Massassauga Provincial Park Kayaking

One of my favourite kayak trips ever was our day trip to Massassauga Provincial Park. We were camped at Six Mile Lake Provincial Park and decided to do a day trip away from the park. We accessed Massassauga from Woods Bay. I brought along a shore lunch with the intention of stopping at the Calhoun Lodge.
The scenery was incredible! Typical northern rocky shorelines with the far end of Blackstone Harbour ending in a marshy area. Here are some photos:

Entering Blackstone Harbour

Inukshuk on the shoreline

Beautiful scenery at Massassauga

My kayak

There are paddle in campsites at Blackstone for those that would like to stay here and explore the area. There is so much to explore! Aside from Blackstone Harbour, you could paddle out towards Georgian Bay and explore many, many islands and channels. A good gps with up to date marine charts is a must or waterproof maps of the area. You could easily get lost in the islands and channels and with lowering water levels it's even more difficult unless your map or gps is up to date.
This is such a wonderful place to paddle! The waterway is of course shared with motorboats, but there were only a couple smaller fishing boats out when we were here. We never caught any fish at Blackstone Harbour. We tried fishing from the dock at the Calhoun Lodge where we stopped for lunch, we caught nothing there either.

By the time we left later in the afternoon to head back to Wood's Bay, a west wind had developed. It made for a difficult, but manageable paddle. I had read that afternoon west winds were typical here, so I was prepared.
There is another place to launch at Blackstone Harbour where you can also pick up park permits if you intend to camp here. I'm not sure of the name now, but it should be easily found with an internet search.
For lunch, we pulled ashore at the Calhoun Lodge. It was closed for the fall, so we couldn't tour it. Not sure if it's open during the summer, but it's an interesting location too.
There are hiking trails that start at the lodge too. Dave wasn't thrilled with hiking due to the possibility of rattlesnakes, so hiking didn't happen.
We had a great time kayaking here and loved this place!
Here's a link to the page on my blog for this camping trip and day trip to Massassauga:
 http://sdrvadventurers.blog.com/six-mile-lake-provincial-park/

Kayaking at Rockwood Conservation Area

Rockwood Conservation Area is one of our favourite "close to home" destinations to camp. The park is clean, the staff friendly and there's a wonderful little place to kayak and fish. We always bring our kayaks here and do some fishing. The geology at Rockwood is fascinating. It includes caves and towering limestone cliffs. All are accessible by hiking trails throughout the park, but my favourite way to see these features are from the water. It's a very cool feeling to paddle past the cliffs and close to the caves along the shoreline. Here are some photos or our latest trip to Rockwood in 2011:

The kayak cart of doom!

Misty morning on Rockwood Lake

Geological features at Rockwood

Rockwood Lake is fairly small, but there is a lot to explore in the way of little passages leading to places tucked in away from the main lake. I would say in full exploration mode, in a couple hours you'd see everything. The lake has rainbow trout, but we've never caught one. We've caught a lot of fiesty catfish and a few other panfish which still makes for a fun time out. The lake has quite a few types of birds including a few herons. Other wildlife includes river otters. There are some places where the depth changes rather quickly due to rock features under water, but there's usually enough water to paddle over them safely. At the end of Rockwood Lake is remains of a dam where the Eramosa River flows into the lake. It's fun to paddle up there in the summer time and sit in the current close to the falls and feel the refreshing spray. Here are a few more photos of Rockwood:

Misty morning kayaking

A heron in flight

Sitting in the current at the waterfall

Secret passageways at Rockwood

Rockwood is a beautiful little conservation area located in the town of Rockwood. You can literally walk into town from the park. Within close travel distance there are a couple more parks run by the Grand River Conservation Area where you can paddle. If you're registered at Rockwood, you can use that pass to enter the other parks for the day free of charge. Belwood Lake is a short drive north from Rockwood and Guelph Lake is an even shorter drive north east from Rockwood. Both offer large reservoirs for fishing and paddling if you want to try somewhere new. The park has clean washroom facilities and pay showers which give you a decent amount of time for 25cents. The campsites are clean and well maintained.
We highly recommend Rockwood for both kayaking and camping. You can find more info about this park at my camping blog page: http://sdrvadventurers.blog.com/rockwood-ca-september-2011-3/