Hi guys, welcome back to my second blog. This is going to be an interesting one with many locations combined. So if you’re planning a trip for the whole weekend this would be a great read. Algonquin! Yes, the famous Algonquin. Algonquin is a few hours north of Toronto.
We were a group of 12 who decided to camp on the Provincial Park of Algonquin. It was my first time camping ever and in the very first provincial park that was created in Ontario. I was super excited and equally frightened as everybody scared me about the stereotypical bugs, but guess what? I didn’t even need bugs spray!
Everybody’s first choice was Rock Lake campground so we went for it. If you like quite camping, this would the best option for you. It had 121 campsites available and the campground was accessible by car. It was mid-week so we got a sweet site, right beside the water. As soon as we arrived around 3pm, three of the girls including me started making our tents and few of the men set up the barbeque machine with the chill beers and began to make lunch. There were various people around us who had their tents up and were enjoying a great summer day with their families, friends and loved ones.
After having lunch, all of us wanted to go for sightseeing so we went for canoeing at the beautiful Lake Canoe. We did not have our own crafts but we found a spot to rent. It was 30 dollars for 4 hours of boating, which was a good price in my opinion. I have heard that it can get quite busy but luckily we went at the right time. We took the 3-person canoe with life vests and wandered around the lake. The boating got a little adventurous when suddenly one of our friend’s canoe flipped and all three of them were in the water. They were panicking but we were too far to go help. Although the lifeguards quickly came and saved them. It was quite scary yet funny at the same time. Don’t judge! Lol.
Not to worry, all of them were safe but sadly one of my friends had lost her phone.
We came back to the campsite and built a bonfire as even in the warmest days of summer it was freezing cold at night. We made burgers for dinner and we kept sipping on some fine whiskey to keep us warm. We sat outside late into the night and gazed at magnificent stars. My musician friends were playing the guitar and we were all singing along but you have to keep quiet after 12 so that did not go on for too long.
There were clean flush toilets for men and women so we got freshened up and went to our cute fuzzy tents to sleep as we were going to have a long day the next morning.
Fun fact: My friend and I ended up sleeping in the car because we got too cold in the middle of the night.
We made sure to wake up in time to watch the sunrise. I was a little jealous to see people who had their own watercraft as they were strolling down the beautiful lake during the time. We then had breakfast, packed up the tents and everything and took off to a hike to few of the many trails Algonquin has to offer.
Our first destination was Hardwood lookout trail which was my favorite. It is a scenic lookout trail over the viewpoint of Smoke Lake. It is about a kilometer hike with a lot of hills up and down the trail. It also required quite a good amount of climbing rocks which made it more exciting for us.
We sat at the peak of the lookout point and took some time to embrace nature.
Our second lookout point was the Whiskey Rapids Trails which was about 2 km. We walked at a fast pace and stopped to take photos which took nearly 50 minutes. This is an amazing spot for photographers as it has magnificent views. It was a very easy hike, not strenuous at all which makes it a perfect trail for all ages. The hike from the river to the rapid is lovely and you can learn quite some history of the area.
Our third and last hike was the Bruce Bog Boardwalk Trail. We were all tired from the previous hikes so we choose this one. It was an easy and simple and short hike which was 1.5km. There were many vibrant monarch butterflies. This trail is for nature enthusiast who doesn’t desire the full-on hiking tour. It has boundless attractions, Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays are most certainly to be found. In fall, you can most likely find remarkable fungus, bog plants, and lichens which is the best time to visit this place.
Algonquin has many cultural, recreational and natural features and definitely provides something for everyone. We had a wonderful time in the bright sun hiking through forests, canoeing, camping and so much more. The campsite had signs reading ‘Bear on-site’ but never got to see that bear, sigh, maybe next time!
It’s time to mark your calendar and make a trip to Algonquin if you’ve never been to Algonquin. I loved it so much that I went back the very next winter which I will be talking about on my next blog. Make sure you check it out.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed my posts, please like and follow. 🙂
Discover Canada 