Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park — Attraction in North Kawartha

We camped at 101 on Bottle Lake. Very quiet, away from cottages and other campers. It's 600 m from the access point and boat launch, so yes you can see and hear motorboats in the distance, but it's not a huge nuisance. Only two motorboats passed directly by our campsite in 5 days of camping. It was mostly very quiet. We had several canoes pass by on the way to/from portages. The site itself is next to the emergency site 100, so that was empty. We could not see or hear any other campsites or campers!

This site was very easy to find and access for beginners, and we had no trouble with it. It's a huge site with a great view and good swimming and fishing.

My only complaint is that the previous campers left trash all over the place and were clearly dumping wastewater right next to the lake. Also washing dishes in the lake with soap! I really wish getting a permit involved having to know and practice proper "leave no trace" and other protocols to ensure environmental safety. We ended up packing out another 2 bags of trash left by these monsters! What the hell? They also brought (and left behind) a whole bag of charcoal briquettes! In a wooded campsite? I wish there were some way to report them. People like this should stay home.

Lakewater was great for filtering, we treated our own water this way. No need to bring water. Thunderbox was fine, got yelled at by red squirrels a lot while up there!

I think the best aspect of this site is that it's fantastic for hammocking! If you sleep this way or just hang one for fun, definitely you will love the abundance of great...

This is a great park for winter camping and especially spring-fall paddling. The lakes are pretty calm and quiet and they get more so the further in you go.

The campsites are for the most part well-designed and have better than average basic amenities. not so much that it kills the wilderness experience but not so little that folks who are less than happy to sit on the ground don't have a place to rest after making camp.

unfortunately, like any national or provincial park you are at the mercy of whoever use the campsite last before you. Parks Canada and Parks Ontario do their best to maintain these campsites but it's an enormous job given the scope of our parks and when people decide to leave camp elements, food waste and half-cut loose timber all over a campsite it is up to you to rectify that issue.

It's very important to remember that these are backcountry campsites and that leave no trace principles are extremely important in maintaining their availability and enjoyability for all tenants. Not to mention the dangers that certain leftover camp elements and garbage can pose to wildlife.

Just make sure to pack appropriately and not bring anything on to a site that you can't pack out. Turns out that garbage collection isn't a thing 20 km into the woods or on an island in the middle of a lake......

My wife and I just paddled 14 km through Long Lake and Loucks Lake (without portaging) on the 2020 Labour Day Sunday because it looked like the nicest day weather-wise on the long weekend. We we weren't sure about whether it would be worth the 2 hour drive from Toronto but the beauty of the lakes well exceeded our expectations. There are quite a few granite cliffs to explore from the water and many islands. Long Lake and Loucks Lake make for great paddling because you're close to the shores so it always feels like you're making great progress. The back country sites looked really nice and well maintained. The portage from Long Lake to Buzzard Lake is rather wide and fairly easy going 340 m. There are cottages and cabins but everyone we saw from shore were friendly. Most of the power boats were respectful. The parking lot at Long Lake was full on the long weekend so you may want to arrive earlier rather than later. Cell coverage was really good. There are pit toilets by the parking lot. $12.25 for a day permit. Long Lake Lodge can outfit paddlers. From what we saw, their equipment was in good shape but you may want to call ahead to reserve on busy weekends. This seems to be a paddlers paradise and besides portaging, not much...