Lake Whittaker

LAKE WHITTAKER CONSERVATION AREA – SEPTEMBER 2013

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Lake Whittaker Conservation Area is located close to the town of Harrietsville in western Ontario. For us, it was a couple hours drive from home to reach this park. It’s part of the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority and one of two parks that offer camping. The lake is a 26-acre natural spring fed kettle lake with a supposedly good population of rainbow trout. Where were the trout again?? As well as fishing, the park offers a disc golf course and a small network of hiking trails.

This was our first visit to Lake Whittaker. We brought our kayaks with the intention of doing some kayak fishing. The weather was a little cool at night, but typical late September weather. The night skies were amazing here! No light pollution at all. We enjoyed stargazing around a campfire late into both nights. You could actually see the milky way!

We managed to get some kayaking in on Saturday after the mist cleared off the water and it warmed up a little. The fall colours were amazing around the lake. Lake Whittaker is a small, but scenic late without fish – or at least fish conducive to biting our hooks! No matter, the kayaking was nice despite the strong wind and the colours, as I mentioned, beautiful. Here are some photos of the misty lake on Saturday morning:

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And here are some photos of our awesome time kayaking on Lake Whittaker:

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The rest of the weekend we spent relaxing at our campsite reading and walking around the park roads. I tried to find the trail head for the hiking trail as per the park office instructions, but found no access in the campground we were in. It was late on Saturday by the time I found out from a park employee patrolling that the only access was at the day use area on the other side of the park. Here are some park photos:

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The weekend we visited this park was the last weekend the campground was open. It was very quiet, with really only a few weekenders like ourselves and a lot of seasonals packing up. Fall camping is my favourite. The air is crisp, the fall foliage beautiful and the weather perfect! Lake Whittaker didn’t disappoint us. I wouldn’t camp here in the prime camping season as the sites are close and not at all private. Shoulder season camping is wonderful here. We were disappointed in the fishing as this park is known its rainbow trout. As well, I wish the park attendant had been a little more clear as to how to access the trail. The day use area is located outside and to the right of the park gates, which means that until the park opens, you cannot access the day use area and boat launch unless you bike to it or walk. There is an alternate place to launch canoes and kayaks from the beach in the non-hydro campground. It’s a fair carry over uneven ground, but it could be done. There are lots of fishing platforms around the lake to try your luck fishing and a small beach area.

The campground was very clean including the washrooms. There is a pool at the park, but of course it was closed. As for wildlife, there were raccoon tracks all over our truck and the picnic table, but we never seen any. I wouldn’t mind going back to Lake Whittaker again in the off season and maybe try the disc golf course. It’s a very nice, well maintained park and well worth the visit.

Here are some links:

To the park:

http://www.kettlecreekconservation.on.ca/content.php?doc=34

For Reservations:

https://secure.camis.com/KC/