Algonquin: Canoe Lake to the Tom Thomson cairn

Launch at the Canoe Lake access point, beside the Portage Store at km 14 of Highway 60, the busiest gateway to Algonquin's canoe country. Paddle north up Canoe Lake past the cottages and summer camps, with Wapomeo Island on your left, to Hayhurst Point on the east shore. A short, steep path from the landing climbs to a fieldstone cairn and a totem pole, put up by his fellow artists in memory of the painter Tom Thomson, who drowned in this lake in 1917. Come back south along the east shore, past the small islands off it, to the access point.

It is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) round; allow about 1½ hours in a canoe or kayak and 1¾ on a paddleboard, plus time at the cairn. The grade is Easy: you are never far from a shore, though a north wind can raise waves on the open stretch.

Motorboats of up to 20 hp are allowed on Canoe Lake, so keep clear of them, especially near the docks. Day visitors need an Ontario Parks daily vehicle permit, which can be booked up to five days ahead; an interior camping permit is only needed if you stay overnight. Wear a lifejacket and check the conditions before you set off.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap waterways (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.