Cliff Lake

Written By Johanna Kilbridge

Total distance: 13 km
Number of portages: 1
Total portage length: 940 m
Recommended time: 2 nights (3 days)

The access point for this trip is just a 5-minute drive away from our lodge - it’s so close you could practically portage to it! This short, there-and-back trip starts on Rib Lake and brings you into the remarkably remote-feeling Cliff Lake, which is really only 5 kilometres from our lodge. 

The short paddle up Rib Lake offers a fascinating insight into Temagami’s past, specifically into the legacy of logging. Paddling north, you will be struck by the difference between the east and west shorelines. The west, being much flatter, was easily logged in the earlier 20th century, when horses were still used to transport timber. Today, it is a leafy swath of poplar and birch - species typical of regrowth in a logged area. The east shoreline is much hillier, and still populated with beautiful pines. It is from here that you will portage into Cliff Lake, whose shores are protected from logging as part of the Cliff Lake Conservation Area.   

Cliff Lake is a clear, deep-water lake, flanked to the east by the craggy and proud Cliff Lake Ridge. There are only two campsites on Cliff Lake, both far enough apart to make it feel as though you have the whole lake to yourself.

The Cliff Lake Ridge is reason enough to do this trip - it is one of our favourite hikes in the area, showcasing the boreal forest at its best. Starting, as most trails in Temagami do, in a lowland cedar grove, it quickly transitions to a Temagami highland landscape. Gorgeous, wide rock faces are covered with delicate, crunchy reindeer mosses and leathery lichens, and spindly pines and spruces reach for the sky from their rocky perches. As a loop following the crest of the ridge, this trail offers several lookouts.On the first half you will peer over Cliff Lake (try to spot your campsite!); on the second half, you get a vista over the maple groves of Friday Lake. This is particularly lovely in the fall. 

As part of the ambitious Ottawa-Temiskaming Highland Trail, the hiking trail that loops around the top of the ridge is well-marked and generally well-cleared.

What you’ll love about it:

  • Easy access (very short drive)

  • Beautiful lakes

  • Only one portage

  • Doable in a short timeframe

  • Gorgeous hike around the Cliff Lake Ridge

Other things to consider:

  • Cottages and motorboats on Rib Lake, though not many

  • Few campsites

Perfect for:

  • First-time or beginner canoe trippers

  • Introducing kids to canoe camping

  • Hiking enthusiasts

Johanna Kilbridge
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