http://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/silentlake
We haven't been to this park for a few years so we were looking forward to it. Once we pulled into the park we noticed the fill/dump station so we were thankful we noticed it as we drove in so we didn't need to do a turn around to fill up after we checked in.
We were booked in site 148 (electrical) that I had got up for early to book 5 months in advance. Well we had wanted a different site but some earlybird beat up to booking it!!! We pulled in and were setting up to discover the plug in's were way too far away from the trailer.....my first instinct was to ask at the park office if they had an extension cord we could borrow (the 2 RV plugs we attached were about 10ft too short) however we drove back into Bancroft to Canadian Tire.
http://www.ontarioparks.ca/pdf/maps/silentlake/park_map.pdf
Once that problem was solved we wandered around the campground and checked things out. The blackflies were horrendous. Clearly that was one part of growing up in Port Carling (Muskoka) that I had blocked from my memory. We quickly started a fire and put the screen tent up !!!
The campground wasn't super full Thursday but in conversation with others the outlets were spaced far away as others needed cords. We were told by other campers that the office has some to loan out (lesson learned!!!) which is good to know.
We wandered by the main beach away by the trail head and discovered a peaceful waterfall gurgling.
Thursday night was an early night due to the bugs but falling asleep listening to the loons was magical. I had missed that over the winter time.
Friday morning we woke at 5, got a coffee in our travel mugs and headed for the water to kayak while the sun was rising. Silent Lake is a motor (gas & electric) free lake which is wonderful for kayak, canoe & SUP enthusiasts. I stayed out on the water for about 3 hrs and paddled the circumference and Pete stayed on the water till 3, pausing only to grab a BBQ sausage for lunchtime. We were the only ones on the lake the whole time - very serene. Lots of wildlife to see - beavers ducks, and lots of loons playing in the water!
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| posted by the day use beach area. |
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| sunrise May 20 |
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| Pete fishing |
There are 2 beach areas here - the camper beach (which is a short walk from the canoe/kayak rental area and the day use area. Both swim areas have floating docks out for some fun jumping!!! I didn't see anyone swimming while we were here but I am sure sure were!!!
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| kayak/ canoe rental area |
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| kayak/canoe rental area |
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| Day Use beach area |
Even though years ago Silent Lake was a private fishing camp, the fish are not that plentiful. Pete put in about 12 hrs of fishing time over the weekend and only managed to catch 2 lake trout. We stopped at the MNR (as we drove past it in Bancroft) for a stocking list but we didn't see that Silent Lake was listed as being stocked as of late for any of the species in the stocking book. He did enjoy his time out trying to catch a big one though!!!
Even though we were here over May 24 long weekend, we did not see a lot of Park staff patrolling through the sites, nor was it loud or rowdy. I am assuming the blackflies kept things at bay!! Silent Lake is one of the parks that allows alcohol over the long weekend but we didn't see that it was an issue at least in our area, or the surrounding areas when we went walking.
The comfort stations were well maintained and clean, as were the outhouse buildings. We stopped quickly at the office and they did have a small amount of park merchandise for sale and coffee also. I believe they also sell ice but I didn't notice it.
There is a notice to beware of bears - we did not see any. Nor did we see any deer (we have in past trips). I was always looking while kayaking along the shore for a moose or deer having a drink by the water but not this time unfortunately. We did see this little critter close to our site:
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| martin |
Would we go again...not in blackfly season...perhaps in the fall to take in some of the great hiking trails and enjoy the fall colours (we didn't get any hiking in due to the bugs)!
http://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/silentlake/activities
The town of Bancroft is about 24km from the park, although Kawartha Dairy is about 15km from the park - always a favourite place to stop !!!
http://kawarthadairy.com/location/kawartha-dairy-bancroft/
http://www.bancroftdistrict.com/
Good times!Beautiful park.
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