Islet Lake Algonquin Park

Islet Lake Algonquin Park

Islet Lake in Algonquin Park is a beautiful spot to head out for a wilderness canoe trip.

It was early October and I was travelling to the Algonquin Provincial Park with my friend to explore its beautiful lakes. The park lies between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada. Blessed with magnificent forest landscape, it has up to 1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers and as many as 2,400 lakes so you can easily see how appealing the park is to canoe paddlers. This time, we were going to paddle across Islet Lake, one of the loveliest lakes in  the park.


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When we arrived the weather was overcast and not looking very promising. That didn't stop us from heading out to find Islet Lake.

With the weather gradually clearing up, we began our journey at Rain Lake which we think measures eight and a half kilometers from end to end. It is a popular destination for campers. The lake shores are dotted with campsites for adventurous travellers who want to enjoy an experience in the outdoors but we don’t intend to stop there. After reaching the other side, we un pack our canoe and portage it while walking through a beautiful golden and red forest, the kind of colorful woods easily found in the region.

Algonquin Park is famous for unique mixture of forest types, both southern coniferous forest and southern deciduous forest. The result of that combination is a stunning soul-stirring forest scenery.

Islet Lake Algonquin Park


After the portage, we arrive at the Hot Lake and start paddling across it. The small lake doesn’t take much time to cross so it isn’t long before we find ourselves in the middle of the second portage which leads us through an emerald green forest.

Finally, we find what we are looking for: Islet Lake. We make camps for the night, recovering our strength for the next day full of activities. We are woken up the next morning by an unexpected visitor: an eastern chipmunk.

Due to its diversity of forest types, Algonquin Park is a wildlife hotspot and home to many animal species. Our chipmunk is one of them. It is cute and keeps us entertained throughout the morning but we still deal with it by the book, meaning us not keeping it too close or feeding it. With “Chippy” keeping us company, we pull out our Boreal 21 bow saws and cut some dead wood to make campfire. Then we go on to check out the great lakes around before calling it a day.

Next morning, we get up and have a nice cup of coffee in the cold, misty weather of Algonquin. Breathing fresh, pure air that circulates from the great forests, we can only feel how wonderful it is to lead a life close to the nature.