Site Details
Closest Access Point: Opeongo Access Point (Access # 11)
Distance to Access Point: 10 KM (2.5 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy in good conditions
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date Visited: August 2022
This is a cozy little island site in the narrows leading up to Opeongo’s North Arm. It’s fairly basic, but covers all the bases and is nicely located as well.
Terrain: This is a relatively flat site. The terrain is a mix of dirt and grass, fading into a sandy entry to the lake. The site is effectively one mid-sized clearing and is easy to navigate. I wouldn’t suggest this for a large group, but it would certainly accommodate a mid sized trip.
Canoe Landing: The landing is a sand beach with room for a couple of canoes (or a motorboat if you’re so inclined). The underwater slope is gradual, meaning that there’s a chance you will run into a couple of rocks or other obstructions as you paddle in. This isn’t an obstacle course, but it’s also not completely clear. Make sure the person in the bow is keeping an eye out.
Fire Pit: The fire pit is more or less central in in the site proper. It’s a large pit and well built. You’ve got a decent view out to the north side of the island from the pit. There are certainly trees along the shoreline, but they don’t completely block the lake out.
Tent Sites: As I said above, I expect you could fit a couple of tents on this site comfortably and a third if you don’t mind a crowd. The tent pads are the right size for larger tents, and they’re relatively level. The grass may provide a degree of cushioning if you’re looking for that.
Swimmability: The landing area makes for a nice spot to wade in. For stronger swimmers, there are a couple of islands nearby that might be fun to swim between (with someone accompanying you in a canoe, of course). Just don’t swim too far into the channel, this is the main route that the water taxis take to get up into the North Arm.
Accessories: A couple of bushcraft creations like this … counter? Putting two feet of plywood on 12 feet of log seems like a waste of good firewood to tbh. If I recall correctly, there were no benches on this site.
Views: Great view up into the North Arm from the water. Tree coverage around most of the site is dense, so from the site interior you’ve got obstructed to semi-obstructed views.
Notes: I liked this site. If I was staying on Opeongo, particularly if I had a motorboat and was looking to do some fishing, I might use this as my basecamp. It’s got access to both the north and south arms, and even the east arm isn’t too far away.
Related Trip Report: Opeongo Base Camp