Closest Access Point: Rain Lake (Access Point #4)
Distance To Access Point: 6.9 KM (2 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy.
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date of Visit: August, 2021
This site is fine. It’s a bit enclosed for my taste, but it’s big and well set up. It would probably be my third choice of sites on Islet, tied with site 1.
Terrain: This site is built on a bit of a hill. You walk up from the water to the site proper, then there are various levels for the fire pit, tent sites etc. It’s not a terribly challenging scramble to get around, but there is more of a rise than you might find of say site 1, 2 or 8 (site 3 as well, but site 3 is terrible).
Canoe Landing: Not bad, not great. There’s about a half foot worth of a step between the water and the top of the shoreline. This means that beaching yourself bow first is a bit of a challenge. If you do manage to get your bow up on shore, your canoe is going to become tippy. This makes loading/unloading a bit of an adventure, but you can always just pull up sideways to the shore as well. There are a few rocks and such underwater that I managed to bump around on as I was pulling up.
Fire Pit: The fire pit is built just below a small rock wall, which I like for both aesthetic purposes and as a heat reflector. The pit itself is just a haphazard circle of rocks, nothing special. It’s fairly central on the site and has a nice, if semi-obstructed, view out to the lake.
Tent Spots: This is a big enough site that you could manage a few tents without feeling crowded. There are a couple of nice and flat tent pads, and a couple other areas where you could make do. The trees are great for a hammock tent as well. Keep an eye out overhead for widowmakers.
Swimming: The swimming here would be fine, but not spectacular. That rocky underwater approach I mentioned doesn’t make for the most comfortable spot to slip in. Great afternoon sun though.
Thunderbox: The thunderbox took me a minute to track down. It’s up a path out the back of the site and because the woods are so wide open here it’s not immediately obvious where the box is. That said, when I did find it it was in good shape.
Accessories: Some nice log benches around the fire pit and a tall standing grill. That’s about it.
Views: Semi-obstructed views west. The shoreline is dominated by tall spruce, pine and a couple of cedar. From inside the site you can see the water, but you’re looking through trees. From down at the water you’ve got a nice view to Site 2 and, beyond that, the setting sun.
Notes: This is a perfectly serviceable site. The only thing that would give me pause is its proximity to the Western Upland Trail. My guess is you would be able to hear thru hikers.
Related Trip Report: Rain Lake to Canoe Lake – Day 1
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