Woodland Caribou Park - Good Land for Canoe Travelers

Woodland Caribou Provincial Park - Good Land for Canoe Travelers

The Story of a Solo Canoe Trip Through Ontario's Woodland Caribou Provincial Park
By James Hegyi

CHAPTER 1
Drinking It All In

On my first trip to the northern half of Woodland Caribou Park, I traveled down the Bloodvein River to the historic pictograph site on Artery Lake. Now I'm returning, my maps plotted with a route through the southern lakes. I drove about five hundred and fifty miles today, and I'm parked at the Hilltop Motel in International Falls. It's quiet now and I'm tired. There's a gravel road adventure waiting for me tomorrow, but I don't know about that yet. With any luck, this will be my last night in a bed for the next two weeks.

heading for woodland caribou provincial park

I was up early this morning. It's Friday and the big crowd at the border isn't due for another day, so I breeze through Canadian customs and a deserted Fort Francis. Now it's five-thirty and I'm headed north on highway 502. It only takes a few minutes before I realize that I'm drinking it all in. There's a layer of mist riding just over the trees. The road climbs to the crest of a hill, and I rise above the mist and look at the panorama of endless forest.

By noon I reach Red Lake and the end of Highway 105. I turn left onto Highway 618 (Howey Street) and pull into the parking lot of the Ontario Government Building a few minutes later. I want to talk to Claire Quewenzence, the assistant park superintendent, about my route. Claire shows me into the new park office on the second floor where she keeps a detailed map. The map shows private properties and fly-in camps within the park. Woodland Caribou is a new park, and has a few camps and cabins within the boundaries. Most of these are on the larger lakes, and most are on the northern side of the park. I'm interested in avoiding these developments, but I also mark down a few that are near to my route, in case I'm extremely unlucky in my travels.

I have an alternate route in my map case that might take me to Sylvia Lake. A good part of this route is through small channels and swampland, and I get reassurance from Claire that there's enough water to get through. I also ask about the gravel road from Red Lake to the Mile 51 access road. There's a concern with ground clearance, especially since I'm driving my son's Toyota Tercel. I'll find out later that the road is fine this year, but now I decide to take the "sure thing" by going south to Ear Falls and then west to Mile 51 road.

a narrow trail near woodland caribou provincial park, ontario

Manitou Falls Road (highway 804) is just south of Ear Falls and is the beginning of my route to the Leano Lake entry point. Although paved, it's still settling and can surprise you with sudden dips, hills and holes. "Natural speed bumps" would be a good term for this terrain. After about seventeen kilometers (ten and a half miles) there's a fork in the road. This is the beginning of Longlegged Road and the beginning of the 51 miles of gravel to 51 mile road. The gravel is rough in the beginning, then smoother for a while. The road turns south just below Longlegged Lake and there's another fork. I keep right, following the road that goes west toward Iriam Road. Now the gravel gets rougher, and then my odometer tells me I'm fifty one miles from the pavement. A one lane road, or more correctly, "trail" appears. I go on ahead a few kilometers, then turn back. I start to think that the trail must be the mile 51 road. In retrospect, I have to admit that the monotony of the trip has perhaps stopped all thinking for a while. I turn down the trail and two harrowing miles later find myself at a dead end by a narrow channel. This definitely is not the place for a Toyota Tercel!

going west toward woodland caribou provincial park, ontario canada

I get the car turned around and negotiate ruts and washouts back to Longlegged Road. After a brief celebration of my escape, I head north again and soon find the well marked turnoff to Mile 51. Mile 51 road might have some adventures in it, depending on the weather. At one point, a beaver seems to have incorporated the road bed into his dam. I have no more adventures today, and before long I'm camped on a point of land in Leano Lake. A little rain comes, and hanging the food pack is my final frustration. It's good to be in the sack. I'm hoping that things can only get better, and I can only get smarter.

Woodland Caribou Provincial Park - Good Land for Canoe Travelers

The Story of a Solo Canoe Trip Through Ontario's Woodland Caribou Provincial Park By James Hegyi

The Story of a Solo Canoe Trip Through Ontario's Woodland Caribou Provincial Park
By James Hegyi