Closest Access Point: Sunday Creek (Access Point #10) (But, also, there’s a closer and easier way to get to Sunday Lake than using this access point, see the notes at the end.)
Distance To Access Point: 4.5 KM (1.5 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy/Medium.
Maintenance Level: Low/Regular
Date of Visit: Spring, 2021
This is a fairly enclosed site that is bigger than it looks from the water. It’s not the best site on Sunday Lake, but it’s not the worst, either. Given that there are three sites on this lake you can probably figure out where this one ranks.
Terrain: This is a pretty flat site. Ground cover is mostly dead pine needles and the occasional root/rock sticking poking its head out of the dirt. The trees along the shore are pretty thick in most spots, but thin out quite a lot for the site itself. While the site itself is dry enough, there’s some grassy, wetter looking bits in between the site and the water to the northeast. I was there in June and the bugs were manageable, but I was only on this site for about five minutes and that wet area would worry me for a longer stay.
Canoe Landing: There’s a small cutout in the shoreline right by the site sign where you can pull your canoe up. It’s not a beach, but the underwater terrain rises gradually without too many obstacles. We were able to pull our canoe up and get in/out fairly easily.
Fire Pit: The pit is just a circle of rocks, but it’s a well built circle of rocks for what it’s worth. The view out to the water from the pit is mostly obstructed except for the canoe landing area, which does give you a nice northwest view of, among other things, the far superior site directly across the water from you.
Swimability: Swimmable enough. You can wade in from the canoe landing area and the underwater terrain looks to be free of too many tripping hazards.
Tent Sites: There’s room for two or three tents here, although I’d say the third spot I found would be best suited for someone who likes their mattresses lumpy.
Thunderbox: Straight back of the site a bit. The path is easy to find and follow. The box itself looks like it’s seen a few summers, but other than that it’s in good shape. I’d be a bit nervous about using it during bug season as it’s in a pretty enclosed green space, but … well, if you’re camping in bug season it’s going to get uncomfortable no matter where you decide to let it all hang out.
Accessories: None. There’s one log near the fire pit that I guess is meant to be a bench but also just looks like a tree decided to take a nap. This is definitely a BYOCC site, Bring Your Own Camp Chair.
Views: As I mentioned earlier, the views around the site are fairly obstructed by the growth along the shoreline. There’s a nice window to the northwest around the canoe landing, but that’s about it.
Notes: The closest official access point to Sunday Lake is the Sunday Creek access at the Spruce Bog Trail. It is not, however, the easiest way to get to Sunday Lake. Sunday Road is a logging road that leads out of the Big Pines trail parking lot about two kilometers west of Sunday creek. If you follow that road for a couple of kilometers you’ll come to a set of gates with a big no entry sign. Just before those gates is a P150 that leads from the road down to Sunday Lake. The road widens right around where the portage sign is and you can pull over with some confidence that your vehicle isn’t going to get nailed by a passing logging truck. Full disclosure, I have no idea if using this road is actually within the Park’s rules. You’re not allowed to travel on the Park’s logging roads, that I know for sure. However, I’m not sure if the stretch of road from the Big Pines lot to the gate actually qualifies as a logging road or if it is there to provide easier access to Sunday. Based on the fact that there is a portage there my guess is that the Park expects people to use it as an access, but it’s probably not a bad idea to double check (and if you decide not to double check and get a ticket, don’t blame me).
Related Trip Report: Day Trippin’: Tonakela and Sunday Lake
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