Bonnechere River to McKaskill Lake Loop
May 9, 2024
We were planning a shorter hike, but shortly after starting out we came across signs of an old trail along the Bonnechere River above the hydro line. We decided to see if we could follow the river, cross it at some point, and make our way to McKaskill Lake. We entered the Park on the Basin Depot Road.
Pond along Basin Depot Road
Jenkins Lake
Spider webs made visible in the morning dew
Morning mist rising -- we saw a moose standing at the top of a hill ahead of us -- but too far away to get a good photo.
A grown-over logging road led to signs of an old trail along the Bonnechere River. I recalled having seen an early map of the Park showing a road or trail starting near the top of McKaskill Lake and running along the Bonnechere River. I didn't have the map with me but looked it up after we got back.
Produced in 1934, the map shows an early trail along the Bonnechere River. There was not yet a hydro line corridor below McKaskill Lake -- it was constructed in the 1950s.
Algonquin, Topographical Survey of Canada, Ottawa, 1934
The trail gradually becomes overgrown and eventually no further trace of it could be found. We kept to a ridge above the river.
Farley Mowat Falls
Above the falls the river flows through a canyon with steep walls of rock.
Looking for a place to get down off the cliffside and to cross the river.
The current was too swift to consider wading across. We eventually came to this spot with logs lodged across the river.
Me, crossing nervously. No traction on wet logs.
We both made it across without falling in the river.
The cliff face along the canyon section of the river.
The website Smedleyco.com presents a report of an epic canoe trip made down the Bonnechere River in 2014. The paddlers passed along this cliff face 10 years ago to the day back in May 2014.
After crossing the river the next two hours were slow going. This kind of bushwhacking reduces distance covered to just over 1.5 km per hour. We were also climbing continually up the Madawaska Highlands.
Around noon we were getting closer to the upper end of McKaskill Lake but hit an obstacle -- a wide marsh, which meant finding some higher ground to get around.
McKaskill Lake - we came out to the lake on a bay at the north end of the lake, a short distance from the start of the Bonnechere River (map below).
Map courtesy of Maps by Jeff
A couple of pictures of McKaskill Lake
After leaving McKaskill there was more bushwhacking -- another pond to get around...
...but this time a beaver dam saved us some time.
We made our way to an old logging road that would take us 3 km south to the hydro line corridor.
We kept to the old trail below the power lines. There is a newer road along this section of the corridor that keeps some distance away from the lines.
Along the route... colourful fungus
... wolf tracks
... and spring flowers.
We're back at the Bonnechere River. Our hike ended up being a long loop, bringing us back to our starting point where the Bonnechere River flows beneath the hydro line.
Our route -- orange line
