I'm planning a September trip to the McAree, Darky, Wickstead, Poohbah area for a week. I can get a tow from Crane in 2.5 hours to the Northernmost LLC-McAree portage. I could also just drive to the LLC station and paddle in. This is a big area for a week, so time is at a premium. Here are a few questions:

1) What would you anticipate the paddle time to be from the LLC ranger station to the northernmost LLC to McAree portage?

2) How long is the drive from the Highway to the LLC ranger station? I thought it was about 75km, but time could be anything depending on the road condition. Is this a good road?

3) Can you drive and park at or near the station or are you paddling from somewhere else to get there? Is there a camping area nearby?

Thanks!!

The paddle time to Black Robr portage could range from impossible to pretty darn quick depending on local weather and wind conditions. I would not pick this option. Anderson offers a tow from Crane Lake, which is much quicker and safer than this option.

Went out of LLC Ranger Station in Spring 2011 as I recall.

Answer to question 2 is maybe an hour or less as the road is gravel and you will not be be going highway speeds. Question 3 answer is you park in a gated/fenced parking area for vehicle security I guess as the station is just beyond the reservation. No camping area at the station or nearby that I know of. We camped on a small island maybe 2 K east from the station our last night and paddled back in about 30'.

Thanks!

That's exactly what I needed.

old info

So feeling is parking lot is safe as an by Q parking or EP parking? I've wondered why this wasn't a more popular way to enter. Seems easy and straight forward.

75k gravel road @ maybe 45mph tops and nothing at the end but a place to park will deter most folks. --Goose

quote billconner: "So feeling is parking lot is safe as an by Q parking or EP parking? I've wondered why this wasn't a more popular way to enter. Seems easy and straight forward."

That's kind of where I'm coming from. I read about tows to LLC all the time, but I haven't heard or read much about people using the station as the starting point. I was kind of wondering if there was someting I didn't know or was missing. THis seems like a great option for getting into this area. It probably takes about as long to drive straight to the entry as it does to get a tow from Crane Lake. It saves a few hundred bucks as well.

We put in at the LLC ranger station a few years ago. Doug Chapman shuttled us down from Atikokan and then we paddled back to Lerome Lake. We paddled from the ranger station to Tanner on the first day. From my memory the trip took most of the day.

We also did not deal with the ranger station at all, Doug had picked up permits the day before, and we were on the water before the ranger station opened.

What a great idea. This opens up a whole new area of the Q for us because we just don't have money to spend on tows.

quote Chicken: "We put in at the LLC ranger station a few years ago. Doug Chapman shuttled us down from Atikokan and then we paddled back to Lerome Lake. We paddled from the ranger station to Tanner on the first day. From my memory the trip took most of the day.
We also did not deal with the ranger station at all, Doug had picked up permits the day before, and we were on the water before the ranger station opened."

I believe Jim at Canoe Canada will do the same. He mentioned this option last year to me, at $250 if I remember correctly. (This also save wear and tear on your vehicle.) --Goose

I went in at LLC last year solo and got as far as Minn Lake. If you have a strong south wind and you can get to the south side of the lake, you should take Martin Bay as it is well protected from the south. I got to the Black robe portage on the second day via McAcree. It gives you another option if the lake is rough.