Kettle Lakes Provincial Park

Kettle Lakes Provincial Park is located about 40 km from the city of Timmins in Ontario.

Kettle Lakes Provincial Park is home to 22 clean crystal clear lakes. Some of these are more than 30m deep. They were formed more than 11,000  years ago by glaciers at the end of the last ice age. Earth scientists refer to these lakes as “kettle lakes”.

Site Review:

Kettle Lakes Provincial Park  has 2 campground areas:

• Pines campground 
• Island Lake campground

The Pines campground is the smaller of the two. It has 21 sites, only 10 of which have electrical hookups and can accommodate larger equipment. The Island Lake campground has over 100 sites 70 of which are large and have electric.

We stayed on site #97 in the Island Lake campground. This might be one of the most private sites in the entire campground. The closest site to this one is #87 and there is a good section of tree growth between them. The other sites around are actually up a hill. I would stay on this site again. There are a variety of sites in this campground.

Some are fairly private surrounded by trees. Some you are very close to your neighbour, like sites #78 and #79. The Ontario Parks website lists both of these sites as having average privacy. I think not.

Even though the campgrounds are hilly, the majority of the sites are fairly level and would require only minor levelling.

Comfort Stations:

There is one full-sized comfort station with showers and flush toilets available in the Island Lake campground. There is also a “mini” comfort station with flush toilets closer to the Pines campground area.

Activities:

The park offers almost everything lovers of the outdoors could want.

Swimming:

There are 3 beaches for swimming in the park. 

Slab Lake Beach

Green Lake Beach

Island Lake Beach

The beaches are sandy with a fairly gradual drop off.

Island Lake Beach is a bit unique because it has stairs down into the water.

There are no Lifeguards on the beaches. If you should require a lifejacket you can borrow one from the PARKsmart Lifejacket Lending Program available at the gatehouse. You can also borrow the Mobi-Chair which is an all-terrain wheelchair that can be used to access the beaches.

Hiking:

There are 4 named hiking trails and all are fairly short:

• Kettle Trail 2km (Moderate difficulty)
• Wintergreen Trail 1.5km (Easy)
• Tamarack Trail 1.5km (Moderate difficulty)
• Oh-Say-Ya-Wah-Kah Trail 2km (Moderate difficulty)

Biking:

There is a 14km bike trail that consists of 3 connected loops. The loops are rated by degree of difficulty. The terrain is rough in some places.

Personally, I preferred to bike on the roads. There are 40km of roadways. The main road is paved and it is about 3 km from the Island Lake campground to the main gate.

I also biked the road out to the Green Lake beach. This road took you past some of the Kettle Lakes within the park.

You can also rent bicycles for use within the park.

Canoeing/Kayaking:

Canoes, kayaks and paddleboats are available for rent for use on the lakes. You make the rental arrangements at the main gate. The equipment can then be picked up at one of the 3 beach areas as well as at Hughes, Irrigation, Point and Pexton Lakes. You can also use your own equipment. I had a nice paddle around Island Lake.

Boating/Fishing

You can use motorized boats at Hughes Lake. There is a boat ramp.

Many of the lakes are stocked with Brook and Rainbow Trout. Northern Pike and Yellow Perch occur naturally within some of the lakes in the park. You do require an Ontario Fishing Licence to fish in Ontario parks. You need to acquire this ahead of time as Ontario Parks does not issue fishing licences.

Visitor Centre and Amphitheatre:

Some nice discovery programs are offered by the naturalists at the park. Information can be obtained at the Visitor Centre and can be enjoyed at the park’s amphitheatre. 

Things to Know:

1. Motorboats are prohibited from operating in the park except on Hughes Lake. Canoeing provides access to many of the kettle lakes, however, because they are kettle lakes they are not connected by waterways.

2. Rentals are available for canoes and paddleboats (both come with PFDs), bicycles, stand-up paddleboards and kayaks. The park also has a Tackleshare program that lends out fishing rods and tackle to park visitors, free of charge.

3. You are in Bear Country at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park and are reminded to store your food properly at night. They offer free bear-proof food bins for you to borrow from the gatehouse if you do not have appropriate storage.

4. There are laundry facilities available at the Island Lakes campground comfort station.

5. Wood, ice, a few souvenirs and a couple sundry items are available for purchase at the gatehouse. There is no store. You would have to go into Timmins for any forgotten items.6. Kettle Lakes Provincial Park is about an hour from the town of Cochrane.  You can take the Polar Bear Express Train to Moosonee. Moosonee is a town approximately 19 kilometres south of James Bay. It is considered to be “the Gateway to the Arctic”.  There are no roads and the train is the only way to access this area. The train ride is a minimum of 4 hours each way through the dense northern forest. This is not a tourist train (and there are no polar bears) but it definitely could be interesting. You can do the roundtrip as a day trip for approximately $110 CAD.

7. For more information and reviews of other Ontario Parks click here.

IMO:

I enjoyed Kettle Lakes Provincial Park. It offered a typical camping experience. I might return so we can take the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. I am aware that the trip is very rustic with very little in the way of tourist bells and whistles. That for me though is the appeal. I would recommend Kettle Lakes Provincial Park as an RV Place to Go.