Featured Park - Grundy Lake

Ontario Parks Insider

Grundy Lake Provincial Park has it all. It’s far enough away from urban areas to lessen the weekend crowds but close enough to lessen the boredom the kids have to endure during the car ride. One viewing of Madagascar 2 and a couple episodes of Scooby-doo and you’ll have the family setting up camp under a rich canopy of northern pine and spruce. Campsite choice is excellent at Grundy; all are well maintained and laid out for tent or trailer.

Hiking trails are also supreme. The park offers three main loop treks ranging from 2 to 4 kilometres in length, and all take you on a spectacular tour of the region’s natural attractions: barren rock of the Precambrian Shield, tranquil stream, dense forest, beaver ponds and vibrant wetlands (one being home to an impressive Great Blue Heron nesting site, also known as a rookery). And according to Grundy Lake regulars, after a long hike it’s tradition to take a twilight swim at “The Rock” – located on the east side of Grundy Lake, between White Pine and Red Maple campgrounds.

But the best part about Grundy Lake is that the half-dozen lakes making up a good portion of the park are all motorboat free, which in turn provides great canoeing, kayaking and fishing opportunities. Paddling on Grundy Lake, Gurd Lake and Gut Lake are popular day outings. Grundy Lake’s ultimate plus, however, is the backcountry sites. Ten interior sites have been added to Grundy, Gurd, Beaver and Pakeshkag Lakes. These are perfect for families wanting to try out interior canoe and kayak tripping, experience a more natural (and less crowded) camping experience, but still want to be close to all the conveniences of the campground (showers, laundry, firewood, Natural Heritage Education Programs) just a short paddle away.

And for those rainy days, drive 15 minutes north of Grundy Lake to visit the French River Visitor Centre or into Sudbury just 60 kilometres north to visit Science North.

Nearby and Natural


Gear Up For Spring

Ontario Parks Insider

Let’s hope you didn’t put the tent away wet at the end of last season. Most tent damage is caused by campers not airing their tent out the moment they get back from a trip. A tent can be rained on for days during the trip and not develop any mold. However, the moment it’s stored wet for three or four days back home it can look like a piece of cheese left on the kitchen counter for a month.

If you’re mold free then it’s now time to prepare for another season. First is the placement of fresh seam sealer to waterproof the seams of the tent (Thompson’s Water Seal or a similar product works great). To further storm proof your tent, attach shock cords where the regular nylon cords are attached to tie down the tent. This will help relieve the stress on the nylon fabric during heavy wind storms. It’s also a great idea to attach (sew) extra loops to the fly, especially at the front and rear of the tent (attached to tent poles). This will help stop the fly from rubbing against the tent walls, which will definitely cause condensation and leakage. And last is the zipper. Prior to your trip make sure to rub a bar of soap along each zipper. This will reduce the stress placed on the zipper and limit the chance of it sticking. If it does break, hope for a coil zipper rather than a toothed zipper. Coil zippers are usually self-healing by slipping the slider back and forth. Once a tooth is broken in a toothed zipper, however, it’s usually game over. The only way to repair it is to sew together the section where the tooth is missing and have the zipper work from there or replace the entire zipper.

Tour Route - Wildflower Glory

Ontario Parks Insider

There is a small window of wildflower glory each spring in Ontario. The time of year when wildflowers take centre stage before the leaves of the forest canopy cast their shadows. Here is an ideal tour route to help you take advantage of this window and experience the showy displays of Ontario’s wildflowers.

Bronte Creek Provincial Park – Bronte Creek is a great first stop on any spring wildflower tour. Not only is it an accessible urban park, it boosts one of the best spots to view thick carpets of blooming trilliums. Appropriately named, the Trillium Trail is an easy 45 minute hike through an abundance of wildflowers, including an array of Ontario’s provincial flower.

Along the way … heading north from Bronte Creek, be sure to stop by one of the several farmers’ markets in the towns along the way to the Hills of Headwaters region.

The Hills of Headwaters – Famous for spring rainbow trout runs up the Boyne and Credit Rivers, The Hills of Headwaters region is also a great place for wildflower spotting. Stops at either Forks of the Credit, Mono Cliffs or Earl Rowe Provincial Park will reveal forested trails, open fields and cliff faces brimming with a variety of wildflowers.

Along the way … continuing north towards the Bruce Peninsula some fun places to stop include Collingwood’s Scenic Caves, the quaint village of Thornbury and the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound.

Bruce Peninsula – Home of the annual spring Orchid Festival and 44 species of orchids, it is no wonder the Bruce Peninsula is a magnet for botanists. Sauble Falls Provincial Park provides the perfect base camp for exploring the Bruce. The park provides easy access to discover the ancient cedars that cling to the cliffs of the Bruce Trail, the carnivorous plants found in the fens of Lake Huron and the delicate orchids, which are scattered throughout the varying landscapes of the peninsula.

Inside Ontario Parks: Unearthing the Past

Ontario Parks Insider

Bringing history to life in a classroom setting can be a challenging task, especially if you are trying to captivate a room full of 10 year olds with stories of 19th century life. Thankfully one Ontario Park has developed a program where students can play in the dirt and learn at the same time. In 2004 the Archaeo Apprentice Program was started at Murphys Point Provincial Park in eastern Ontario.

The Archaeo Apprentice Program brings in grade five students to work alongside professional archaeologists. Together they excavate, map, wash and label artifacts of a 19th century mill site located on Big Rideau Lake, part of the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now in its fifth year, the program sponsors about 150 students each year. The students receive a workbook prior to arrival and the program has ties to the grade five social studies, language and math curricula.

According to Tobi Kiesewalter, Senior Natural Heritage Education Leader, they have uncovered many 19th and 20th century artifacts along with the location of a blacksmith shop and the old road through the site. “We are extremely happy with the program as it combines research and interpretation through a very unique field trip opportunity for the students” Tobi explained. The teachers who bring the students must echo his sentiment as they keep coming back year after year. The success of the student Archaeo Apprentice Program has even spawned the Park staff to consider an expansion to include adult groups. For more information visit the Friends of Murphys Point.