Crotch Lake – Site 1

I liked this site a lot, I just didn’t like it for the time of year I was there. I visited this site in early November. It was a beautiful sunny day, but cold. This was one of the site’s we were considering for lunch, but ultimately we gave it a pass despite the easy canoe landing, large footprint and nice site set up. Why? It was cold. This is a very enclosed site. Built up on a small hill at the tip of the island, the site is hemmed in by pine (and other trees) all around. During the summer this might be more of a feature than a bug. This site is directly facing a very busy artery into the Park from the Shall access point, but it feels removed from that thanks to the shoreline coverage. In fact, that coverage is so good that even the sun can’t get through, which is kind of a requirement for a November lunch spot.

Apart from the temperature and enclosed feeling, this is a great spot. It’s big, with lots of room to spread out, multiple useful tent spots and a nice fire pit area. There are some campsite “improvements” that look like they’d actually be useful (the table in particular) and the canoe landing is awesome; a wide, compacted beach with room for a couple of canoes and that would make a great swimming entry to boot. All in all, if it were mid July this would be a top pick. But for early November, Site 2 is just around the corner.