Little Mere Lake and North Lake

In mid-October, we hauled back out to the Chickakoo Nature Reserve to paddle Little Mere Lake and North Lake that run along the north side of the reserve. The link above goes to google maps but, since access is tricky, I screen shotted a portion of the map.

So the best access we could find is on the east end of North Lake, right where Range Road 12 intersects Township Road 540 (yellow arrow). There is a "dead end" sign (below) and 15 feet to the east of that is a culvert that brings the lake right to the edge of the ditch. We just parked on the shoulder.

The bank is pretty steep and then you get to make an exciting DIY entry. We had to bum scoot the boats about eight feet before they floated free. The lake level is up quite a bit due to beaver activity so you then need to navigate a small forest to get out on the the lake properly.

The lake itself is quite nice. Iced tea water but no real smell. Lots of birds, though, with nesting boxes all around the perimeter.

The two lakes are connected through a swampy narrows.

Some deadheads here plus a lot of muskrats. Nothing too difficult at this water level. I'm not sure it would be navigable at the normal water level.

The western basin (Little Mere Lake) is smaller but also pretty nice (below). There is a road along the north and west shores. You could get in at the west end of the lake, but the bank is steep. The north road is much higher than the lake so that would be a sucky (or extremely exciting, depending upon your perspective) entry.

The sun was beautiful while we were out and the kid showed off what she's learning in her botany class.

On the way back, we followed the south shore and found where the lake used to drain towards Kettle lake. The beavers have dammed this up and the lake is several feet above its natural level.

Overall, a fun paddle with a rustic entry and no one else on the water. The shoreline is about 4km around and took maybe 90 minutes without any hurrying. We did see some hikers from the Chickakoo trails plus some horses from a farm the juts out into the lake.