Site Details
Closest Access Point: Shall Lake (Access #17)
Distance to Access Point: 9.2 KM (2.5 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date Visited: August, 2022
This is a nice site with a beautiful rock beachfront. There is some climbing involved if you stay here, so anyone with accessibility concerns may want to consider nearby site 9 (although it’s got its own uphill to contend with as well, just not as much of one).
Terrain: The sites along the eastern shore of Booth from at least site 5 onwards are all built on a very flat strip of cleared land just back from the water. I don’t know this for sure, but it sure looks like there may once have been a road or a railroad running along this site of Booth. As a result, the campsites are all nice and level, and site 10 is no exception. One thing that sets site 10 apart from the others is that the site area is up a steep embankment from the water. There’s a staircase to get you to the top (and a more gradual path that winds upwards from near the Chipmunk Lake portage) but as I said at the top, if climbing is an issue you may want to look at other sites.
Canoe Landing: The site is fronted by a wide stone beach. The stone gradually turns into sand underwater, making for a very nice approach and great spot to pull the canoe up. The only concern I’d have here is that on a windy day the landing area is going to be very exposed, meaning you might want to hoof the canoe up top with you to protect it.
Fire Pit: The fire pit is an impressive mound of rocks in the middle of the site’s upstairs area. It’s centrally located in the clearing. While there is a window out to the water where the stairs come up, your views from around the fire pit are mostly obstructed by the thick growth all around.
Tent Sites: This is a long, flat site. You can find room for quite a few tents and not feel crowded.
Swimmability: My kids seemed to find it pretty swimmable, and my guess is you will too! The underwater terrain is a mix of stone and sand.
Thunderbox: The thunderbox is down a short path out the back of the site and was in good shape when we were there.
Accessories: I don’t have pictures of them, but there is a log bench beside the fire pit that would double as a wide counter if you needed a food prep area. Apart from that, the bushcraft counters you see here would also be useful.
Views: The view is west across the north half of Booth and it is awesome. On a sunny afternoon you can bake in the heat on the beach, or retreat up to the top of the site for some shade. On a stormy day the beach area would likely feel pretty exposed with the wind having about 3 KM of open water to gather strength as it whips down Booth, but even then the sight of all those waves marching towards you would be pretty cool.
Notes: I’m a big fan of this site. I like the beach, I like the site setup and I like the location. 16 of Booth’s 18 campsites are concentrated in Booth’s south half. As Booth is a very popular lake, it can be tough finding an open spot on a busy weekend (trust me, I speak from experience). My guess is that this is one of the last sites to fill up since it’s the furthest from the access point. It’s probably worthwhile paddling up here first if the rest of the sites along the eastern shore are taken, rather than trying to find something on the west side of the south end.
Related Trip Report: Booth Lake 2022