The Park Interior and Backcountry Camping
The park interior is best explored by canoe , and there are several outfitters dotted along the Parkway Corridor. One of the best is the Portage Store at Canoe Lake, km 14 (daily: May, Sept & early Oct 8am-7pm, June-Aug 7am-9pm; in summer tel 705/633-5622, fax 633-5696, in winter 705/789-3645, fax 789-6955, www.portagestore.com ). Rates vary enormously depending on the sort of canoe you hire, but the simplest models cost $20 per day, $17 per day for five days and more. The Portage Store also rents out tents, life vests and all the associated canoeist's tackle and organizes guided canoe trips. Advance reservations are pretty much essential. Note also that given Algonquin's immense popularity, canoeing is best avoided at holiday weekends: horror stories abound of three-hour jams of canoeists waiting their turn to tackle the portages between some of the more accessible lakes. Incidentally, Canoe Lake was where the artist Tom Thomson drowned in 1917 - and there's a monument to him about forty-minutes' canoe paddle from the Portage Store. If you don't fancy canoeing, the interior can also be experienced on either of two long-distance hiking trails. The Western Uplands Backpacking Trail (km 2.5) is composed of a series of loops that allow you to construct a hike of up to 71km, while the equally challenging Highland Backpacking Trail (km 29) has loops of up to 35km. In all cases, backcountry camping requires a permit. These are available at both the West and East gates and at the visitor centre ($6.50 per person per night) or from Ontario Parks direct .
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