the park is the beaver. Dams and defunct lodges even make up parts of the mainstream Ganaraska Trail, which snakes at least 100 kms through the park, and pullovers are a dime a dozen on Smudge Creek. 

Depending on the season and the water levels, even canoe trips in this park can feel like a hiking trip with the added fun of carrying boats along for the ride! In fact, many of QEII’s canoe routes follow arduous portage trails connecting many small, remote lakes, and have a bit of a cult following among canoe-marathon enthusiasts who vie to complete the most rug and roots in the shortest period of time. I often find these types of posts on MyCCR are helpful for a hardcore few, but don’t always leave mere mortals with a clear sense of how to plan a canoe trip in this beautiful park.

May I suggest one option for an overnighter into this park? Just under a  half-hour’s drive from Kinmount, Devils Lake is a great place to launch both hiking and paddling trips in this rugged park. There is ample parking and a convenient boat launch and within a ten minute paddle you’re already immersed in the scrubby splendor, granite cliffs and gnarly white pines that characterize QEII. This marginal lake has many cottages and only provides an entrance to the park: there’s no camping or designated day use areas. Follow Devils Lake northwest for almost 3 km and keep your eyes peeled for the yellow, Mr./Mrs. Canoe-head signs on the western shore: this leads 1400m south  to Sheldon Lake.  Depending on the water levels, there may be opportunities to paddle some sections of the land between Devils and Sheldon, but your first sites from this access point lay on the eastern shore of Sheldon, flanking the portage trail. 

Sheldon lake is a deep and narrow tea lake (that’s also roughly t-shaped!) with great opportunities for swimming, fishing and hiking.  Its shoreline features variable topography with eight different established campsites at water level and higher elevations. Have a look at a topographic map in order to plan your stay accordingly.  If you’re feeling adventurous and keen for discovery, explore the mouth of the creek at Sheldon’s southern tip.  Pay attention to the glacial erratic boulders lining the careening waterway and you might see some rock paintings with provenance unknown to this writer.

At the moment, QEII is a non-operating class provincial park, which means the infrastructure is basic, and neither recreational nor conservation management plans have been finalized by Ontario Parks.  I’ve learned that while this is a priority, those objectives are still years away.  In the meantime, Balsam Lake Provincial Park administers QEII, and its rangers and biologists are active throughout their backcountry sister park.  Nevertheless, you can find resources to help you plan a safe swift on the park’s website, which features a free PDF download of the park map with lakes, portages, trails and campsites featured. 

Additionally, Brad Jennings from Explore the Backcountry has also produced an excellent map of Queen Elizabeth II (web version broken, but free downloads still working), a waterproof copy of which I have purchased at local outfitters like Wild Rock in Peterborough.

For more information:

Kevin Callan’s trip report of the Drag/Burnt Rivers in A Paddler's Guide to Ontario's Cottage Country

Kinmount is the last port of call before paddlers launch off into the northern reaches of the Kawartha Lakes county. It has what you need with respect to food and last minute provisions for a variety of canoe trip and options. The launch for the Burnt River is within walking distance of the nearest grocery store, but it’s also conveniently located near a natural and cultural heritage hub in the form of a timber museum detailing the history of Kinmount’s logging. It’s up to you whether you want to pay a visit before you paddle or after finishing the shuttle. Either way, Austin Sawmill Heritage Parkis well worth your time as the old milling equipment and interpretive signage peels back some of the history underlying most of our towns.

The trail down to the launch is nicely inlaid with stone pavers and stairs, so we could move our gear from the vehicles with ease. We dropped in just downstream of the Kinmount Dam in a pool full of pre-migratory Canada geese. As soon as we got the boats floating we adjusted our gear, and paddled off downstream. We were immediately drawn in by the high banks and even taller white pines, not to mention the impressive autumn current of this classic moving water run. Because of the overall steep fall in altitude, the river features a very noticeable current along most of its route.

The shoreline at low-medium water reveals the eroded muddy under banks, where birds, rodents and reptiles play. We noted some beaver tracks and the leftovers of their sapling snacks, and managed to snap some shots of one of the larger, brown water snakes I’d seen this paddling season. As to be expected, we quickly found ourselves in a familiar, leapfrog relationship with a belted kingfisher who laughed over his shoulder while carving its undulating pattern to a downstream perch.

Part of what is so inviting about the stretch of river downstream of Kinmount is the mixed-use Victoria Rail Trail on paddler’s/river right. If you’re keen to have a look at the white water sections before attempting it by boat, there’s always an option to pre-scout at least the first four rapids on land. In addition to hiking and biking traffic, The Victoria Rail Trail is very popular with four wheelers, and there was even sign of horses up and down the trail. This trail may even be valuable for portages in the high waters of spring and early summer, so if shooting the rapids is not in the cards, and the shoreline is slippery or washed away, take the trail but keep your ears open for ATVs!

This late fall run presented 10 sets of rapids, ranging from swifts to falls, between Kinmount and Somervile against which to test our scouting skills and river running skills. The first set of rapids was shallow but manageable with an empty boat, so we used the 40 m portage on river-right to move our gear downstream, and came back to run the boat. This maneuver proved very useful in the lower water levels of October, and we used it on all but the mandatory portages around High Falls, and the ledges just upstream of Somerville. Overall, our reads were decent, and we finished our day without any damage.

The pull out is 14 km down the stream at a natural break along the shoreline. By the time you reach Somerville, you’ll notice you’ve shifted ecotones from the Shieldy northern section into the hardwood-dominant Saint Laurence Lowlands. There’s a paved sloping lane, making for very easy launch/take out and you will find picnic tables around the parking area. All in all, the shuttle is painless, and only took us half an hour to complete.

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