Algonquin Provincial Park

Algonquin is the oldest provincial park in Canada and, for a great many Canadians, the place where canoeing is learned: some two thousand lakes linked by portages let you paddle for days or weeks without repeating water, carrying the boat between them. The southern edge is crossed by Highway 60 with trails, lodges and a good visitor centre, but the interior is reached only by paddle. In late September and early October the sugar maples turn the hills scarlet and orange in one of the most concentrated displays anywhere, and the road fills accordingly. Moose are common along the highway in spring; in August the park runs public wolf howls, where hundreds of people stand in the dark and a ranger howls until a pack answers.

History

In the 19th century loggers cut the area's great white and red pines for lumber and for square timber shipped to Britain, and a royal commission of five men drew up the act for the park in 1892, recommending protection of the headwaters of five major rivers. Established in 1893, Algonquin is the oldest provincial park in Canada, meant from the start as an example of good forestry, and researchers believe smoke from a fire here caused New England's Dark Day of 19 May 1780 (Wikipedia, Algonquin Provincial Park).

Highlights

• Canoe routes - two thousand lakes linked by portages into the interior.
• Autumn colour - sugar maples turning the hills scarlet in late September.
• The public wolf howls - August evenings when a pack answers the ranger.
• Moose along Highway 60 - most reliably seen in the spring.

When to go

Late September into mid-October is peak colour and extremely busy on the highway corridor; May to September is the canoe season, with black flies fierce in late May and June. Interior campsites and canoe permits must be reserved, and autumn weekends book out months ahead.

What to expect

The Highway 60 corridor at peak colour is bumper to bumper with day-trippers from Toronto, and parking at the popular trails fills before nine in the morning; the interior, a portage away, is empty. Black flies and mosquitoes in early summer are genuinely severe. Permits and reservations are required for almost everything.

Nearby

Huntsville and the Muskoka lakes are southwest; Ottawa is three hours east.

Key facts