Here’s our pick of the best short hikes in a truly walker-friendly province.
1. Marr Lake Trail - Georgian Bay
2.5 hours, various difficulties
Situated in the coastal Bruce Peninsula National Park, the Marr Lake Trail is an easy way to see the park’s highlights including the dramatic cliffs and eroded caves called the Grotto. Respite comes at Halfway Rock Point with sweeping views of the neighbouring Bear’s Rump Islands, part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park.
2.The Crack - Killarney Provincial Park
3 hours, moderate-difficult
Emerging from a crack between resting boulders in one of Ontario’s best-loved wilderness parks, intrepid hikers are treated to a sweeping panorama of snow-dusted mountains on all sides. Come on a clear day and the view seems to carry on forever, and in autumn the trees are decked in burnt orange. Intrepid hikers can continue along the 78km La Cloche Silhouette loop, of which this is a part.
3. The Lookout - Algonquin
1 hour, moderate
The Lookout Trail is a short, steep loop track set within the maple forests of Algonquin Provincial Park. Puff your way up to a rocky outcrop and your reward is a sweeping panorama across several hundred square kilometres of forest and lakes. Info boards explain the park’s epic glacial geology along the way.
4. Niagara Glen
1.5 hours, various difficulties
If you’re visiting the famous Falls, don’t miss this gorgeous stroll, which gives you a grandstand view of the Niagara River Whirlpool – a sharp bend in the Great Gorge which forces the onrushing water into an impressive vortex. The trail also winds through lush forests and large boulders left behind as the area was being formed.
5. King Mountain Trail - Gatineau Park, Ottawa
45 minutes, difficult
There are several hiking trails criss-crossing their way through Ottawa’s Gatineau Park, but this trail is particularly interesting as it leads visitors through several types of forest, all clearly marked, to the Eardley Escarpment which looks out over the Ottawa Valley. The magnificent views from this escarpment take in the rolling countryside and cities in the area.
