There is nothing more mesmerizing in the wilderness than hearing the haunting call of the common loon (also known as the great northern loon) from a nearby lake.
Ontario is a haven for common loons, a great looking bird that you’ll often paddle by in canoes. With red eyes, blue and green colourations with white specks, they’re one of the prettiest birds found in Ontario. As kids, when you grow up around cottage country or go “up north” to camp in Ontario, you learn from a young age how to try and mimic the “sounds” of the loon with your hands. Some people can get quite adept at it, although it was never a skill I was particularly good at.
They’re usually found in pairs, but as quintessential as they are to the lakes of Ontario, they are also hard to find in some places where acid rain, pollution and frequent disturbance from human activities take their toll.
Common Loon on Hailstorm Creek, Algonquin Park
Thankfully, Algonquin Park and many Ontario Parks, are safe havens for these birds, who prey on all sorts of fish. Some of my favourite moments from road trips and adventures in Ontario come from quiet nights camping near a lake, when the only noise you hear is a loon calling to another loon much further away on another lake. This sort of call-response communication or back-and-forth calling reminds you that you’re in a part of the country where nature rules, and you’re just a visitor.
Just remember that if you do see loons out on the lake, or nesting nearby, they’re sensitive birds, so please keep your distance and admire them from afar so that they’ll continue to return year after year.
Editorial note: These loon photos were taken during a great canoe trip along Hailstorm Creek, near Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park compliments of the people at Explorer’s Edgeand Algonquin Outfitters who sent me on a 3-day “Quintessentially Canadian” tour in Ontario.
It may seem odd, but for many people the excitement for summer camping in Ontario starts around Christmas time.
I’m not talking about getting a tent or Ontario Parks gift card as a present (although both would be cool), I’m talking about booking a campsite for your first camping trip of the year.
A Well-Treed, Large Camp Site at Wakami Lake
May 2-4 long weekend is the unofficial start to summer camping season and in Ontario you can book a campsite up to 5 months ahead of time. This means when you’re enjoying a Christmas dinner, you can be thinking about where to camp in May. The next long weekend in Ontario is Canada Day and shortly after that is my birthday, so early July is my favourite time for camping in Ontario. Long daylight hours lure me further north in need of a nature fix. Sometimes it’s a park many have never heard of, like Esker Lakes Provincial Park, while other times it is a popular park like Killarney Provincial Park.
Now time for my camping confession:
I have never camped in Algonquin Provincial Park
An ‘Alligator’ in Ontario – from the Logging Museum in Algonquin Park
Algonquin Park is an icon of Ontario. It is a big park, a very big park. At 7,600sq km it’s bigger than your average Caribbean or South Pacific island. It is also only 250km north of Toronto, making it very accessible to most people who live in Ontario. For outdoor and nature lovers, camping in Algonquin Park is a childhood rite of passage. It is where many people first spot a Moose in the wild, or hear Wolves howling at night. It is where you may first hear the haunting call of the Common Loon, or where you’ll take off on your first back-country canoe camping adventure.
It is one of our most cherished parks in Ontario and I have visited Algonquin Park somewhere around 20 times. But, I’ve only ever visited for day trips, or stayed overnight at cabins nearby, like the Wolf Den Nature Retreat. I did try camping at Algonquin once. It was a July long weekend and we took off to grab one of the first-come, first-serve sites that can not be reserved ahead of time. Standing in line, the person in front of us scored the very last site.
A Moose, spotted through the trees, at Algonquin Provincial Park
It was July and this massive park was 100% full. It was teeming with Canadians and other visitors who wanted to go camping, canoeing, swimming and hiking. The Highway 60 Corridor, which is home to most of the camp grounds and visitor facilities, had a constant stream of cars zooming along.
So, on a whim, we decided to keep driving north, to another park, in search of a camp site. We drove past Grundy Lake Provincial Park, past Killarney Provincial Park. We kept going past Sudbury, then beyond Sault Ste. Marie. After driving for about eight hours after Algonquin, we came to Lake Superior Provincial Park and set up camp.
Pictographs at Agawa Rock in Lake Superior Provincial Park
It was a great weekend of hiking on quiet trails and enjoying the rugged coastline of Lake Superior. It also got me hooked on the more northern parks of Ontario.
That was many years ago and I have camped at dozens of provincial parks since then but I’ve never had the urge to go camping at Algonquin Park. In a weird way, the popularity of Algonquin helped turn me on to the great, lesser-visited parks we have in our province. I still enjoy visiting Algonquin Park every year as it has superb hiking trails and canoe routes, but when it comes time to pitch a tent, my sights are set further north.
A Grey Wolf at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
I do know many people who swear by Algonquin Park and will go on 10-day canoeing adventures into the depths of the park. It definitely has a special place in many people’s hearts and I know – one day – I will explore the park more, and go camping there. But the beauty of Ontario is that we have such diversity. Our province is so large that the trees and animals I may see at Wakami Lake Provincial Park may differ from those I see further north at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park or further south at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park.
So, to me, as impressive as it is, Algonquin is the ‘everyone’ park that attracts the crowds. Now, I’ll admit I have gone camping at many smaller parks during crowded, noisy times. So it isn’t just the fact that it’s a popular park that makes me avoid camping there. In fact, I know it is such a large park that it is easy to spend a week there without encountering other people. It’s just not my style of travel to do what everyone else likes to do. I crave different experiences in different places. Algonquin is famous for Moose-spotting, but other parks, with different environments and landscapes, are better for spotting other wildlife, a factor that weighs heavily on where I decide to camp.
Groundhogs are one animal I’ve more commonly seen in Ontario Parks other than Algonquin Park
You will find me up at Algonquin Park soon though. As the spring takes hold and snow begins to melt in coming weeks, the Moose migrate to roadside ditches in search of salty goodness. For a couple of weeks of the year it isn’t unheard of to come across a dozen Moose on a visit to Algonquin during this time. But, it will only be a day trip for me as I have other parks to book my camping sites at.
On a whim I booked a trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is only a 1.5 hour flight north from Toronto, but takes 18 hours to drive there as you have to take a circular route around the Great Lakes. I usually love road trips, but with cheap flights and car rentals, I actually saved money (and a lot of time!) by flying on this quick trip.
View of Kakabeka Falls from the Visitor Centre Viewing Platform
One of the natural attractions that lured me here was Kakabeka Falls. The self-proclaimed ‘Niagara of the North’, Kakabeka Falls is located just off the Trans-Canada Highway about 100km from downtown Thunder Bay.
Accessible Boardwalk at Kakabeka Falls Visitor centre
It is a Provincial Park in Ontario, so visitor payments go towards protecting and operating the park as well as it’s hiking trails and campgrounds. You can pay $5 for a two hour permit or choose from longer options if you want to make a full day trip out of it. I didn’t camp here, but many of the sites looked to be large and well-treed for privacy.
The falls themselves are a nice split waterfall. The height is impressive as they drop down into a deep gorge. The park provide accessible boardwalks on either side of the falls so that you can get some great photos from close to the edge of the gorge. Annoyingly though, the park and highway bridges are placed beyond the height of the falls meaning that they’re a bit of an eyesore for any full landscape photos. Nonetheless, you can get some great waterfall shots here.
Kakabeka Falls and the Park Bridge
As for the ‘Niagara of the North’ title, Kakabeka Falls doesn’t quite live up to the expectation. Think of it more as a mini-Niagara. What it does offer is a great natural environment with plenty of hiking trails (almost 20km) in the park and an opportunity to appreciate nature without the crowds. When I visited in September I only saw 10-15 other people in the entire park.
Close-up of Kakabeka Falls from the eastern Viewing Platform
For a quick hiking trail that offers some different perspectives of the falls and the Kaministiquia River, take the short and easy Mountain Portage trail. The trail has a few lookouts and also provides a glimpse of the nearby power generating station, which was first built more than 100 years ago. Bald eagles are also commonly seen in the trees along the edge of the gorge here, so keep an eye for them – I saw one, but it was too far away to get a great photo.
Powerplant near Kakabeka Falls
The visitor centre here also has plenty of picnic tables and open space to sit and enjoy the sound of the falls, making it a great spot for a family picnic. A worthwhile, relaxing place to stop if you find yourself in Thunder Bay, or plan to head out on a Cross-Canada road trip.
