McCrae Lake is a wonderful area that has easy
access for canoers, kayakers and hikers to enjoy the beautiful,
wild nature of the Canadian Shield and Georgian Bay. You may
park your car at the parking area and enjoy excellent access to
both the 5 Winds hiking trail and the McDonald Lake canoe launch
point. Either way it'll be a great day.
Please NOTE... this is a very accessable area
and it will be crowded in peak season, week ends and
holidays. Always practice CITO.
Parking Area: N44
55.325, W079 46.636
CANOE or
HIKE?
We placed 3 caches in the area
on April 26th, 2009 and another 2 on May 7, 2011. Of the
five, one needs to be hiked to, one can be canoed or hiked
to, two will require a long hike or a paddle and some
hiking and one will likely need to be canoed to unless you
feel comfortable wading a fast stream. If you wanted to try
all five by hiking you would require a full day and should be
prepared to cover more than 20K. I would reccommend an
overnight stay. By canoe you can reach the furthest cache in
about one hour and spend some time exploring the very interesting
area for a while. There is a beautiful cliff top view of the
bay and there is one shrine and a cliff side crucifix that must be
a couple of Meters in size. Maybe you'd like to continue on
to Georgain Bay? You can continue to follow the trail and
explore more of the Georgian Bay coastline if you have managed
to get over to the final cache. If you are canoeing, you can
continue heading about NW between Bone Island and the mainland up
to the mouth of the Musquash river to explore the old Muskoka Mills
and a little further upstream you may want to have a look at the 3
Rock Chute on the Gibson. Lots to see and do here. Make
it a day or make it a week.
"Its a
Cliffhanger"
The first cache we placed
on our May 7, 2011 hikeing trip. This cache is accessed from
the top of a small cliff in the South end of McCrae Lake; you may
see some folks practicing their rock climbing skills here if you
are lucky. We spent about a 1/2 hour or so enjoying the view
and I think you will want to spend some time here too. This is also
a picturesque spot where you will want to take many photos.
You could pitch a tent in a couple of spots here if you were so
inclined, we saw several established places for
them. The cache is a Medium Size Ammo can with minimal swag
items in it hidden in an area that should be obvious by the
name of the cache. PLEASE be careful and watch your footing
here.
