Opeongo Lake to Dickson Lake

About

A challenging multi-day loop connecting Opeongo Lake to the remote Dickson Lake through the iconic Crow River system, featuring the legendary 5.3km Dickson-Bonfield portage. This intermediate-to-advanced route combines big lake paddling on Opeongo and Dickson with scenic river navigation on the Crow, passing through Lac Lavielle with its distinctive deep-green water and red pine forests. Best for experienced paddlers with 4-5 days available; the intimidating portage is well-maintained with good rests, manageable in under two hours for fit paddlers. Visit mid-September for fewer crowds and cooler water, avoiding peak summer when Opeongo's winds are fiercest.

Highlights

Crown land along this route

Part of this route, roughly 9 percent, runs through crown land. Crown land is public land. In Ontario a resident of Canada may camp on most of it for free, up to 21 days on any one site in a calendar year. Being crown land is not the same as being open to camping: a provincial park or conservation reserve follows different rules. Part of this route lies inside Opeongo River Provincial Park / Algonquin Provincial Park, where those free-camping rules do not apply.

See the crown land map · Ontario crown land camping rules

Frequently Asked Questions