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Well, last year i wrote an article on Algonquin provincial park, and touched on a couple of things briefly. What i also said was that we greatly underestimated what was actually there! Well this year, we headed back to see in detail exactly what was there.. giving us enough time to call in on a couple of the places along Highway 60. Just remember if you’re going to park up anywhere in Algonquin Provincial Park, you’ll need to pull up at the gates (big buildings just off the side of the road either end of Highway 60) and go in to get a Permit. These are $15.00 currently but the rates do change depending on the year, Check out the links at the bottom of the article to have a look at the rate details in full for the permits. One thing i will say about the permits is that they’re very good value for money!

So, you’re kitted up – Make sure you’ve picked up one of the Algonquin park news papers while you’re getting a permit, they’re free and they’re very .. VERY useful to use the map on the back so you know where you are going!

Before you go on any of these trails, remember to have brought with you, proper walking equipment – for example decent walking shoes with a good degree of tread, and comfortable clothes suitable for what ever the weather may be on the day you go on the trail. Another thing you’ll want to factor in is the bugs! If it’s forecast to be warm, chances are you’ll be up against the Mosquitoes and or Black Fly – so bring your bug repellent!

The Hardwood Lookout is located at km13.8 up Hwy 60 and I’d recommend you go on this walk as a warm up. It’s a short 0.8km loop featuring a pleasant walk through typical Algonquin hardwood forest and a fine view of the Smoke Lake Basin. The difficulty level for this particular trail is medium, but to be fair, the walk is pretty easy in general for anyone – the only bits that cause it to be medium is a small uphill incline that is very ‘rooty’ which I’ll show you later, and a number of steep ascents and descents down hillsides. This trail is also handily ‘paved’ with fine chippings.. So be careful as they may be slightly loose in some places, make sure you have a good foothold before heading down a steep part of the path!

So, you park up in the car park and get out, a quick look around will give you an idea of where to go, you’ll see the entrance back onto the road, a small path that seems to head up into the woods, and in the corner the Trail Sign which you’ll become familiar with the more trails you do.

Head over to the sign and you’ll get an explanation about the Trail. Feel free to pick up the trail booklet. As you’ll come to see, each trail book is colour coded so no book looks the same. Each book has useful information about points along the trail, so rather than just walking along the trail and admiring the beauty of the park, you can also stop at the posts and read about the flora and fauna that’s present at that point. I’d recommend you picking one up to start with and take it round with you on your walk. If you then want to keep it you can pay your $0.50, if not you can push it through one of the slots on the collection boxes which can be found towards the end of the trail, or under the original sign you pick them up from.

From the sign – turn left and you’ll see the entrance to the trail, your first obstacle a small stream with a wooden platform over it… not too difficult see?

Follow the path along, you’ll see it fork and an arrow pointing right – that’s the direction you’ll want to head initially. You’ll find all the trails will do this should they share the same path at beginning and the end. If you follow the map on page 1 of the booklet, you’ll get to post one.

At this point you’ll be standing in a hardwood forest typical of the park’s west side. As the booklet says, although many people consider the park to be “up north” the park is actually dominated by distinctly southern elements — trees, plants and animals which aren’t found very much north of there. And this particular hardwood forest is one of those features! To all you people who want to see a true maple tree, called The Sugar Maple, this is the most numerous tree in the hardwood bush. The booklet will explain how important the tree is in the hardwood forest and how it influences the lives of every other plant and animal in the forest.

As you follow the route, you’ll notice blue dots on some of the trees, these are there to help you keep to the route, and not get lost – so keep your eye out for them on some of the routes where the trail isn’t so very well pronounced.

One of the more spectacular things you’ll see on the trail is a tree that seems to be growing over the top of a giant rock!

Eventually just after post 8 you’ll come to a steep bit which is the only part of the trail where the path becomes a little ‘rough’ underfoot. Mainly from tree roots. But it’s only short and you should be fine providing you have the right footwear!

As soon as you reach the top however you’ve finally made it to the lookout! At the top there’s a memorial for someone who was instrumental in the creation of the park, as well as a couple of benches. This is definitely a place where you’ll want to have brought your camera.. and hopefully you could take some slightly better photos than i did – since the day we went to Algonquin park, it was a bit of a variable weather day, with mostly miserable looking clouds!

On your way back down from here, following the trail you’ll come across a box with a visitors book to sign, its worth signing these, even if its just to leave your mark there! As soon as you have passed this you’ll find yourself back on the beginning part of the trail and back at the sign. This will be where you can decide on whether to take the last little bit which is the Red spruce side trail, which you will find by walking straight on and the entrance is on the left. These last two posts will take you through the red spruce stand, its a little bit more difficult to walk than the previous bit of the trail, being unpaved but it still provides some pretty scenes – and the guide booklet will tell you about the trees you’ll see here

So that’s the trail! Definitely one of the easiest ones, and if you’re coming from the Gravenhurst direction, its the second into the park, so quick to get to. Now’s the time to decide on if you want that booklet or not as well, so if you want to keep the booklet, head over to the sign you got the book from and you’ll see an odd shaped pipe thing below it with 50c on it – just put a couple of quarters into it and the book’s now yours to keep and take home!

I’ll be covering a number of the other trails over the next couple of months, so keep your eyes out for them – as well as other special spots you’ll want to call off at as you head round Algonquin Provincial Park’s southern bit!

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 28th, 2010 at 9:10 am and is filed under Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.