Closest Access Point: Shall Lake (Access Point #17)
Distance To Access Point: 7.5 KM (1.5-2 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy.
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date of Visit: September, 2019
This is the second site you paddle past when entering Booth from Kitty Lake and, barring some kind of natural disaster or bathroom related mishap that forces you to stop at this site, it should remain the second site you paddle past as you head on to other, better spots.
Terrain: This is a very enclosed site. The tree cover along the shoreline is pretty thick, making for a dim interior. It’s not all that level, with gradual slopes up from the canoe landing and throughout the interior. It’s not enough of a slope to cause problems with your footing or anything like that, it’s just one more way the site is less than ideal.
Canoe Landing: Not great. The landing is basically a jumble of large rocks. There is a very small opening that looks like it would work to pull a boat up in higher water, but in September the only option we found was to wedge the canoe in between two of the rocks and climb out the front of the boat. There are quite a few hidden rockbergs in the underwater approach as well.
Fire Pit: Speaking of jumbles of rocks, the fire pit looks like someone just dropped a (very small) truckload of medium sized rocks in the middle of the clearing and left them to fend for themselves. There are large walls on three sides that would be good for protection against any winds, but I have to imagine that the tree cover along the shoreline cuts most of that wind before it can filter through the site. Regardless, the pit is basically the only good thing about this site.
Swimability: I don’t know. I wouldn’t swim here. There’s no easy access to the water, the underwater terrain is designed to stub your toe and the water was kind of weedy when we were there.
Tent Sites: This is a pretty open site, so you’d think there would be lots of tent spots. I guess there are, but none of them were that appealing. The flattest areas also looked like they’d become mini lakes in a good rain storm, and that constant slope I mentioned earlier means that there aren’t as many flat spots as you’d expect.
Thunderbox: There is one and it seems to be in good shape. Hooray!
Accessories: One medium sized decomposing log bench beside the fire, one small sized decomposing log bench beside the fire. There’s also a stand up grill and a pretty sturdily built counter nearby.
Views: From inside the site, not much. Just your trip partner sitting across the fire from you demanding to know why you didn’t pick a better site. From the canoe landing you can see east, south and west, but, honestly, the view isn’t enough of a reason to stop here.
Notes: Don’t bother with this one unless you’re in a jam. There are quite a few better sites just up the shore.
Related Trip Report: Booth Lake
Back to Campsite Reports