Thanks for the help. And the winner is (drum roll please) The Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest. I had heard about Sylvania and would like to go there some day as well, but not this trip. One of the deciding factors was a simple little fishing license. Going to NH-AL allows us to fish without buying non-resident licenses.

After some research we decided we will be driving up on a Wednesday afternoon and staying the first night in a drive in campground in my popup camper. This campground is located on one of the lakes and will allow us to load up and paddle away for 2 nights out in the state forest. I’m still trying to get it sunk into my head the differences between this and a Q trip. One is the cooler of beer we will be able to tote along. (OK, get it over. Call me a tourist now) Another is I would expect to see some residences and businesses along the shore of at least some of these lakes. A picnic table at the campsite will be an unusual touch as well. The portages are few and the longest is 1700 feet, but I am unsure at this point if we will even encounter any at all.

I’ll post a brief report sometime after the conclusion of the trip.