Every sportsman dreams of a secluded cabin tucked away on a lake or river full of fish, surrounded by thousands of unspoiled wilderness acres; a place of solitude where man and his penchant for development have yet to desecrate the landscape.

The great Canadian north woods that stretch from the Atlantic seacoast to the Great Lakes was at first Algonquin land. Samuel de Champlain first met the Algonquin in 1603 and their long association in the fur trade began. In a region halfway between Montreal and Ottawa, the king of France granted what is now known as Kenauk to Quebec’s first bishop, Monseigneur Laval. “Reserve de la Petite Nation,” as it was called then, was a 100-square-mile, 65,000-acre protected wilderness domain.

Today Kenauk is part of the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, a historic luxury resort with a legendary red cedar log building that has welcomed guests from around the world since 1930. The resort is magnificent unto itself, but it is the wilderness cottages on the lakes of the preserve that set this experience apart. Thirteen beautifully maintained cabins sit on the shores of seventy lakes and ponds within the borders of the preserve; eight of the cabins are the only structure on their respective lakes.

When a guest enters the gates of Kenauk Preserve it may be many miles to reach one of the cabins. Everything a sportsman could want is provided, right down to the boats at the dock. To rise in the morning and set out in a kayak across a Canadian lake, knowing you will not see another human, is something rare indeed these days. Because of this lack of human incursion, the wildlife is extraordinary and the fishing is world-class. There are no gasoline engines on the lakes, no noise but the call of a loon or the howl of a coyote. If the need arises for social interaction or a meal equivalent to the best that Europe has to offer, then a short drive from the preserve is the Fairmont Chateau de Montebello, one of the most famous of the grand Canadian resort hotels and its restaurant, Aux Chantignoles. Here is the very best of both worlds: complete wilderness solitude, coupled with a world-class resort and cuisine. For the sportsman, the dream of a wilderness cabin experience can be unquestionably realized—a cabin of your own, a lake of your own, and only the loons for company.