Lanark Lakes...Public Property?

[julian]

Hey guys,

So I'm prepared to do some bushwhacking through the Lanark area. I want to do some leg work and hopefully find some of my own honey holes. I've picked out about 5 lakes that look interesting to me. I've done all the research I needed to do...but now I have one question.

Would any of these lakes be private? Or are all of these lakes considered crown land or public property? For example, I have one lake that particularly interests me, however, I noticed one single home / cottage on it. What are the chances of this lake being private?

Thanks for any help

[FireFox]

Hey Julian,

You need to be able to find out if there is any way you can get your lakes while not crossing anyones private property. Unfortunately this is often really hard to do in South Eastern Ontario - a lot of the backwoods access roads that are not maintained by the province or the township are to peoples cabins and the old "farm" lots that were handed out at the turn of the century. You should have the land owners permission to use the roads/trails.

You can check the MNR's online Crown Land Atlas to see what the land around the lakes you are interested in is - and see if you can find yourself a path into the lake.

http://crownlanduseatlas.mnr.gov.on.ca/

Good luck on the backwoods adventures

Fox

[Valley Lad]

Julian,
Just guessing the lake...if the particular lake happens to be Peterwhite it is private land surrounding the lake however you may gain access by via the Hydro Tower Line and then follow the creek at the end of the lake.
Hope i guessed right

[julian]

Awesome thanks a lot guys. I was actually thinking of Reid lake...just off of tatlock and darling road. I should be able to put into a small creek and then paddle my way into the lake...i will have to take a look at peterwhite now that you mention it though.

So even if the lake is completely surrounded by private property..the lake itself is not private?

Thanks again for the help.

[beachburger]

So even if the lake is completely surrounded by private property..the lake itself is not private?

You will find that this question will need to be asked on a lake by lake basis.

[MLR]

Julian,
Just guessing the lake...if the particular lake happens to be Peterwhite it is private land surrounding the lake however you may gain access by via the Hydro Tower Line and then follow the creek at the end of the lake.
Hope i guessed right

Caution: These may only be registered easements that Hydro One has obtained from private land owners and only legally entitle hydro one access the land for business purposes only. But if its over crown land, have at it.

[Jimmy_1]

I agree MLR,

Careful folks! A lot of Hydro easements are either private land or the land is owned by Hydro one.

If its owned by Hydro One you still are not allowed on it. A bunch a guys got busted outside of Perth hunting an easement. Figured it was Bell Canada so they could go on it......WRONG!!!

[Todd B.]

If all of the land surrounding a lake is private, then the lake is considered private, unless of course there is a public waterway that is legally considered to be a navigable waterway. Unfortunately a creek that you can sorta make your way down in a canoe won't pass the sniff test.

Keep in mind that if a lake is listed in the MNR stocking list it must (by law) have public (albeit sometimes limited) shoreline access.

[Jimmy_1]

Well said Todd,

I have a duck creek I am allowed to hunt. There is a municipal bridge that goes over it. Until I actually knocked on the house next to it, found out it was PRIVATE, I had no idea!

It connects to the Miss, but it is actually locked by a dam at the top.

Be careful about throwing this "navigable BS" all over the place. All I did was ask politely and was given permission. If they say "no" they have every right to. Don't like it? Wait for some property to go on sale or offer to buy it from them......

Point is respect private land.

[Valley Lad]

Good thread , a lot of good points
We should thank Hydro One (Crown Asset)for allowing us to access the majority of the trout lakes and hunt camps in BC ( back of calabogie) that are situated along the 115\230 KV tower lines out of Barret Chute and Mountain Chute
I agree that you can't just throw your canoe in a creek and access a lake on private property
Julian should post specific question regarding lakes instead of a general statement.

[julian]

Thanks for the replies everyone. If I am making general statements I apologize..if it makes it easier to answer my questions, the specific lakes I was looking at were:

Kerr Lake (Clydesville)
Reid Lake (off Darling Rd south of Tatlock)
Little and Hornes Lake (Hopetown)
Robbs Lake (Tatlock)
McIlraith Lake (off the 511 north of Brightside)
Ramsbottom Lake (south of Arklan)

[Todd B.]

You can check out the Ontario Crown Land Use Policy Atlas to get an idea as to whether they're surrounded by private land or not. Note that there is a disclaimer that their online data may not be current. That being said, if it's marked as private, it's highly doubtfull that it has reverted back to being public.

[MLR]

I agree MLR,

Careful folks! A lot of Hydro easements are either private land or the land is owned by Hydro one.

If its owned by Hydro One you still are not allowed on it. A bunch a guys got busted outside of Perth hunting an easement. Figured it was Bell Canada so they could go on it......WRONG!!!

That's right, even if Bell own's it, it is still trespassing unless you work for Bell and are in the process of line work. Me as a Bell employee can't not use this as a route for recreational purposes.

[DropShotr]

BC ( back of calabogie)

The Cardinal boys always told me BC was Behind Cardinal

[MLR]

BC ( back of calabogie)

that's the first I have heard it like that, I have always heard of it as the other side of the moon