Algonquin Park’s Brent Run: worth taking your time to paddle
The Brent Run Canoe Race was initiated after rumours that, during the early 1930s, the Stringer boys paddled their cedar-strip canoe from Canoe Lake to Brent and back again in twenty-four hours. The best recorded time to date is twentythree hours, held by past members of Camp Ahmek, Chuck Beamish and Bob Anglin.
I recommend that you take a bit more time to complete the trip. Eight days is perfect. Canoe Lake is the starting line. To reach the access, turn north off Highway 60 toward the Portage Store. The gatehouse is down on the beach, near the parking area. From Canoe Lake, head north into Burnt Island Lake and either spend your first night here or portage 790 metres into Little Otterslide and Otterslide Lakes. As Burnt Island is overused, I prefer going the extra stretch.
From the northwest corner of Otterslide, the route continues north into Big Trout by way of Otterslide Creek using five flat but sometimes muddy portages: 250 m, 390 m, 260 m, 730 m and 105 m. The last of the portages on Otterslide Creek takes you to the right of a pictureperfect cascade. A short paddle from the put-in, up a narrow inlet, is the breathtaking Big Trout Lake.
Big Trout is a large lake, and if winds come up it may be difficult to paddle across to the northern end, so make sure you head out early. Cross the expanse of water to the 300 m portage into Longer Lake, located just west of two small islands. Don’t mistake the unmarked path on the opposite side of the islands as the portage; it leads into a small pond fed by twin creeks, and even though it will eventually take you into Longer Lake, the marked portage is much quicker.
There is a beautiful campsite on Longer Lake, located at the mouth of the creek that flows out of the previously mentioned pond; however, it’s next to impossible to find it unoccupied. I usually push on to Burntroot by way of two short portages, the first 40 m and the second 75 m. Both are marked to the right of a double set of rapids. The second set is an easy swift, but running the first set of rapids is risky. The problem with portaging is that the trail is cluttered with poison ivy; it might be safer to wade or line your canoe down on the right.
From Burntroot, the route heads east down the Petawawa River to Cedar Lake. You should arrive on Cedar Lake by late afternoon on your fourth day and still have time to go for a soda and ice cream at the Brent store before making camp.
To return, simply backtrack to Canoe Lake. But when you reach the finish line back at the Portage Store, don’t expect a crowd cheering you on from the docks. After all, you’ve just completed the Brent Run in the worst time in the history of the race.
Of course, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s what you see along the way that counts!
This excerpt was taken from A Paddler’s Guide to Algonquin Park, Third Edition by Kevin Callan, with permission from Firefly Books.