We are travelling from Milton (just west of Toronto) to Kirkland Lake.
Our plans are to take 401 to 400 to Hwy 11.
If any one has travelled this route, could they give us some info, as we have never been farther north than Bracebridge
1) would you make the whole trip in one day pulling a 38' fiver?
2) if stopping..where would be a good place to stop over night?
3) any recommended campgrounds on the way?
3) diesel fuel easy to find north of Bracebridge?
4) in Kirkland Lake--has anyone been to Culver Park Campground in Swastika?
what is it like? any pics of it?
5) my husband will be taking the truck from Swastika everyday to work in Kirkland
Lake. (7am to 7pm) so I will be on my own at Culver. Is there TV there, Internet???? or will I catch up on my sleep? LOL
Greetings...probably won't be of much help here but according to my calculations it will be about 615 klicks
(370 miles) from your area to Kirkland Lake. If you leave early enough in the morning you can make it...I hauled our fiver up to Cohchrane in one day...had intended to camp one night on the way but if you are like me..the closer I got to Cochrane the more I felt we could carry on. There are numerous campgrounds north of North Bay and if you can get a Camping Ontario Directory (which are free) it will help. Haven't stayed in any up that way so cannot recommend. A lot of trucks use that highway so there has to be diesel. There is TV reception in the north but mainly CBC. Great country up there and I am sure you will enjoy it. Stay Safe. Bob
Esker Lakes provincial Park is close to Kirkland Lake. It is a nice park,as to TV we had no problem using our satalite dish. Don't know about internet other then maybe the office might let you hook up for E-mail downloads. Can't remember if they have phone lines or are on radio phones. Good comfort station, flush toilets, showers, laundry facilities. Nice sites. It is possible to drive there in one day. Campgrounds on the way are Arrowhead PP (north of Huntsville a bit), and Martin River PP (35km north of North Bay). Both are on hywy 11. Hope this is of some help.. Have a good trip...
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1) would you make the whole trip in one day pulling a 38' fiver?
Nope: But I'm old, and never in a big rush to go anywhere. Not that I can't still do an 800 km daily stint, but it generally take a full day to recover from that kind of no-fun endeavour. For recreational purposes, we try to set the upper daily limit to about 500 km on a bad day.
rvcruiser wrote:
2) if stopping..where would be a good place to stop over night?
If you are geared toward enjoying your trip and having fun along the way; then for late starters, the new Huntsville Wal-Mart might be a good option.
If you want something more remote, then Mikisew Provincial Park in the South River area is a good option. While Mikisew is a really nice park, for some inexplainable reason, it seldom attracts much traffic through the season.
Other than that, a night in Wal-Mart at North Bay would be the logical way to divide up your trip; rather than arriving at your destination late at night when no one really wants to see you!
rvcruiser wrote: 3) diesel fuel easy to find north of Bracebridge?
We are talking about a major Canadian trucking route!! Right??
rvcruiser wrote:
5) My husband will be taking the truck from Swastika everyday to work in Kirkland Lake. (7am to 7pm) so I will be on my own at Culver. Is there TV there, Internet???? or will I catch up on my sleep? LOL
Yeh, TV options have improved a whole lot since the days of the one French and one English CBC station scenario. Most campgrounds will have a cable TV connection for your rig.
I grew up in Englehart (20 mins south of K.L) and still go up there all the time.
I worked in Swastika at the MNR fighting forest fires when I was in university back in 95/96.
Anyways, you can easily drive up there in a day.
1)It usually takes me 6-7 hours from Burlington to Englehart depending on how many stops I make with my little ones. I take the 407/400/11.
2) We just stayed at Marten River Prov. Park (half hour north of North Bay) last weekend and it was great. Finlayson in Temagami is also nice. Mikisew has already been mentioned.
3)There is diesel pretty much at every gas station. There are two truck stops in North Bay, one in Cobalt, and one in New Liskeard. Don't worry about fillin up your rig.
4) I know where Culver is but have never stayed there. Esker Lakes is a nice Prov Park from my MNR days. The best bet is to look in a Campground directory to see what Culver offers for services.
Have a good trip.
2003 Jeep Liberty / 2004 Dodge Durango
2007 Fleetwood SunValley
First I would like to thank all who took the time to answer me. I had the feeling I was going "where no one has gone before" lol
After reading your suggestions, we have decided to make the trip a bit of a pleasure trip as well as for work. So we are going to take two days up and two days back..stopping at a couple of the suggestions you folks have made. (I am all for stopping at the Walmart..but DH says no way--it will be 'cheaper' staying at a campground) I do love Walmart!
I guess if there is no internet, I will have to take a two week vacation from my work...hehe
I can't seem to find any real description for Culver Park, but Esker sounds nice.
Going to telephone in a.m. before leaving to check availability.
Well this is funny, cause I am in Milton as well and making the same trip in August, to the Kirkland Lake area, hopefully to buy some land.
Lots of fuel stops north of Bracebridge, the new Walmart in Huntsville, I stayed there one night last week, I got up in the morning to no wife in the bed, already shopping in Walmart lol. Big grocery store there as well. Fuel too and easy on off the highway.
I go to a little campground in Novar called Tea Kettle Campground, 35 sites and very very quiet. 25.00 per night for full hookup.
There is a method to the madness, disturb the method and the madness begins.
Sounds like you got most of your answers but I'll through in my .02.
We drove down from Cochrane to Toronto last year, had no issues with the conditions of the roads(Hwy 11) or the supply of fuel, as someone mentioned it is a major truck route. We stayed at Marten River, and it was nice, we had a waterfront site which gave us the sounds of Hwy 11, not so bad though. The only thing I remember as being any sort of issue was some construction south of North Bay, I think they are taking 4 lanes right into North Bay, but we had no delays. Have a safe trip.
Hi,
Just wondering if you made the trip to Kirkland Lake and how it was? Where did you wind up staying there? Are the campgrounds nice? What about a Walmart? Any??? Is so, can you stay there???? I was born in KL but haven't been back since 1957. I'm dying to go back and see what it looks like.
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