I am planning a trip up in October, camping and canoeing. Any must-see places up that way for a first-time visitor?
Thanks!!

Just the park itself. Fantastic place, the only destination in that neck of the woods, IMHO. There are some outfitters/vendors around, but rather spread out. Were it me, I'd stop in at Swift Canoes, shoot the breeze, ask around about the latest bear attack, and check out all the canoe/camping gear, logo accessories, etc.

I like those solo canoes , the Swift Pack 12 looks about ideal. I recently got a Hornbeck 10.5, I needed a light boat due to back issues... Where are the Swift guys located?

Good question, been a while since I've been. Since there are only two roads approaching the park, one of them. I would just google the web site and click to a map. They are on on the busiest ingress, for sure, because they put a lot of people in the park. Swift has a few other locations, also.

Don't know how you're getting there, but a side trip to Peterborough would be nice. They have the Canadian Canoe Museum, and also the lift locks.

I did a search, yes they are near SW entrance. Looks like they let you try out the boats on site. Might be able to loop around through P'Boro on the way home.. Thanks for the advice!

Back in 1997 KYHillChick and I spent a week up there. As I remember, we rented a canoe from the outfitter in Sproule Bay and had them take us all the way up to the portage at Hailstorm Bay. From there, we did day trips on the lake and then paddled our way back slowly.

Hailstorm Creek was a great day trip. That was where we saw the most wildlife, including moose.

The one warning I can give you is you do not want to camp on any of the small islands. We did it on the last night out. The squirrels completely outstripped their available food and were ravenous. We could not keep them away.

Thanks for the tip!