Review: Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park - Sucker Lake

Location: 60km N of Peterborough
Website: Ontario Parks or My CCR
Map: Google Maps
Camping Facilities: Backcountry Exclusively
Grade: B+
Summary: Probably one of the best lakes in Kawartha Highlands, with no motorboat access and well spaced sites.

From site 120 on Sucker Lake

Thoughts: I had the idea to go to this spot based on a Kevin Callan recommendation in his excellent book "A Paddler's Guide to Ontario Cottage Country".  You can access Sucker from Catchacoma, then through Bottle, with some very short portages.  The short portages, proximity to Toronto and smooth paddles were some of the reasons I decided to make this trip my first solo camping trip. Also, being my first time at Kawartha Highlands, I was curious as to the quality of the backcountry here.

Bottle Creek

There are no sites available on Catchacoma (though plenty of cottages and motor boats), so you'll want to get past this one as quickly as possible. When I did the paddle, it happened to be a very windy day and Catchacoma is a relatively large lake compared with others in the park.  It was a real battle getting through to Bottle Creek. Once you do find your way to Bottle Creek though, it's a solo paddler's dream;  just a very smooth and sheltered path, with a high probability for wildlife sightings (though I didn't see any). I wouldn't recommend camping on Bottle Lake because there's a summer camp located in the NW corner, across from many of the campsites. I can only imagine it detracts from any sense of wildness and seclusion (if that's what you're interested in).

Portage into Sucker Lake

Bottle Lake

Sucker Lake, is much quieter.  In fact, it's the only lake in all of Kawartha Highlands where no motorboats are permitted (the only one! Yet many others seem completely inaccessible by motorboats...suspicious...).  The sites have privy boxes and park staff have even put up picnic tables on each site. All in all, its a nice lake. I stayed at the site on the western point (120), which had a gulls nest a few meters out from the island.  They must have perceived me as some sort of threat because they were cawing without mercy. Given that I was the only one on the lake (it was mid-week, in June), they tarnished what would have otherwise been a very peaceful experience in what felt like a remote location. UPDATE: I've visited the site again in August, and this time the lake was fully booked; this greatly diminished the quality of the camping experience.  I was located at site 126, which is VERY close to 125 and 127 - in fact, the sites all face each other.  Yet the island site (127) is nearly continually booked. I don't get it. It makes it somewhat difficult to recommend this lake during peak season if you're seeking peace and quiet.

Gull nest directly across from site 120 on
Sucker Lake - they never ceased calling

The other odd thing is that much of this lake seems to have cell phone reception. You may be suspicious about how I know this and I assure you it was purely by accident, I had no intentions of making phone calls or instagramming in the backcountry. It just so happened that I left my phone on and noticed it buzzing after receiving a text message. In fact, much of the park has cell phone reception, according to the park map. So this could tarnish your wilderness experience a bit, especially if some yahoo on a neighboring campsite thinks its a great idea to call up his buddies to tell them all about the amazing wilderness experience he's having. Conversely, if you're nervous about going on your first backcountry excursion, the ability to access a cellphone network in case of emergency might set your mind at ease. Asides from that, I still strongly feel that cellphones have no place in the backcountry.


In summary, I think this was just about the perfect place to make my first attempt at solo camping. It's accessible, the paddling isn't too hard, the portages are downright easy and you can get a sense of remoteness here.  Just stay away from the gulls nest.