Clark Lake landing
The main entry, reached from the Sylvania entrance road off US-2 near Watersmeet. Puts you straight onto the largest lake in the tract with the shortest paddles to the western campsites.
Plan with verified data
Sylvania trip tools
Plan
Before you go
Launch points
Crooked Lake landing
The secondary entry to the eastern lakes. The right choice when the Clark side is booked out, and the start of the east-side overnight loops.
Whitefish Lake walk-in
Whitefish Lake connects to the parking lot by a 242-rod portage — the longest carry in the tract. Treat it as a dedicated haul, not an afterthought at the end of a paddling day.
Permits and current campsite information are handled at the Sylvania entrance station in season. Watersmeet, at the US-2 / US-45 junction, is the paved gateway town for fuel, groceries and lodging. Permit steps
Portage routes by lake
All 19 carries from the published wilderness map, grouped by the lakes they connect. One rod is 16.5 feet; a double carry means walking the portage three times. The map gives endpoints and length, not a difficulty grade — wet landings, roots and blowdown set the real effort.
Crooked Lake
- Crooked Lake → High Lake22 rods · 0.07 mi
- Crooked Lake → Corey Lake34 rods · 0.11 mi
- Crooked Lake → Clark Lake112 rods · 0.35 mi
- Crooked Lake → Mountain Lake13 rods · 0.04 mi
Clark Lake
- Crooked Lake → Clark Lake112 rods · 0.35 mi
- Clark Lake → Loon Lake99 rods · 0.31 mi
Loon Lake
- Clark Lake → Loon Lake99 rods · 0.31 mi
- Loon Lake → Fisher Lake140 rods · 0.44 mi
- Loon Lake → Florence Lake78 rods · 0.24 mi
- Loon Lake → Deer Island Lake92 rods · 0.29 mi
Whitefish Lake
- Whitefish Lake → Hay Lake158 rods · 0.49 mi
- Whitefish Lake → Parking lot242 rods · 0.76 mi
Southern chain carries
- Mountain Lake → East Bear Lake96 rods · 0.30 mi
- West Bear Lake → Kerr Lake97 rods · 0.30 mi
- West Bear Lake → East Bear Lake40 rods · 0.13 mi
- High Lake → Kerr Lake38 rods · 0.12 mi
- Glimmerglass Lake → Hay Lake126 rods · 0.39 mi
- Deer Island Lake → Cub Lake79 rods · 0.25 mi
- Cub Lake → Big Bateau Lake7 rods · 0.02 mi
- Florence Lake → Fisher Lake133 rods · 0.42 mi
- Florence Lake → Big Bateau Lake34 rods · 0.11 mi
Camp setup
Camp only at your reserved site
Sylvania camping is restricted to the numbered, designated sites you booked on Recreation.gov — each one tied to a named lake. Your reservation is your campsite; there is no overflow or dispersed option inside the wilderness.
Look up before you pitch
The old-growth hemlock and maple drop dead limbs in wind. Check the canopy over your tent pad before anything goes up, and move if there's a widowmaker overhead.
Expect uneven tent pads
Site pads are roots-and-needle, not groomed gravel. A freestanding tent and a real sleeping pad earn their weight here.
Hang food or use a canister
The Upper Peninsula black bear population is healthy. Never keep food in the tent; hang it with 50 ft of cord or carry a canister.
Filter your drinking water
The lakes are exceptionally clear but still need treatment. Draw from deep open water well off the campsite shoreline rather than the shallows.
Fires in existing rings only
Use the existing fire ring where one exists, pack out every scrap, and keep group sizes small. No motors and no wheeled portage carts anywhere in the tract.
On the water
- Wear the PFD, always — spring and autumn water temperatures will incapacitate a swimmer long before shore.
- Crooked and Clark can build whitecaps a loaded canoe should not cross. Hug the shoreline and wait wind out.
- Afternoon thunderstorms roll through fast in summer; watch the western sky and get off the water early.
- There is no reliable cell signal on the interior lakes — carry a satellite messenger and leave a written itinerary with someone at home.
- Pack like a backpacker who happens to be paddling: everything fits in the boat, then on your shoulders across a portage.
Plan your Sylvania trip — the planner builds your route, gear list and itinerary from this same verified data.
Portage distances from the published Sylvania Wilderness map.