Nipissing River – High Falls – P1300 – Site 2

This is the better of the two sites that are directly on the P1300 around High Falls. It’s a short walk from the downstream end of the portage, and despite being a very compact site there’s room for a couple of medium sized tents at least.  This is a flat site. No hazards to navigation, apart from the people who may be walking through at any given time. The site is directly adjacent to the portage, and it’s not huge. Expect to get to know your fellow trippers (which we did!). 

There’s no canoe landing, per se. You’re carrying your boat to this site. The downstream portage put-in/take out is quite nice. And also works as a spot where you can take a quick dip if you’re so inclined (provided you don’t mind that dip being in about 18 inches of water. So a dunk more than a dip). The fire pit is in the middle of the site and a toddler’s stone’s throw from the portage trail. It’s not much of a pit, but you can put a fire in it and what else do you want? The Thunderbox is actually quite nice. It’s up a hill out the back of the site and well away from the portage.

The site is right beside some rapids, so expect white noise all night. Your mileage on that may vary, but I quite liked it. Water access for filling bottles/filtering is easy. The highlight of this site is about a kilometer back up the portage trail in the form of one of the nicer waterfalls I’ve seen in Algonquin. It’s definitely worth the trek back up there if you’ve already passed that way, particularly if you had a canoe on your shoulders the first time through. (just be careful on that portage. It’s very narrow, with a very steep drop off directly beside the path as you approach the falls).