r/canoecamping

I have a 17ft clipper tripper, this has been enough for canoe camping with my family of 4 (3 and 5yo). This will be a family of 5 going forward, and I'm wondering if the 17ft is just too small now, and we need a second canoe, or kayak to go along with it? Nearly 100% of my backwoods camping is in Algonquin provincial park, in Ontario.

Any other family of 5s out there with advice? Get another 12-14ft canoe?

Hey Friends!

This seems like a silly request - but I am looking for any tips or tricks for taking a dog on a canoe trip.

I am a very experienced paddler, guided for years and have spent years of my life in the backcountry. I have NEVER paddled with a dog!

My girlfriend is stoked about going on a canoe trip. She has done a bunch of backpacking but never really spent time on the water. We are planning something in the fall for a few nights, and we are planning on bringing her super well behaved pup. The dog has never been in a canoe and never slept in a tent. I want to plan whatever I can to make sure he has a fun trip.

He's not small, maybe 65lbs so I think we should go for a paddle with him before the trip just to see how he does hanging out in a boat. I do have a dog PFD lined up that I am borrowing from a friend.

Other than that, all I can think of is a small foam sleeping pad for him at night.

Any input would be appreciated :) Thanks!

Here's a video I put together of a trip earlier this summer. First multi-day trip in his cedar strip canoe.

This feels like a slightly silly question, but what are peoples' strategies for drying themselves/things off? I know lightweight camping towels are a thing, but are there other ways people get themselves dry? I imagine a regular beach/shower towel would be too heavy and probably never really dry after the first use, but maybe not. So, what do you prefer to use?

I have been using a relatively inexpensive “Unigear” sleeping pad. I like the size, weight and performance of the pad and have used it for a good number of times. However, it just started leaking. I’m trying to decide whether it’s even worth trying to find the leak and patching it. I’m leaning towards just buying a new sleeping pad. I’ve read a lot of reviews and there are a number of good moderately priced pads out there. There are also some very high priced ones. I’m not sure where to go with this. I would really like to buy one that’s not going to leak again. If I ask for recommendations, I bet I’m gonna get responses that are all over the board. But here goes anyway: what is a good lightweight pad that is not much bigger than a water bottle folded up, gives a decent amount of insulation, but most importantly will not puncture and leak?

Location: Guelph, ON, Canada and willing to drive or fly just about anywhere if the route is cool enough! Overseas we'll have to book a longer vacation so Canada preferred, but I'm up for any loop suggestions to add to the bucket list!!

My partner and I went on a 130km loop in Temagami this year, and it kinda felt... lackluster? The problem was that I wasn't sure how often there'd be motorboat traffic, we stayed on a few lakes with motorboats and they felt busy and less remote. It was our first time trying out Temagami and camping on spots with motorboats, so we learned our lesson there!

A few years ago we did half a Brent Run in Algonquin with a pit stop at WhiskeyJack. That felt super remote and rewarding! It was probably ~140km and we've basically been chasing that high since.

Trip details: (using Jeffs Maps as a reference)

TEMAGAMI

D1 - Temagami access 1 to just north or Witch's Bay

D2 - Witch's Bay north to Diamond Lake

D3 - Diamond Lake to Lady Evelyn Long Island

D4 - Rest!

D5 - Lady Evelyn Long Island to Willow Island

D6 - Willow Island through the swamp to Wakimika Lake

D7 - Wakimika Lake to Obabika Inlet

D8 - Obabika Inlet to Access 1

HALF BRENT RUN (ALGONQUIN)

D1 - Canoe Lake access to Littledoe Lake

D2 - LittleDoe Lake to Little Otterslide Lake

D3 - Little Otterslide Lake to Big Trout Lake (near Narrows)

D4 - Big Trout Lake to WhickeyJack Lake

D5 - Rest!

D6 - WhiskeyJack Lake to Burntroot Lake

D7 - Burntroot Lake to Catfish Lake

D8 - Catfish Lake to Stacks Rapids

D9 - Stacks Rapids to Cedar/Brent access

I like a rest day in the middle for sanity. We'd be willing to try out routes that are 7-14 days, must be able to do these in July or August for taking vacation. We're ok with portages around 3km long, anything more than 4km is quite long. 3 portages a day is fine for us, more than 5 a day is a bit much but doable if it's just one day.

Any suggestions for our next big trip to try? Or bucket list tripping ideas? :)

Edit: WOW this blew up! Thank you all so much for all these super great suggestions, I'll work slowly through each and try and get back to everyone!! Really feeling excited now

I have been considering a trip to La Verendrye before end of the season and had a couple questions.

Right now I am considering circuit 77. Does anyone have any opinions on that circuit? or suggestions for others (or combination) I should consider? Looking for about a week and would want to spend as little time on lakes with powerboats as possible.

I was also wondering about the access points. Does Baie Barker require 4 wheel drive? And are there any alternate access points for 77? It is the one listed in their description, but from the map and some trip reports it looks like there might be others (possible out of date info though).

Hi friends :)

I'm going on a BWCA trip the first week of September with 4 of my friends, and I was looking to buy a new sleeping bag / quilt as my main one is a pretty bulky 4 season one and we're trying to pack down a little bit. I'm also looking to expand my ultralight gear as I'm looking to do more 3-ish season through hiking as well. I'm heavily considering buying a camping quilt and I was wondering if folks have brought quilts on their canoe trips as well, and if so how it worked out for them, or if they have any recommendations for a more budget friendly one (so many which I have found online have been sold out!) I have a 3.3 R-value sleeping pad.

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Would be grateful for any insights to doing a canoe trip - maybe 5 to 7 days - starting the first week of October in the St. Regis Canoe Wilderness (or nearby). I've done summer trips in the area only and while I have plenty of foul weather gear, I worry that there might be too much cold or rainy weather that time of year to make it enjoyable.