Karen and I return to North Frontenac parklands, our 8th visit now, and second to Govan lake. The following is taken from the parkland website……North Frontenac is quite simply Eastern Ontario’s best recreational backcountry experience.  Discover breathtaking beauty,  witness undisturbed nature,  explore timeless terrain and enjoy quiet solitude and tranquility. North Frontenac Park Lands is a collection of 184 backcountry campsites nestled along the shores of 12 lakes atop the Madawaska highlands and Mississippi Valley watershed. Carved from the Precambrian granite of the Canadian Shield North Frontenac Park Lands were 2 ½ billion years in the making—residing entirely on crown land it remains one of the most pristine natural environments in the province. The fact that Karen and I return so often is not only testament to how incredible the camping experience is, but equally how easy the booking system is (provincial parks take a look!)

If there are any cons to Govan lake, it might be that it is the least accessible of the Lakes in North Frontenac, the park recommends 4 wheel drive, I think that is a fair assessment!

The dirt road in is approx. 15 Km long and for most of the route, is in pretty good shape. The boat launch at Govan lake is excellent, with a lot of room for parking. The weather this time was extremely hot (Heat warnings throughout most of Ontario) so fishing was not very successful. If you are interested in fishing there are several weedy bays on the southwest and east side of the lake with good cover for largemouth bass and pike. Also walleye can be found around the main islands and fast breaking points.

Another feature about Govan lake, is that it is very small…..Karen and I are used to much longer paddles to our campsites, and often a portage or two. Here we had no portaging and an easy 1 Km paddle to our island campsite.

The site is a good one, a lot of room for multiple tents (as long as you are ok with a gentle slope. I think our only complaint about the site, is that there really was not a great spot for swimming, with a fair amount of weeds as you got deeper.

We spend two nights at this site, and would recommend it to anyone interested in a secluded backcountry experience.

For the last few years we had noticed a lack of turtles while out camping. This year there has been a huge increase in the numbers, we have come across hatching sites at several of our campsites. At this site there were at least six separate areas where the turtles had hatched, Marcus was very interested in the smells.

Overall the trip was relaxing, but relatively uneventful (hence the shortness of this blog) We paddled around the lake checking out other campsites (other than site 3 I think site 5 is probably the nicest site to camp on the lake, site 6 is on a tiny island, and would be a great site if all you had was a single tent and were not concerned with sleeping within metres of your “throne”…..While we are on the subject of thrones, the facilities on site 5 were interesting (in that while you had a magnificent view while conducting your business….boaters that happened to pass by would have an equally interesting view, so if modesty is important to you…bring an extra tarp!

And now for a message from our sponsor….This weeks sponsor is a fantastic new tarp we just got from Cooke custom sewing, many people underestimate a good tarp, Karen and I almost always have a tarp set up, without one you are forced into a tiny tent whenever it rains. We had seen Kevin Callan using an amazing looking tarp on one of his recent trips (Karen and I really got into Canoe camping because of Kevin’s Books and videos) The tarp is a 10 ft by 16 ft 1.1 Oz silicone nylon tarp, it packs incredibly light and compact. We only got a brief rain shower, so have not had a chance to fully test it, but so far we are loving it.

Another trip done, until the next one…..