Curious about this access point - specifically the road/parking.

Has anyone driven it & parked by the lake for their trip? Or been driven by an outfitter?

What little intel I have indicates that it is quite rough and overgrown (hard on your vehicle's paint).

Just wondering if that's remotely accurate. I recall getting similar warnings about the Suffel Lake road to Leano in WCPP, only to discover that it was really not bad at all.

Also curious about the security of parking there...

When I was there in 2017, I was told that the road was only oen to first nation users. I assume that's still the case. Clem Quenville could shuttle you there.

We just did this in June '24. We had Clem Quenville drive us in and drop us off.

I would not take my own vehicle down the road. Not because of the condition of the road itself, as any stock AWD SUV or truck would be able to make it, but as you suggest, because of the overgrown vegetation along side that will leave you with unwanted pinstripes. Also, there is really nowhere to park at the end. There was barely enough room for Clem to turn his truck around once we took the canoes off the rack.

That being said, we had a great trip. Went up through the boiling sand river and spent several days on various spots in Smoothrock and toward Wabakimi Lake. We then went out through Caribou and Little Caribou, where Clem picked us up again. You could make this a longer trip by going up into Whitewater.

Thanks for the confirmation. It's an expensive shuttle but may be the best option.

I can't take the train because I trip with my dog; flying is great but for whatever reason is about double the cost per mile compared to Woodland Caribou PP or Quetico.

The other thing that I'd think some enterprising person/outfitter/lodge in Armstrong would/should jump all over: a boat shuttle to help paddlers quickly get past the big water/motors of Caribou Lake and to/from that first portage of the Caribou River. That's basically a day's paddling saved in ~1 hour; if cost were in-line with the tow operators of the BWCA & Quetico, you'd likely be looking at about $100 USD one-way, per person, and of course some kind of minimum (four person?). But still - that gets you more time deeper in the wilderness, and I would think it could be popular given how many begin or end a trip at Little Caribou.

How much did Clem charge for the delivery service?

Interesting point on the boat shuttle getting you across Caribou. I wonder if anything governmental stops it like a regulation. I’ve never really heard of any boat shuttles up in Canadian areas I’ve looked into. I also wonder if the expense to how many people would pay for a shuttle outweighs the costs of setting up a boat for it and offering the service. Bruce at Wabakimi outfitters definitely wasn’t a fan of the idea of pick up or drop off on rather main Caribou lake. That could be for a multitude of reasons though. Bad landing? Private access?

When I tripped in the BWCA I did several boat shuttles.

Ryan

Talk to Clem. He can do boat shuttles on Caribou as well as road shuttles. He has a skiff (?) with an overhead canoe rack. He puts in at base of Caribou Lake, readily accessible by vehicle.

Definitely hadn’t heard that Clem did a boat shuttle service on Caribou. That is good information. Would make for a big difference on some trips and options for routes. Any other lakes? I’m assuming it would just be Caribou Lake for that option.

Ryan

Only Caribou, that I know of. But I never asked Clem about other lakes.