Lake One to Insula

Overview

The Lake One to Insula route begins and ends at Entry Point 30 on Lake One, in the Kawishiwi District. From the landing it works east through Lake Two and Lake Four before reaching Hudson Lake and opening onto Lake Insula, then returns by the same corridor.

Lake Two and Lake Four connect by a handful of short portages, none of them long or technical. Hudson Lake marks the shift from the numbered chain into the interior, and the longer carry beyond it opens onto Insula itself, a lake broken into bays, islands, and peninsulas with far more shoreline to explore than a single day allows. Part of this corridor, from Isabella Lake northwest through Hudson and Insula, burned in the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire, and roughly a fifth of the campsites along the Lake One to Insula corridor took severe damage — the regrowth now mixes standing fire-scarred trees with new vegetation and open sightlines paddlers wouldn't have had before the burn.

This route suits paddlers who want one clear destination worth building a multi-day trip around rather than a string of smaller stops. None of the portages along the way run long or difficult, so the character of the trip comes from Insula's size once you reach it — enough water to spend a full extra day exploring without paddling the same stretch twice.

Route Highlights

• Lake Insula's islands, bays, and peninsulas open up a full day of exploring beyond the destination itself
• Recovering burn scar from the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire visible along the Hudson-to-Insula stretch
• Hudson Lake marks a clear shift from the numbered lakes into quieter interior water