Sylvania Wilderness Backcountry Camping

Fox 1 has poor steep access that is difficult when wet/ muddy. The previous trail was rerouted due to a fallen tree.

The flat portage from Crooked to Mountain seems shorter than the distance from the water to your campsite.

Grill grate was broken but functional.

We love the Sylvania Wilderness and it was our 5th time together. We'll be back in August, but not at Fox 1.

This was our first trip to Sylvania Wilderness. We stayed at Mink 2 in late June 2024. It's about a 45 minute paddle from the canoe launch on Crooked Lake. The landing at Mink 2 is easy to find. The campsite is several yards in from the shore and slightly uphill. There are a couple flat areas for tents, surrounded by large trees. We found a bear bag tree pretty easily, and two trees close enough to set up a tarp. The fire ring area and latrine were clean and easy to find. Being a West facing campsite close to shore, there was a nice breeze most of the day to keep cool and keep the mosquitoes at bay. Fishing on Crooked Lake was mostly a bust for us. We were fishing for northern and only caught one, not big enough to keep. We saw several other anglers having better luck with pan fish. Still fun though. We parked over to Clark Lake and ran some of the forest trails between the lakes. They were wide and pretty great to run on. Overall it was a great trip and we would definitely return to Sylvania Wilderness.

Much good. Negative was camper before me left many eggshells in the fire pit that I had to clean out. Aggrevates me when people do not follow the rules. Concerns me especially related to special Sylvania Wilderness fishing regulations. If those are not followed, this unique fishing experience may cease to exist.

Br mosquito aware

it was good to enjoy the woods for a week.fishing was great,bugs were not bad,weather was semi coopertive.

Beautiful place

Good experience, campsites need better identification markers, they are hard to find when paddling in from the lake.

Arrived too late to paddle to my paid remote site in the Sylvania Wilderness Area in the Ottawa National Forest, so I set up camp in an unoccupied site the general camping area. I was evicted just at dark, the man said “online money reservations are no good in this area,” and that I had to pay again in order to stay. Unfortunately I had no additional cash so I spent the night in my car on the road. Nice way to treat people.

Just go!

My son and I had an outstanding time at the Bass site. Early on the trip, the wind was from the northwest and there was a nice breeze through the site that kept the mosquitoes at bay (perfect weather 70 and sunny in August). One morning, it rained quite a bit, but the site handled it quite well. The wind shifted to the west and some mosquitoes came out, but it was more than manageable. There is a lot of dead wood lying about. I think this site isn't used a lot. The landing site is fine, just come in a little to the right of the post. The lake is beautiful and very remote - a wonderful experience. One thing to note, we put in at Clark Lake and went through Glimmerglass and Hay Lakes. It was quite nice, but a lot of work for two people with all our gear and water. On the way out, we took the trail that led to the west of Whitefish Lake. The Outfitters group was easy to work with in changing the pickup point of the canoe. For small groups, of two or so, I'd recommend the Whitefish Lake entry point.