The Best Hike in Eastern Ontario

Sun. 19 March:  The Best Hike in Eastern Ontario

Calabogie Peaks Resort:
ideal starting point for Eastern Ontario's best hike

Note: click on pictures for full size view.

Now there’s a claim!  But it’s one I’m prepared to defend.   

What a day it was.  Even the weather was perfect.  On this last day of winter, the skies were clear, and the temperatures were soon rising above freezing.  Yet the snow conditions on Calabogie Peaks ski hills were just about perfect.  The only puzzle was the lack of skiers.  This was the final day of the school spring break, yet there were only a handful of people out on the immaculately groomed slopes.

Our journey started with a stiff climb up to the summit of the ski mountain, a vertical rise of just over 760 feet, which we accomplished in almost exactly an hour.  This height gain may not sound much to residents of the Rocky Mountains or of Switzerland.  But for Ontario, no other ski hills can match Calabogie for vertical drop.

Behind the ski hill, with its panoramic views of Calabogie Lake below, lie a series of other wooded hills and hidden valleys and lakes and rivers, stretching north and west towards the great Algonquin wilderness and far beyond.  There were several superb viewpoints along our trail, giving us a glimpse into this lonely land.

There were fifteen strong hikers today, and we made steady progress on our snowshoes, up and down the switchback trails.   Our average speed of less than two kilometres an hour sounds snail-paced, but the terrain was tricky the whole way, and there were few flat sections of trail.  There were in fact some very steep sections, the final one being memorable.  We each chose our method of descending the slippery snow-covered slopes, careful to avoid trees on the way down. 

But we made it back safely to home base.  And as we sat in a circle in the sun-bathed hotel lounge, clutching our cold drinks, we all shared a common sense of accomplishment.  

Our hike leaders had done a masterful job in shepherding us around the 9.6 kilometre obstacle course.  Now we could safely agree that this was indeed the finest hike in Eastern Ontario – and perhaps beyond.

Lone skier enjoys perfect conditions

Pre-hike briefing from our leaders

Starting out on our journey

Climbing the ski hill

Enjoying our good workout on the ascent to the summit

The easy way up

Calabogie Lake below,
and the distant line of snow-covered Gatineau Hills in Quebec

On Skywalk Loop

At the top of our first steep descent,
to Manitou Mountain trail

A juicy blood orange for lunch

Highlands stretching to Algonquin and beyond

Delightful descent of Wendigo Way

A stream is reappearing, under a canopy of hemlocks

The last weary climb to Juniper Ridge

Juniper Ridge Lookout.....

...and Calabogie Lake below

Returning to the Calabogie Peaks Hotel

Our route today

Some statistics