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Posted by cmkl
- Date posted: Apr 5, 2003
- Date last travelled: 2001-08-22
- Details of Access To reach the access point on Matagamasi Lake, follow Kukagami Lake Road north of highway 17, located approximately twenty minutes east of Sudbury, at a McEwen Gas Bar. The road is gravel, with quite a bit of washboard. But it’s still manageable for most vehicles.
The first main fork in the road is at the 22 kilometer mark. Make a left here and follow Matagamasi Lake Road. At the next split, head right and drive for another 1.4 kilometers (make sure to keep to the right when the road splits three ways) to reach the poorly maintained government launch on the south end of Matagamasi Lake. Total distance from highway 17 is 27 km.
Details of Canoe Route
Put-in on Matagamasi Lake, paddle north through Wolf, to Chiniguchi Lake. Return by the same route. There is an option to continue through 6 additional portages (1200 yards) to Fredrick and Stouffer Lakes and the Sturgeon River.
The route, from the Sturgeon River to Matagamsi Lake is described in Hap Wilson’s Temagami Canoe Routes (route 24. )
Comments on Portages
From south to north: 1) 350-yard, fairly flat portage on the west side of the lake. The south end is a shallow creek with small sharp rocks in low water. The north end has large boulders at the waters edge, making access more challenging.
2) 360-yard narrow “goat trail” that climbs around a 90’ waterfall. There is good take-out and landing at both ends. There is an excellent swimming and lunch spot at the north end.
3) 190-yard portage between Wolf and Dewdney Lakes crosses a road. It has a narrow crevasse portion but is not difficult.
4) 540-yard portage between Dewdney and Chiniguchi Lakes - fairly good trail though there are some logs across the trail. There are large old-growth pines along the trail.
Comments on Rapids There are no rapids, per se, however there is a narrows between Sylvester and Wolf Lake we had to line in both directions, due to low water and strong current.
Comments on Campsites Wolf Lake is a very popular 2-day destination for people from Sudbury, hence campsites may be busy, especially on weekends. There are 2 campsites on the east side of the Lake, on the side of a cliff. Several campsites on islands and 1 campsite on the west side. The west-side campsite is large, but rocky, so it may be difficult to find tent pads, especially for large tents.
There are a number of campsites on Chiniguchi Lake. There are a several large campsites on a beach in McCallum Bay, however swimming is poor due to shallow water. A beautiful, but exposed site on the east side of the lake, south of McCallum Bay has a beach in low water, rocks for swimming from and sleeping on and a great view.
Points of Interest The area resembles Killarney for its blue/green clear lakes and granite rocks, and Georgian Bay, for its weathered smooth rocks.
There are Petroglyphs on the North Arm of Matagamasi Lake, though we did not venture passed them.
Other Comments Lack of rain in summer 2001 meant low-water levels. This was not a problem for most of the trip, but did expose rocks access to the portages.
Chiniguchi Lodge at Peloquin Point at the north end of Chiniguchi Lake operates a hunting and fishing camp. A small motor boat may be on the lake. Bear hunting season had opened around the time of our trip. The guide set bear-bait prior to the arrival of the weekend guests. This was later discovered near one of the campsites on the lake. Take caution.
August 2001
