Algonquin Provincial Park is over 7,600 square kilometres of forest, lake and river in the highlands of Ontario — one of the oldest provincial parks in Canada and one of the best places in the country to experience real wilderness without a bush plane. It sits about three hours north of Toronto along Highway 60, which cuts across the park’s southern edge and provides access to most of the facilities. Beyond that corridor, the park is roadless.
The landscape is a patchwork of maple hills, spruce bogs and roughly 2,400 lakes connected by rivers and portage trails. Moose are common — you will see them browsing in roadside marshes at dawn and dusk, especially in spring. Beavers, loons, black bears, wolves and white-tailed deer are all here too. The park sits at the boundary between northern boreal forest and southern deciduous forest, which gives it an unusual mix of wildlife and plants from both zones.
Canoeing is what Algonquin is famous for. Over 2,000 kilometres of canoe routes thread through the interior, from easy day paddles on Canoe Lake to week-long circuits through remote chains of lakes connected by portages. The Portage Store on Canoe Lake rents canoes, paddles and gear. If you have never portaged before, start with something short — carrying a canoe upside down on your shoulders through the woods is harder than it looks, but the reward is reaching lakes where the only sound is loons calling across the water.
Hiking is excellent along the Highway 60 corridor. The Centennial Ridges trail climbs to panoramic views over the canopy — it is spectacular in autumn when the maples turn. The Mizzy Lake trail is one of the best for wildlife. In winter the park is open for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and even wolf howling sessions led by park naturalists.
The park has car-accessible campgrounds along Highway 60 and backcountry campsites throughout the interior, bookable through Ontario Parks. There are also a few lodges just outside the park gates. The Algonquin Visitor Centre, about halfway along the corridor, has good natural history exhibits and a bookshop, and is worth a stop even if you are just driving through.