Cabin Fever: Grab your paddle and go! (courtesy, Killarney Lodge)
KILLARNEY LODGE Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Killarney Lodge sits beside the Lake of Two Rivers on the quiet southern edge of Algonquin Provincial Park, prime timber-wolf territory. You're more likely to see a moose than to spot a single tail hair from the elusive carnivore. But if you're struck with the impulse, you wouldn't be the first guest to paddle out onto the lake and bay at the moon.
Room & Board: Prime spots to idle include the vicinity of the woodstove in the guest lounge of the lodge, which was built in 1985 of dark-stained logs and trimmed in
DETAILS
Killarney Lodge:
$134-$259 per person per day, double occupancy, including meals and gear
705-633-5551 (May to October),
416-482-5254 (November to April), www.killarneylodge.com
red to mimic the surrounding 1930s cabins spread around a 12-acre peninsula that juts out into the three-mile-long lake. The 30 pine-paneled cabins each have one or two bedrooms with lakefront decks and a private bathroom. The lodge's menu changes every day, but you can always count on a fish optionlike the pan-fried pickerel, an Ontario stapleat dinner.
Out the Back Door: Each cabin comes with a 15-foot Kevlar canoe, which you can paddle two-thirds of a mile across the Lake of Two Rivers and portage a thousand yards to the seldom-paddled Provoking Lake, accessible only on foot. Serious paddlers with plenty of training can attempt a one-day circuit that covers 25 of the park's 930 miles of canoe routes. There are also two mountain-bike trails near the lodge, an easy six-miler and a more technical 16-mile ride.
Kimberly got her first dose of outdoor adrenaline at 14, kayaking the Middle Fork of Idaho's Salmon River. Since then, she has mountain biked, hiked, camped and climbed coast to coast, with occasional hops overseas.