Rockaway and Dividing Lakes

Technical Guide: Hwy 35 north of Dorset Right on Kawagama road and follow to end. Northeast through Kawagama lake P 274 m into Kimball lake East through Kimball lake P 2743 beside Kimball Creek into Rockaway Lake East on Rockaway Lake P 914 m into Minkey Lake East on Minkey Lake P 91 m into Dividing Lake Return by same route Special Comments: We entered via Access point 14 and not Kawagama as the route describes. Both Bear and Livingstone Lakes are heavy cottage areas so make sure you bring potable water for the first part of the trip. The 320m portage from Bear to Kimball runs along a creek that can easily be paddled, I imagine only in really low water conditions would you might need to portage. There are a few campsites on Kimball, one really nice site on Aubrey Island so if you want to make this a weekend trip and need to camp early the first night it is doable. The first two thirds of the 2780m portage into Rockaway are flat and very easy, there is a steady climb the last third but not too bad. There are several rough cabins on Rockaway and an extra campsite not marked on the Chrismar Map Algonquin 3. The site at the portage into Minkey is the one we used and far nicer than the other marked site. Although the site we stayed on is within the park boundries, it is not reservable. This route is not as well used as some of the other Algonquin routes and the trees are impressive. You have to aquire your permit at the Marine shop in Dorset.

Josh

Rated: 4 stars

Review: A few updates. To clarify, permits are obtained at Tower Hill Marine, just south of the Kawagama lake road. For access #14, you can park and put-in at Livingstone lodge for $2.50/day; or, just park at the MNR put-in just past the lodge driveway, though there is space for only 2 vehicles there. The first part of this trip ain't much fun. It's like being a wild animal in a zoo, what with all the cottagers and such. As mentioned above, there is no sign of a dam or any reason to portage into Kimball lake. I can only conclude that the dam was removed and water levels adjusted for the benefit of cottagers on Kimball lake. The four long ports between Kimball and CrossCorner lake are a bit overgrown but have very few blowdown obstacles. Overall, they're in comparatively good condition. As noted many of the yellow signs are missing, but if you look closely you will see a few axe blazes here and there. The Kimball side of the P2700 is marked by a plywood triangle. About 700 metres into this port there is a fork to the right, crossing the creek over a bridge, and the continuing portage to the left is not signed in any way. Farther along at the base of the climb you'll see the remains of a rugged corduroy tote road. The P965 into Minkey is a bit of a climb over a ridge but otherwise not bad. The Hollo river down to Cross Corner lake is a great paddle, just a few beaver dam liftovers, plenty of water for mid-summer (this year anyway). The P1040 south out of Dividing lake is mostly level and easy. It walks a bit longer than 1040 metres though. It has new signs, which is good going north because the south end of the port is a wide open expanse of river and marsh and not an obvious take-out. The P1000 into CrossCorner lake is also mostly level, a bit more overgrown but still easy enough. The south end of the port has no sign and is heavily overgrown. There is a large clearing there and I believe the remains of a cabin foundation can be seen at the north end of the clearing.