Camping spot at or near Quinn

Noey

Active member
Hey guys, we're planning a run to the Quinn Lake Trail and Pinion Pass in the near future. Can anyone recommend a good camp spot around there? If we arrive late in the day on a Friday, it would be nice to set up base camp somewhere close by and run the trails the next morning.

Thanks in advance.
 

Function > Form

Well-known member
Club Member
We camp a lot around that area. Check out www.northfrontenacparklands.com.

If you go in via the 509 and then on Arcol Road, there are lots of different spots available, but then you are coming into Quinn from the SE. At least, from what I recall from the trail map (not a member this year) it was west of Govan Lake.

The first decent lake with sites off of Arcol Road is at Redhorse Lake, but there is only one site that you can drive up to (the rest you boat to). If you want to camp at Granite Lake, there are 3 or 4 by road.
 

Noey

Active member
Hey thanks for that info.
A buddy who is coming along is familiar with the area and with crown land camping there.
 

Function > Form

Well-known member
Club Member
No prob. The first site at Granite is nice, room for 3-4 tents, but there is a cabin beside it (75-100m? away). Granite site 2 is also on the lake, but I'm not sure what the site is like - shoreline looks nice though. Granite site 3 is biggish, 3-4 tents worth, but not on the lake. Granite is about a 20 minute drive at most from the Quinn trail. Nice sandy beach/boat launch and a mud pit there if you care.

Redhorse (nice lake) site 8 is right at the road, also on the water, nothing special and kinda open to the cul-de-sac/boatlaunch. Redhorse site 1 shows as accessible by road, but you might get down it in a Sami (if that), nothing bigger. No way I could get down it in my jeep. It is accessible by ATV though.

Mair lake has sites right near the trail head, but the lake is a fair bit smaller.
 

Function > Form

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Club Member
Probably ok to get to Granite, but can't recall specifically seeing any trailers there at the sites. I think that they were pretty flat. At redhorse yeah, you could get one to the drive-to site for sure.

The road doesn't turn into a double-track trail until about 100 metres after the last of the Granite lake sites. It's pretty much just a rough gravel road up until that point.

I don't remember what the Mair lk sites are like though, sorry man.
 

Function > Form

Well-known member
Club Member
You're welcome. Have fun! Would love to run that trail some day, but will have to wait until I have a more capable rig.
 

Noey

Active member
Maybe next year I'll try and make your annual spring fling run and meet some of you guys!
Cheers!
 

98AT

Well-known member
Been camping up there for years before you had to pay. Any crown land up that way you have to buy a permit to camp at now, there are designated sites to camp at and most are booked for a better part of the summer already.

Trails are patrolled and you also need a trail pass to drive on the roads/trails in North Frontenac. Seasonal pass is $30-40 I believe good from May-Nov.

I have inquired on a few occasions about camping on crown in non designated sites up there and you will be fined is what the township told me. I don't agree with paying to camp on crown at all but unfortunatly it was necessary for them to implement as there was piles of garbage being left behind back in the day when it was all free.
 

Noey

Active member
Wow that's shitty news...
Well I'll look into this further but it ain't gonna stop us from running the Quinn.
Thanks for the heads up.
 

Noey

Active member
We did Quinn and Pinion Pass last weekend and had a blast! Thanks again for the tips all around. We ended up at Hungry Lake site 1 which was a nice place to set up base camp. We grabbed permits but were not approached. We had 5 rigs in total. 2 FJC's, a 3rd gen 4Runner, an '81 Yota pickup, and my BJ42.

Here's a vid I shot of the pickup on Pinion Pass.
http://youtu.be/wRS96fJyVKk

Cheers,
Noel
 
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