I'm happy to have a few girlfriends who say yes to adventures most won't consider. Cue my friend of almost four decades - Jo. She has always wanted to visit Quetico Provincial Park in northwest Ontario, though a winter trip was perhaps not what she initially had in mind. To her credit, she said she was game for a stay in a simple cabin on a frozen lake, accessed via a 2 kilometre snowshoe in.…
Ask a Canadian where they’d send their friends and/or guests to experience Ontario’s great outdoors and many would suggest Algonquin Park or perhaps Muskoka or the Kawartha Lakes. They’d recommend swimming, canoeing and kayaking since Canada’s most populous province is blessed with oodles of warm lakes and sparkling rivers. While cottagers and tourists flock to these popular destinations, a growing number are now seeking out Northern Ontario’s French River. The French River - a Canadian…
Ottawa. Canada’s Capital. The city I grew up in, have a soft spot for - and one of the few places in Canada where I’d happily live again. Every time I go back, I marvel at how vibrant the city has become. How much there is to do. I leave thinking next time I come back I’ll leave time for all the Ottawa activities I'd still like to do - wander the museums I’ve never…
I'm looking at our sleek, brand new, 37 foot long $300,000 + Le Boat and thinking to myself - can John and I really drive this thing and dock it without a mishap? John of course says "no problem" but he's a guy. I on the other hand am far more cautious around anything with a motor and can't help thinking of the time our daughter actually sunk a motor boat, albeit a smaller one, in…
Mississagi Provincial Park, located just 25 kilometres north of the city of Elliot Lake, has been called "one of Ontario's last true natural parks." The park offers visitors a chance to hike, canoe, bike, swim and enjoy nature in a park that aside from 60 front-country campsites, seven backcountry campsites and seven hiking trails is preserved in its natural state. Mississagi Provincial Park features one of the best views in Ontario, an incredible fall foliage display (!!!)…
Niagara on the Lake, is very popular with tourists and for good reason. It's accessible - as it is only 90 minutes by car from Toronto or 45 minutes from Buffalo, if the border isn't backed up. And it's very pretty, almost surreal really with its storybook looking main street and location beside Lake Ontario. There's much more than meets the eye - and as a former resident of the town, I feel qualified to…
"The Lake Superior Coastal Trail is more difficult than the Coastal Trail in Pukaskwa National Park" exclaims one of the staff working at the Lake Superior Provincial Park Visitor Centre. I roll my eyes - thinking "as if". What does she really know? Now that I've hiked a major section of the Lake Superior Coastal Trail over a three day period - and not the most difficult section which is the 20 kilometres from Gargantua…
Interested in seeing Agawa Falls - one of the highest waterfalls in Lake Superior Provincial Park that's only accessible on foot via the Towab Trail? While the hike to Agawa Falls is definitely a worthwhile outing - it would be easy to be put off attempting it as a day hike if you read the estimated hiking time in the Lake Superior Provincial Park Information Guide. The park brochure suggests 8 -14 hours to do…
A bog, a receded continental ice sheet and isostatic rebound: oh.... oh.... this going to be boring. Surprisingly not - read on to learn about Mer Bleue, a nature hot spot just minutes from downtown Ottawa. Leigh and I were greeted at Mer Bleue by the very keen, engaging and knowledgeable Owen Clarkin, Chair of the Conservation Committee of the Ottawa Field Naturalists Club. A tour of Mer Bleue After our greeting, we ambled a…
For Philip Gosling and the other founders of the Bruce Trail, the Bruce was code for wilderness. The near 800-kilometre-long footpath follows the Niagara Escarpment across Southern Ontario, connecting Niagara Falls to the Bruce Peninsula, which separates Lake Huron from Georgian Bay. Assigned to write an article about hidden gems in the southern Bruce Peninsula for the Bruce Trail magazine, I headed up to Wiarton for a near 70 kilometre, three-day hike. More importantly, I…