Written By Alan Good
TRAVEL - Take a walk on the wild side! Ontario’s northern district still holds some of the roughest, but also the most beautiful, sites yet without traveling too far. Just 4-5 hours from here you can enjoy a tame campsite setting that you drive into. Or hike or canoe into the bush for a truly off-grid experience.
Vast and untamed, time stands still as you take a trail deeper into the woods or silently glide across a lake. Whatever you had going on back at civilization slowly drifts away from your mind.
Established May 23, 1893, Algonquin Park was the first provincial park in Canada. It was the start of what is now Ontario’s extensive park system. Methods now used across Canada to administer multipurpose parks and explain nature to the public were developed here.
Originally proposed by Alexander Kirkwood of the Ontario Department of Crown Lands to preserve important headwaters and protect wildlife and forests, it achieved broader objectives.
All types of trails, rough to tame, a myriad of lakes, scenes galore—enough to attract The Group of Seven artists—and days of feeling you are the only person on the planet and the first to explore this land.
On a recent sojourn to Algonquin Park my wife and eldest daughter went for a three-day two-night hike. Notice I didn’t go. My philosophy is why give up a warm bed in a dry house.
The ladies parked and trudged into the wild with backpacks full of sleeping equipment, food, and bug spray. Blackflies and mosquitoes were their constant companions along the first part of their trip (another reason I stay home). Once at the lake the bugs didn’t attack as readily.
But, they say, the sites were worth the aggravation. Viewing colourful sunsets and sunrises, to frogs calling to one another across the lake, the haunting sound of loons, and Blue Herons fishing off the shore, they were immersed in nature. At night skitters crossing the surface of the water kept fish jumping as they fed on them.
“For some, each hike or trip is a personal journey,” Michelle, a regular canoe and hiking enthusiast, stated. “Reaching the peak or completing a trail or a route gives a real sense of achievement. The rhythm of walking, the fresh air, and the sounds of nature help to calm my mind and boost my mood.”
But they weren’t totally alone. Each day they passed a few people along the way. Sounds like something you would like to experience? I suggest you book months ahead for camp spots, as even the remote ones fill up fast. You can also drive up to campsites. Don’t have equipment, rent a canoe, tent or whatever you need for your journey to northern Ontario’s remote park.
