Closest Access Point: Canoe Lake (Access Point 5 )
Distance To Access Point: 12.7 KM (3 hours)
Difficulty of Travel From Access Point: Easy.
Maintenance Level: Regular
Date of Visit: July, 2021
This is a cool site just before the start of the narrows that leads to Little Doe.
Terrain: The site sits at the tip of a small, rocky point. The useable site area sits in a gully between two rock walls. The wall to the north peters out pretty quickly, the wall to the south keeps getting higher. It looks pretty cool, although I’d be worried that the gully might turn into a river in a bad rain. The site area is pretty flat and extends back, so there’s plenty of room to move around. There’s a small climb up from the water, but after that the terrain is pretty level. (Unless you’re going to the thunderbox, then you’re climbing).
Canoe Landing: There’s a perfect V landing area at the tip of the point. You can wedge the box of your canoe into the top of the V and have it pretty stable for loading/unloading. That said, the shore beside the landing is pretty slanted, so while the canoe is stable your footing on land isn’t. The underwater approach does have a few rocks as you get closer.
Fire Pit: The pit is close to the front of the site, towards the end of the gully. It’s got a nice view to the southwest. The pit itself is well built. When I was there someone had put a flat rock halfway across the top that would make for a good warming shelf. A strong onshore wind coming from the southwest could be chilly in the fall, but the walls of the pit are nice and high so your fire should be protected.
Swimming: This seemed like a nice spot for swimming. There are different levels of rock under the water before the bottom drops out. You can climb in on these or just wade out from the canoe landing.
Tent Sites: This entire site is a tent site. The flat area goes back of the fire pit a decent way. There’s enough room there for a few tents I would think. Like I said earlier, my only hesitation is that it gets wet. I spoke with the guys who had stayed there the night before (in a huge storm) and they said they ended up having to dig trenches around their tents to stop the pooling. The ground still looked pretty damp when I was there.
Accessories: None that I can recall.
Views: There aren’t too many trees along the shoreline facing Tom Thomson. This means that you can see the lake from large parts of the site, and the views near the water are quite nice.
Related Trip Report: Tom Thomson Lake
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