Outposts are awesome, value-priced fly-in trips for anyone. Here’s why

This nation is famous for its incredible tracts of pristine wilderness, and the world-class fishing you can find in that backcountry. Of all the adventures you can enjoy in the great Canadian outdoors, there’s one that’s often overlooked: the humble, yet mighty, outpost trip. For my money, outpost trips are the best value in the Canadian outdoors, and offering top-tier fishing, combined with a variety of experiences you just don’t get anywhere else. That variety was key to a fantastic trip I took last month.

When I go fishing, I like to fish hard. So, when planning outpost trips I’ve typically assembled groups of other serious anglers, often including my close pal Wes Nelson. But this year, Wes and I took a fresh direction. Instead of adding a hardcore angler to complete our trio, we invited one of the people we most enjoy spending time with, our mutual friend Pete Kloppenburg.

Pete, Wes and I have all been friends since we met at university in the early 1990s. Pete loves the outdoors and is a long-time cottage owner in Ontario’s Muskoka region, but he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s no kind of an angler (as in, he needed refresher tips on using a spinning reel). He was, however, eager to try this new experience, including his first ride in a floatplane, and spending a week in a backcountry cabin, totally off the grid.

So, in early June our trio arrived at the waterdrome of Cochrane Air Services in Cochrane, Ontario—a northern Ontario institution that’s been delivering generations of anglers to fishing and hunting adventures. Our destination lake had no official name (always a promising sign that you’re going somewhere remote), though it’s colloquially known as French Lake. So we strapped in, among boxes of food, rod cases and duffels of gear and tackle, and headed into the unknown for a week of fishing and fellowship.

Here are eight reasons why outposts make such an outstanding trip for anglers of all ages and abilities…

#1  Outposts trips may be the best value in the Canadian outdoors

Outpost-style fishing camps can be found across this country, but are especially popular in lake-laden regions of central Canada, including Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. On these trips, the floatplane service or outfitter supplies a cabin, along with a boat and motor, and flight to and from the lake. Cabin amenities vary, but most have a fridge and stove (usually propane powered), many have running water and some even boast electricity. The guests bring their own food, do their own cooking and then fish the lake on their own.

The cost of an outpost trip sits somewhere between a low-budget, 100% DIY adventure, and a full-service fishing lodge. On a DIY trip you get dropped off at (or paddle into) a remote location and camp rough. These can be spectacular, but staying under canvas—not to mention digging your own latrine—isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. At the other end of the fishing-trip scale is the full-service lodge, with meals and guiding provided. These trips are incredible, but they aren’t cheap. You’d be extremely lucky to find one that cost $5K per person for a week, plus the cost of getting there.

By comparison, outposts run $800 to $1,500 per person, depending on where and how far into the backcountry you go. So, if you’re skillful enough to operate your own boat, and don’t mind packing and cooking your own food, along with doing a few camp chores, the outpost is a very affordable adventure for groups and families. You can also usually drive to the jumping-off point, which keeps costs down. Cochrane, for example, is a very manageable nine-hour drive from both Ottawa and Toronto, and eight hours from the US border at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

#2  Getting to your departure point is part of the fun

Who doesn’t love a road trip? It’s hard to disagree with Ralph Waldo Emerson’s contention that “It’s the not the destination, it’s the journey.” But as it applies to fishing trips, ol’ Ralph is only partly right.

The destination is the point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the journey. And this year, we really did.

Initially, the nine-hour drive to Cochrane posed a problem, since none of us had a vehicle that was quite big enough to haul three full-sized adults plus a week’s worth of food and tackle. Enter our friends at Toyota Canada who generously offered us the use of a 2024 Tacoma i-FORCE TRD Off Road extended cab pick-up, complete with a tonneau cover to keep our gear dry and clean.

How was it? In a word: glorious. That is, roomy inside and out, beautiful cab with excellent seats (even in the back), very good suspension and impressive fuel economy. I knew the Tacoma would excel at hauling our gear, and for taking on any rougher roads. But what I didn’t expect was how much zip and verve it showed on the four-lane highways around the cities, and then on the busy two- and three-lane stretches of Ontario’s Highway 11. I see why Car and Driver gave it a 9.5/10 and an “Editor’s Choice” stamp, and Motor Trend called it “harder, better, faster, stronger.” A very big thanks to Toyota Canada for helping us get there and back.

But as enjoyable as the journey was, it’s time to talk fishing…

#3  There’s no feeling quite like being the only anglers on a lake

French Lake is a lovely little piece of pike and walleye water, two kilometres long and only about 800 metres across at its widest point, with nothing manmade on it except our cabin and dock. It was just a 30-minute floatplane flight from Cochrane, but felt like arriving in a different world.

We had a cozy cabin with a pristine view, no competition for fishing spots and heard no unnatural sounds other than those we made ourselves. No jet-skis, no lawnmowers, no leaf blowers, no slamming of screen doors and no tunes blasting across the bay. As a long-time cottager, Pete found the lack of noise pollution noise especially striking. And perhaps most merciful of all, there was no smartphone service. Experiencing this kind of solitude is a surprisingly profound experience, and one I highly recommend.  recommend.