The Happy Camper: Taking on the Frontenac Challenge, Part 1
I recently moved to the Kingston area in Ontario and I thought what better way to become familiar with the neighbouring woods than to sign up for the onerous Frontenac Challenge: 11 loops and 160 km of trails, to be completed between September 1 and October 31. In return, I would receive a certificate and a badge from the Friends of Frontenac, and I could rejoice in the fact that I had spent the fall season, my favourite time to go hiking, exploring the majority of Frontenac Provincial Park’s 5,355 hectares of backcountry.
The Challenge was initiated by Frontenac Provincial Park’s past Superintendent Lloyd Chapman in 1993 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ontario’s provincial park system. Since its beginning, over 2,500 hikers have completed it.
You have to sign up for it. It’s $5 to register, or free if you belong to the Friends of Frontenac. To prove you’ve completed all 11 loop trails, you have to record keywords placed on each trail’s signs. Each year there’s a theme, with this year’s being lichen species found in the park.
Here are the five loops I completed in the first week:
Doe Lake Loop (1.5 km) & Arab Lake Gorge Trail (3 km)
I started small and completed the two shortest trails in the bunch on the first day out. Both loops can be accessed right from the park office (day and overnight permits can be booked there or online).
I looped Doe Lake first early in the morning and completed it in just over an hour. It’s an easy to moderate walk with some nice scenic lookouts of South Otter Lake and Doe Lake. I was lucky enough to spot a fisher, part of the weasel family, slink over a log and a good variety of songbirds gathering for the long flight south. There are some massive “wolf” trees to gawk up at along the way—old gnarly white pine trees that were unfit for the loggers to cut down.
The Arab Lake Gorge Trail is a quick and easy half-hour walk. A good portion of it is along sections of boardwalks statically placed over marshy bits. There are lots of diverse tree species rooted in the deep gorge, from young soft maple to ancient oak.
Cedar Lake Loop (15 km)
For my second pick, I chose a lengthier option. The Cedar Lake loop is a moderate to difficult trail that took me a good five hours to complete. It’s split in half by a new pathway titled Dedication Trail. I absolutely loved this one, especially the first half. It’s accessed at the Arab Lake parking lot and soon begins following the south shore of Big Salmon Lake. Good footwear is a must-have here to help scramble up the knobs of rock. Towering white and red pine crowd the trail, and low-lying striped maple covers most of the forest floor.
The west side of Dedication Trail passes around and over a series of ponds, marshes and bogs that are alive with various species of fauna and flora. The entire stretch captivated me beyond imagination.
The section half of the loop, the east side of Dedication Trail, is charming as well. It makes its way through a mix of hardwood forest and a scattering of pine. It also gives you a good lookout over Doe Lake.
Gibson Lake Loop (11 km)
I was joined on the next trail by my good friend Evan Holt of Traversing Outdoor Blog. He’s completed the Frontenac Challenge five years in a row, which you get a special Friends of Frontenac badge for. Evan gave me some good pointers on how to safely and successfully complete the challenge and some tips on finding all the signs with keywords along the way. One that was especially helpful is that no sign is placed on a hill to eliminate anyone missing seeing it while walking up or downhill with their head down. Also, many of the trails join other trails along the way. The signs will never be placed on those sections.
Take note that the trail is longer than its signed 11 kilometres. You access it from the northern parking lot off Kingsford Dam Road and you must hike a three-kilometre linear stretch of the Tetsmine to reach the beginning of Gibson, and take the same trail to go back to the parking lot after finishing the Gibson Loop, a total of 17 kilometres. It took Evan and I six hours to complete it.
Gibson Lake Loop is Evan’s favourite of all the 11 loops. It is a very diverse area of the park. At times you’ll be walking through massive gorges, looking something like a scene in a Lord of The Rings movie. Other times, you’ll be passing under massive red oak trees. The highlight, however, is a rare fen—a type of wetland that is highly nutrient-rich and is home to countless endangered species.
Big Salmon Lake Loop (19 km)
This one made for a long day on the trail. It circles Big Salmon Lake and took me well over six hours to complete, but it was well worth the effort. I went clockwise since that half has more hills to contend with. I’d rather get those over with and deal with flatter terrain at the end of the day.
The south side of the lake is full of pine and rock, with nice vistas of the lake. The north side runs through a mix of deciduous and coniferous tree species. Along the way, you can stop to check out some century-old remains of homesteads that once existed here. In between, on the east end, there’s an incredible lookout where you can view the entire expanse of the lake.
