Preface
Many people have written about our relationship with the wilderness, but two in particular mirror my way of thinking about nature. One is Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote, in Nature, that "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." The other is Henry David Thoreau, who described his experiences when walking and wrote that "In wilderness is the preservation of the world." Nature can help us know ourselves, and at the same time is worth preserving for its own sake, as well as for the values we humans attach to it.
As we enter the 21st century, the 150-year-old words of these nature lovers are as relevant as ever. It is my belief this guidebook will allow you to contribute to both the appreciation and the protection of our natural world. It will also offer encouragement to park managers to increase their efforts to improve and maintain trail opportunities in our beautiful provincial parks.
This printing of the Ontario Provincial Parks Trail Guide marks the fifth year of its existence. It was the first comprehensive guide ever written for interpretive and hiking trails in provincial parks. As with the first edition, I ask you, the user, to write to me in care of the publisher whenever you discover a flaw in the trail descriptions or would like to share a special trail experience. I also encourage you to write the relevant park superintendent as well to voice your opinions and concerns. After all, it is your park!
This edition contains major and minor alterations to 76 provincial parks and approximately 23 new trail descriptions for a total of 212.2 kilometres of new trail.
Photographs were taken by the author, or supplied by individuals or Ontario Parks. They were selected to illustrate the objective of the nature walk or an outstanding point of interest along the trail.
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Introduction
This guide briefly describes the 325 interpretive and hiking trails found in 86 operating Ontario Provincial Parks. These trails range from those well known and well used in parks such as Algonquin, to little known trails visited by only a few people. They lead you to explore rivers, wateffalls, caves, cliffs, rugged shorelines, forests, bogs and marshes, and traces of our history in abandoned farms, old mines, fire towers and native pictographs. You will become acquainted with the lives and stories of a few of the early settlers, miners, loggers, trappers and the native peoples. You will also be able to add to the pleasure of walking by combining it with other pursuits -- birdwatching, the study of rocks, wildflowers, bogs, ferns, trees and other natural features. Best of all, you will come to know the land better, and increase your sense of connected-ness to it and respect for all that it embraces.
Most of the nature walks in this book are generally less than two hours long, easy to walk with clearly marked routes. Since the trails are located within provincial parks, parking, toilets, and drinking water can be found either at or near the start of the trail. Descriptions of the trails are based upon information gathered during the summers of 1998 and 1999 and the fall of 2004, either from park staff or during actual trail visits. However, you should be on the alert for possible changes due to human intervention or natural occurrences.
