White Lake is a fairly large semi-developed lake on the northern boundary of Lanark County (the top half is actually in Renfrew County). The least developed part of the lake is the SW end, and fortunately, there is a good public access boat launch of CR511 (Wabalac Rd). It’s about a 40-minute drive from Almonte.
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| White Lake, 13 km track (by kayak) |
On June 1st, I headed to the boat ramp on Wabalac Side Road with my 14ft Widgeon kayak to explore the bays and marshes on the southeast shoreline of White Lake. I was hoping to get as far as Darling Round Lake – and I did. Once on my way, I quickly realized that the southeast shore has more development than it used to have along Wabalac Side and Aglac roads. I was hoping to paddle through the marsh south of SW Island 5 (SW I5), but the marsh was too dry. So I paddled around the north side of SW I5 as a few drops of rain came down. This is also the area where I saw a pair of loons fishing in the water.
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| Common Loon |
The other side of SW I5 is great - less development! A great area to explore marshes and check out any waterfowls. I was able to paddle 0.5 km into the middle marsh (SW mid), and it would probably be possible to go another 0.5 km earlier in the spring. After exiting the mid marsh, I headed further east to round the point that leads into the channel to Darling Round Lake. As I rounded the point, I was surprised to see another public boat ramp across the channel (Lacourse Lane). I made a pit stop to check it out and take some pics.
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| Lacourse Lane ramp |
It’s about 1.5 km down the channel to the bottom of Darling Round Lake. The lake is nice, but it does have one significant property on the south shore. There are no major roads in there and probably no services (off-grid?). On the way back, I decided to explore the creek going east (Long Lake Creek) and was pretty disappointed that people have been allowed to build cottages/houses on this marshy creek – one place even had a dock coming through the cattails! I went as far as I could and ended up at a small bridge (private, I assume). Nobody around, so it was a good place for a quick lunch.
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From here, it was the long paddle back to the Wabalac Side Road boat ramp. Unfortunately, the wind had come up (10 knots or so), and I did have to work hard to get back, especially the rounding of SW I5. I did make one pit stop for a bio break on some rock outcrop before SW I5. There were a couple of guys returning from fishing on the lake at the ramp with their well-outfitted sit-on-top kayaks. They reported having caught a few small pickerels, but I did not see them.
This was a pretty good paddle to explore the bays and marshes of the SW end of White Lake. I could make at least two more outings into the SW end of White Lake:
- From the Lacourse Lane ramp, explore the islands (kayak or canoe; bring fishing rod)
- From the Wabalac Side Road ramp, explore the north shore (bring a fishing rod)
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For more details on nature sightings, click here.
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