A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of spending some time with my favorite friends in the Kawarthas at their property. I met Karen online through posts following the journey of the Woods Explorers and we had both applied for the dream job the advertised. We hit it off and always said we would get together and last year, we finally did just that. I was invited back again this year, and so happy about it. We had a great time!
Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast made by my friend Cheffrey and then we packed up. My friends were heading back to Toronto, but I wanted to explore a bit of Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park as I’d been wanting to go there forever and it was only about a 30 minute drive from where I was. We said our goodbyes and I headed on my way and arrived at the Long Lake access point, shortly after.
I picked this lake as it was close to where I already was, but also due to the size of the lake, that there were several short portages I could do to check out other lakes, and, based on some photos I had seen of the area. There were quite a few people coming in from trips, but I was happily going out! I just wish I was actually heading out on an overnight trip! Guess you can’t have it all.
The landscape here reminded me a lot of Bon Echo and in some places, even Georgian Bay. There were lots of rocks all around and they had that beautiful colour to them.
I continued on through Long Lake, it was a gorgeous sunny day, a bit too windy, but I’d survive that, and I was totally content out on my paddle in the Kawarthas.
After paddling a ways, I came up to the first portage. The portage went to Buzzard Lake and was 340m. I had actually planned all along to go to this lake and check it out today.
When I stopped to look at the map upon arriving there, I noticed another lake called Secret Lake that looked a lot more like a place I’d like to visit. So I relaunched my boat and continued on paddling Long Lake.
It was very peaceful and serene here and except for passing the odd paddler here and there on their way out of the park, I was pretty much alone.
I went through a small channel that took me to Loucks Lake and then I went right and just a short paddle away was the portage into Secret Lake.
After my 3 portages on my last trip in Algonquin I was up for portaging today, especially since I had no gear except my backpack and the portages were really short.
This portage was only 84m and was pretty sweet. When I got to the other end I was very happy with what I found. A beautiful quiet magical place.
I loved paddling in areas like this and enjoyed every second I was there.
I followed the water trail and it took me to the 2nd portage to get into Secret Lake.
It was about 30 feet or so over a rock from one body of water to the other and super simple.
When I got into Secret Lake I saw what a small body of water it was. It was small but it was really pretty and I could see why someone would want to stay here.
Secret Lake had one site on it which was pretty sweet. I parked my kayak and went to check it out and use the privy.
After my site visit I got back into my kayak and headed back the way I’d come.
I still had a long drive back to Muskoka and after hitting a deer a few weeks ago, driving in the dark was something I was avoiding.
I took one more shot of beautiful Secret Lake and then made my way back through Long Lake to the parking lot and eventually made my way back to Muskoka.
I really enjoyed my afternoon at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park and I am definitely going to come back to do some camping… I just have to find an open site and a free weekend. Easy Peasy! LOL
Thanks for coming along with me on my paddle. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments or just want to say hi, please do so.
Stay tuned for some beautiful fall colors posts coming to my blog next!
Happy Paddling!
Camper Christina
Always great seeing you! Love following your adventures & I know many others do as well. I figure there should be a book of Ontario adventures soon 😊
Awe!Thanks so much Karen for your great comments and continued support. Meeting you and Cheffrey was the biggest bonus ever and I am so happy to have you as friends in my life. Hugs and love to you both! xoxo
Great read. When you do go back, take your fishing gear as there is some great fishing on some of those lakes.
Beautiful pictures 🙂 Will have to discover Secret Lake next year, although I think we can still go in now (almost Nov) Lol. Thanks for sharing!
I believe the kawarthas PP is open all year to backcountry campers? Let me know if I’m wrong on that but I just looked at the winter dates the other day and thought I saw it said that? Thanks for commenting and checking out the post! 🙂
Last summer, I did almost this exact same thing, stroke for stroke, except that I stayed for two nights at Secret, and a couple of other nights along Loucks and Long lake on the way out. I only had about a day’s worth of food that I was rationing, however, and those windy conditions on the long lake paddle were tiring!
Great post, as always, Christina! Love hearing about your treks — they always seem to parallel my own!
Thanks so much Michael!!!! That is pretty cool and I am honored to be somewhat paralleling you! Thank for reading and commenting! 🙂 Happy Paddling!
Secret Lake had some of the best bass fishing I’ve ever experienced in my life
Hello, How long was the paddle from Long Lake access to the portage into Secret Lake.?
HI Joel. I’m sorry but this was years and years ago, so I honestly can’t remember. Just check how many km’s it is and multiply it by your paddling time per km. I generally paddle about a km every 10 minutes, but that is my approximate speed using a double blade. Yours may be different. Hope that helps. Sorry for the late reply. wordpress doesn’t like to send me notifications so I have to sweep my comment section every month or so to see if there are any comments. Cheers!
Hello!
Such a great park, eh?
What map did you use (show clips of above)? It looks much better than the map I have, and I am struggling to find a good one.
HI there. So sorry for the late reply. I do not get notifications here and have to manually check for them. I have the Unlostify map from Unlostify, formerly Jeffs maps. I believe that’s what I used. Sorry it’s been a very long time since this trip. Hope that helps. If you have any other questions, please email me at camperchristina@outlook.com. Cheers!