The Happy Camper: Awesome Snowshoe Trails In Central Ontario
One of the easiest and cheapest ways to explore wild areas of central Ontario throughout the winter is by snowshoe. Whether it’s the fancy lightweight new-age aluminum style or the traditional wooden design, snowshoes make it easier to get around out there… and there’s a lot out there. Here are some of my favourite winter trails to check out across central Ontario.
Killarney Provincial Park
The “Crack” is one of the most popular trails to hike in Killarney Provincial Park. It gives an incredible view of the park’s La Cloche Mountain Range. However, winter can be a little more tricky for you to reach the summit. I’d recommend trying out the easier two-kilometre Granite Ridge Trail. It can be quickly accessed directly across from the main gate and gives you an incredible view of both the La Cloche mountains as well as the frozen expanse of Georgina Bay. You’ll be walking where Killarney’s quartzite hills meet up with the pink granite of the Laurentian Mountains.
Arrowhead Provincial Park
Arrowhead has quickly become a favourite family-oriented winter wonderland. It has it all: Maintained winter campsites, well-groomed country-country ski trails and a renowned ice-skating loop. But it also has more than eight kilometres of marked snowshoe trails, as well as off-trail snowshoeing. Just make sure you check out the best place: the lookout view over Big Bend on the Big East River.
Limberlost
It’s a given that Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park is a mecca for people who snowshoe. There are lots of trails, wildlife and scenery. But there’s also the nearby privately owned Limberlost Forest and Wildlife Reserve, located just west of the park, in the heart of Muskoka near Huntsville. My favourite trail? There are too many good ones to choose from. The world is your oyster here, with over 70 kilometres of trails for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. The best part is that all snowshoe trails are available to the public for FREE!
Frontenac Provincial Park
Frontenac Provincial Park is open all winter long and provides countless wild places to explore by snowshoe. However, the four-kilometre road from the Park Office to Big Salmon Lake, where a good majority of the trails begin, is closed for the winter to vehicle traffic. That makes for a long haul before and after your walk. Two shorter trails near the park office are easily doable (a moderate three-kilometre Doe Lake Loop and another one-and-a-half-kilometre Arab Lake Gorge Loop). I prefer the longer and more adventurous eight-kilometre Bufflehead Trail, located two kilometres from the Park Office. The trail takes you around frozen beaver ponds, past stout white pine and over Frontenac’s notable mounds of frozen humps of granite that form part of the Canadian Shield.
Charleston Provincial Park
Charleston is a happening place in the summer. It’s got well-kept campsites, two beautiful beaches and a picturesque aqua-blue lake to gawk at. The crowds go away in the winter, but the scenery gets even better. There’s a nice short trail, the 2.7-kilometre Quiddity Trail, but I much prefer taking on the longer 12.2-kilometre Tallow Rock Trail. The loop takes you to some scenic vistas of Charleston Lake, through majestic stands of pine and a collection of smaller frozen lakes that add to the vistas.
