Oh We'll Be Back - LITTLE TURTLE LAKE - Day Forty Five
- pathofthepaddleamb
- Aug 11, 2016
- 3 min read

As we bid farewell to Turtle River Park we promise ourselves that, one day, we will be back. There is something on this river for everyone and it would be hard not to love it. We are camped now on a small beach just outside the park boundary. After another huge storm rolled through last night and left a white cap filled lake behind, we have rested up for the day before we move on tomorrow. In that time we've figured out our perfect route for the next time we run the Turtle. So why not share it here for others to try? The Turtle is located within close proximity to Atikokan, Dryden, and Fort Frances and yet we only ran into one group on this well kept secret of a park.
Turtle River Dream Itinerary
Day 1: White Otter Lake to Smirch Lake. Or spend more time on White Otter. A beautiful place to get into the peace of life outdoors.
Day 2: Smirch Lake to Bending Lake. This day includes all the small C1 rapids in the Little Turtle River. A fun and easy introduction or reminder on moving water.
Day 3: Bending Lake to any old campsite before the 622 Hwy bridge. There are many sites, a few fun sets of rapids, islands galore, beaches, and baby lakes. Take your pick.

Day 4: Site near the highway (or start a shorter trip at the highway) to Turtle Falls. This would end up being a shorter day which would be ideal to provide maximum time to explore Turtle Falls. The river is narrow most of the day with fun swifts and the shores are covered in sparse forests of tall trees. One particularly fun set would end the day. It had a deep, dark tongue that hooked right followed by a wave train to cross before making your way over to hit the narrow patch of water to the side of a monster standing wave. FUN! Turtle Falls we have decided are the best falls yet. A large exposed rock divides the water into two torrents crashing over the edge.
Day 5: Turtle Falls to another falls. Camp at the glorious campsite in the middle of the portage around the falls. The day has a few sets that may be the largest you run or add a few portages to your day. Then if you are like Erik, spend the evening fantasizing about paddling the falls in a kayak.
Day 6: No name falls to Horse Falls. There quite honestly could not be a better campsite. Not on this river, not anywhere. While we didn't get to camp here (or anywhere else we recommend because we didn't know the sites existed), this was a gem. It has a view directly up at a spectacular falls, the site is based on a huge flat rock, there were three fire pits and countless tent spots. It was something dreams are made of.
Day 7: Stay at Horse Falls. It's that good.
Day 8: Horse Falls to the end of the park. This is a day to motor. Maybe it was the winding of the river and maybe the headwind, but this section took us forever. The joys of running a river without campsites marked became apparent. It was grassy marsh land lining the river and there are few to no campsites en route. Just past the end of the park boundary on the left shore is a nice beach to call home for the night.


Day 9: Paddle the few kilometres to Mine Center and get picked up or... Continue the rest of the way along the Path of the Paddle, there's no reason to stop here.
After a day of rest we were heading to bed for the night when who should show up but the American Scout group we had passed the previous day. Having made the same trek through the marsh, they were looking for anywhere to camp so we welcomed them to share our site. They shared with us the leftover ingredients they had for s'mores - a welcome treat in our camp.

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