Traveling along hwy 41 and 17 towing a trailer can get interesting....with lack of gas stations and lack of large, easy to navigate into gas stations, we stopped when we could to fuel up.
We were excited to visit our first Algonquin Park park and planned this one around visiting family in Mattawa after our 5 days of camping. We then decided to book at Driftwood for a couple nights after we left Mattawa since we pass that provincial park on the way home.
We pulled off of hwy 17 on the Brent Rd at 1230, and checked in at the Park office. The office is stocked with some Park clothing and merchandise, wood and has a indoor washroom for visitors. We then grabbed the camera and started to make the 42km drive down the gravel road to the campground.
At times the road is very washboardy and rutted, and we met some cars going much faster than they should have been. That being said, we were fortunate not to run into any of the logging trucks that also use that road. Sadly, we did not see any moose on our drive - that was our hope!
We arrive to the campground area and made our way to our site. Sadly we were very disappointed to see that site 4, which we reserved was basically "open field camping" and there was ppl set up within 30 feet of where our trailer was to go. So much for serene, private, Algonquin Park beauty.
We made the most of our disappointment and got set up and introduced ourselves to our neighbours - who, the husband has been coming to camp at Brent for the past 42 yrs!! So we were happy with his wealth of knowledge over the week!
The Brent park does not have a dump station nor a trailer fill station. We had a water tap right near our site that we stopped and filled at before we backed the trailer into. Brent also does not have shower facilities or flush toilets. The washrooms they do have were very clean and well taken care of and more like a real toilet vs an outhouse, which was wonderful!! The one basically across from our site was made out of a plastic type shell on the inside and was super! If only all Provincial Parks had those for their outhouses!!
Brent also does not have electrical sites, but we brought the generator to keep the batter charged and for making the coffee in the am!!! And in case of a rainy day here and there to use the TV and DVD. The park is small - only 30 sites - some large enough for a 30 plus foot trailer, some one tent only.
http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/camping/brent-campground.php
http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/algonquin-brent
As with the theme for the rest of our camping trips this summer, Pete picked this park to fish!!! We were lucky in booking a water site, which made it super handy to keep our kayaks right on the beach at our site. Even though there were other sites by ours, and they had small motor boats parked at the small beach that bordered our sites, we felt secure to leave our things right in our kayaks as we had made friends with our neighbours and there wasn't any pedestrian traffic through our sites to access the water.
Cedar Lake is a large lake and also an access point for Algonquin Park to venture out to other rivers and lakes and with that, there was a lot of canoe traffic and people coming and going from the Algonquin Outfitters store that Jake runs by the campground. It is a must see little store when you go to camp - you must pop in and say hi to Jake, who has been there for years ((http://algonquinoutfitters.com/maps/algonquin-park/access-points/)
Park staff were around at least once a day, trimming grass, cleaning the washrooms, and asking if any one needed wood - to save on the 42km trek out the road to buy it from the office. They also kept campers up to date on bear spottings in the campgrounds and reminded people not to venture out on their own as the berries were ripe all around the sites, which the bears were after!! We did not spot a bear in our 5 days there sadly either!!!
Kayaking on Cedar Lake was beautiful and one could venture in many different directions. There were also paddle in campsites to stop at should you want a rest around the lake. Across the lake from the campgrounds was a short Portage were you could hike to waterfalls. We didn't make it to the waterfalls as Pete hurt his back and was in massive pain but prior to that, he hiked a bit of the trail one his own while out fishing. I was disappointed we didn't get to make it to the falls.
Pete's fishing goal for the week was speckled trout. Sadly he didn't catch any however was sidelined his last day and a half with back pain. He did get a few lake trout, pike and walleye and lots of bass. One early morning he venture 20 odd km up the road to Windago Lake, however he didn't catch anything there - super windy morning so he only stayed out a couple of hours in his kayak.
The small beach area at our site was super for swimming. Hard packed sand and shallow water with no weeds was super for cooling off or bathing. The water was cool but refreshing!
The bugs were horrendous the whole week we were there, and we did not do any major hiking. We did take in the view of the Brent Crater on our way out of the park. Had the bugs not been as bad, we may have hiked in.
All in all, a good camping week. Would we return to this park - likely not. The 42km drive in off of hwy 17 was a bit far - especially for the "open field" camping we experienced. Would we try a different Algonquin Park - for sure!!!! And camper be wary of your gas levels - as it is about 60km to the nearest gas station from your campsite (Stonecliffe is the closest store to access gas, beer, liquor, and groceries, ice etc...right on hwy 17)!!!
View from the trailer to Cedar Lake
The beach area at site 3 and 4
Small island just out from sites 3 and 4
View of the trailer from the beach were we swam and kep the kayaks
For more info - search out the Ontario Parks site - http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/algonquin-brent
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