Closest Access Point: Rain Lake (Access Point #4)
Distance To Access Point: 4 KM (1 hour)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date of Visit: June, 2019
This is a decent site. It’s not my favourite of the ones I’ve seen on Rain Lake (that honour belongs to Site 8), but it would definitely work if Site 8 was already taken. It reminds me more of an interior campsite than an access point site, but that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
Terrain: The site is up a bank from the water. This means that no matter how you approach it, you’ve got a short, but steep, climb up to the site from the canoe landing. I don’t want to overstate it, it’s not like you’re on your hands and knees, but it’s definitely a step up from where you start. The site itself is nice and flat, with decent tree cover that provides protection from the wind and some shade, without being too claustrophobic.
Canoe Landing: I’ve found better canoe landings, but I’ve also found worse. There seem to be a couple of spots you can pull your boat up. It’s a rocky shoreline. I found a good spot to wedge my boat in between the rocks, with a nice wide ledge near by to step in and out from. I didn’t hit anything coming in, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were underwater obstacles waiting to keep some of the paint off the bottom of your boat as a souvenir of your visit.
Fire Pit: It’s a nice fire pit. Well built up and protected from the full brunt of any onshore winds by the treeline. That doesn’t mean you don’t have a view of the water when you’re sitting by the fire, you do, but it’s not necessarily a panoramic one. There are a couple of grills that come with the pit. You could use them if you wanted. I don’t know why you’d want to.
Swimmability: You can swim here, but it’s not necessarily the most swimmable site I’ve visited. Like I said, it’s a rocky shoreline. There are lots of places you can slip in, but with its eastern exposure you’re not going to be in the sun once you get out. There’s one spot in particular where the rocks drop off that would be pretty good to get in from.
Tent Sites: Room for at least a couple of tents between the fire pit and the path to the thunderbox, and a third spot up a short path just behind the fire pit. The two spots between the fire pit and the T-box path aren’t particularly sheltered, the third one is a bit better.
Thunderbox: Brand new. My guess is that this site sees a lot of traffic. Use that information how you will.
Accessories: There’s one very sturdy looking bench beside the fire pit, and a not quite as sturdy looking (but still very functional) counter built between two trees nearby. Apart from that, not much else.
Views: As I mentioned, this is a fairly enclosed site. There is tree coverage along the shoreline in most directions, with a couple of small windows looking eastward towards the island and westward (sort of) down the river.
Notes: I liked this site. Not my first choice on Rain, but not my last choice either.
Related Trip Report: Islet in the Sun
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