We’ve taken our kids camping and canoeing pretty much ever since they were born. As babies, we found it fairly easy to pluck them into their car seats (unbuckled!) and head out on the water. Even as toddlers, our kids were always good in the canoe, at least if we weren’t paddling for more than 45 minutes.
However, most of our camping experiences were of the car variety, where you set up your tent near the beach and bring pretty much anything you can fit into your car. There is running water and toilets as well as grocery stores nearby. Easy!
When they were 4 and 7, we decided they (we?) were ready to take them out on a real canoe camping, wilderness trip. Sort of. We wanted to keep it fairly easy, but also test how well they would do, and how well we would be able to coordinate packing food and gear for two nights on our own.
That’s why we chose Depot Lakes Conservation Area in Verona, in Eastern Ontario. It’s about 2 hours west of Ottawa and 45 minutes north of Kingston, so extremely accessible. It has some nice little islands only a few minutes away by canoe and seasonal campground with water, washrooms and showers. There’s even a playground and beach area. It was perfect for us in case the kids get bored or we decide to bail out for whatever reason. Their sites are rated based on the privacy and desirability, and range from $29.50 to $56.
Depot Lakes is a series of four lakes, encompassing 3,000 acres. There are 20 wilderness camping sites on Second Depot Lake, most within a 10 to 35 minute paddle. One campsite is about an hour paddle and requires a portage. This map shows the exact locations. The conservation area boasts 9km of trails and apparently some of the best fishing in Ontario. We wouldn’t know though. While I did bring my fishing rod, I didn’t as much get a bite (but if you read more of my camping blogs, you’ll see a recurring theme, so I wouldn’t blame the lakes!)
We picked the closest island to the campground and booked two nights. There are three sites on the island, but we had it to ourselves. From there, we did a couple of day trips. While you can portage from one lake to the other, we weren’t that adventurous, but did paddle to one of the portage routes and hiked to the other lake, which brought us past a small series of rapids. We limited our paddling distances, but there’s a lot of lake to explore.
The kids totally loved the campground. There was a picnic table and an outhouse/privy, with plenty of room to set up our tent on one side and a large tarp over the table. In our efforts to minimize gear, we forgot to bring any games to keep the kids occupied. Turns out it didn’t matter. They made up their own games with sticks, rocks and juiceboxes! The juiceboxes actually kept them occupied for hours. They would either hide them or throw them on the tarp and watch them slide off.
This trip showed us our kids were fine with whatever nature offered and emboldened us to try longer and more difficult canoe-camping trips in the future.
If you are looking for your first canoe camping trip with kids, Depot Lakes offers a much quieter, simpler experience than Ontario’s main parks, like Algonquin. And even if you are an experienced wilderness adventurer, Depot Lakes is a great place as it gets you away from the crowds despite its easy accessibility.
