Parry Sound: Day trips to Mount Basin/Mill Lake/Portage Lake + Nine Mile + Trout Lake

The Parry Sound area has no shortage of places to put in a kayak or canoe to paddle around for a couple hours or the full day.

If your looking for a long day trip through a series of lakes in Parry Sound I suggest Portage lake, Mount Basin and Mill Lake. The three lakes are all connected allowing for up to 25km of paddling. Paddling any one of these lakes is perfect for an evening after work. Free day parking is located in 3 spots.

1 – My personal favorite is off the 124 at 45.404387, -80.024799. (see photo below)
2- Taylor Subdivision off Riverview Dr at the end at the beach.
3- A busy boat launch located off Hall’s Quarry Road called Mill Lake Boat Ramp.

From the boat launch off the 124 if you head west under the train bridge you will get to Portage Lake. It is a beautiful long and narrow lake with a campsite on the island in the middle of the lake. The west side of the lake is less busy. The closer to the highway you paddle the busier the shoreline with cottagers. The fishing here is very good. There is often a popular fishing spot to the south of the train bridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo6Kcu5xdx0 Here is a quick video of me flying my drone around Portage Lake.

Paddling east on the 124 and staying east will get you to Mount Basin. There is a beautiful cliff overlooking Mount Basin. With the permission from the land owners there used to be a zip line from the top to the other side of the lake spanning over 500 meters. This is a lovely paddling loop. There are two rivers one North being fed from Bell Lake. The other to the far West being fed from the Seguin River.

Mountain chute on the Seguin River running into Mt Basin

From the 124 if you paddle South you will get to Mill Lake. Mill Lake is a massive lake so be careful to watch the weather. The waves here can get pretty big. There is a beautiful cliff at the end of Mill Lake.

Nine Mile lake is another great day or weekend paddling destination. There are tons of crown land campsites on this lake. The parking is located at Nine Mile Lake Beach Park. This is a beautiful beach that is generally less popular than others around the area. Despite its name it is only 8km long. However there are a lot of little fishing bays to the east. There is a dam if you head West and before a giant marsh paddle south. From the dam there is access to the snowmobile and ATV trails around the area. Here is a video paddling on Nine Mile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f8mjAeHjeM&t=1s

Trout lake is a beautiful day paddling lake with very few crown land campsites. Parking is located at 45.438482, -79.968263. Circumnavigating the channels is a lot of fun. There is up to 15 km of paddling around this lake. Here is a video paddling on Nine Mile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LzuvqIDEik