This is an extremely hilly park, they even have signs in certain spots stating No Trailers Allowed ! Silent Lake is not a very big park, maybe 1610 hectares and has only two campgrounds. They also have some walk-in sites. Our site was okay but none of them look to very level and no privacy really if you want that.
The main gate which is also where the Sanitation Station is, kinda odd………
We spent a few hours paddling around Silent Lake, not a big lake maybe 2.5 km in length and no motor boats allowed, which I like. The fall colours on this lake were really nice, lots of reds and oranges.
Silent Lake
We saw another Loon with a young one, I feel like the Loons had their young very late this year.
Adult and Young
The light was ever changing
Stretching ! and the young one is right there with her
This one makes me smile
I may be wrong, but this loon looks old to me
I thought I’d try a B&W photo
You used to be able to access two other lakes by portage (Quiet and Soft Lakes) but when we went this year, the Warden told me that you aren’t allowed to canoe in either of these lakes anymore. She said something about sensitive environments. But Silent Lake is nice to paddle so that’s okay with us.
This was a cute spot, a tiny rock island
Beautiful colours
I love canoeing in the autumn
View from the shore
Great weather for paddling
Someone decided on an island trip
They only have three trails, we did two of them. We did the 1.5 km Lakehead Loop Trail following the lakeshore and Bonnie’s Pond Trail, a 3 km walk through a forest and past a large beaver pond. Bonnie’s Pond was named after a workhorse who drowned while dragging logs over the ice on the pond. Kinda sad.
Intersection of Lakeshore Trail and Lakehead Loop Trail
View from the top of Lakehead Loop Trail
Bonnie’s Pond Trail
View from Bonnie’s Pond Trail
Start of Lakehead Loop Trail
View from the Trail
Their last trail, Lakeshore Trail, is 15 km and takes you around the perimeter of Silent Lake. Had we stayed one more night we probably would have done it.
They also have a Bike Trail, which we didn’t do, they have a two loop trails – 11 km and 17 km; the 11 km is moderately difficult and the 17 km is difficult.
All in all, it was a nice park, not much to do but we still enjoyed it and really enjoyed the canoeing. We may be back.
Bon Echo is up there in my top 10 favourite Ontario Parks. They have two large campgrounds and back country camping. Mazinaw Campground has 3 loops; Midway, Fairway and Sawmill Bay. The second campground is Hardwood which is on the other side of the park and is a semi-wilderness spot for tents and tent trailers.
We have been to Bon Echo a number of times and also just for day trips. They have quite a lot to do here, more than many other Ontario Parks.
Trum entertaining the chipmunks. My husband says this is #alcoholinducedfun
I love campfires and even if it’s cold, I bundle up and keep a blanket handy.
We like to canoe in Mazinaw Lake and Bon Echo Lake and you can also drive to the other end of the park and do a 500 m portage to paddle in Joeperry Lake and Pearson Lake. The trail to the lake from the parking lot is a nice trail. Clint takes his camera gear and canoe and I take the rest.
Map of the lakes
Trail
A nice canoe launch awaits at the end of the trail at Joeperry Lake, paddle north and around the point then head south and you can get into Pearson Lake, depending on water levels.
We saw some loons, a mom feeding her young one.
Adult LoonAnd they are off to find a new feeding groundYoung Loon
We also spotted a heron on the shores of JoePerry Lake. I love watching the herons.
They seem so awkward
Head scratch !
Fleeing the scene
We spotted him again on our way out of the lake
Some views of JoePerry and Pearson Lakes.
Beautiful area
Some of the trees are still colourful
Entrance to Pearson Lake
Just some information for those that they be interested…………they have one big canoe route, Kishkebus Canoe route which is about 21 kms as well as a few portages, one of them being 1.5 km. We did not do that trip this time.
Bon Echo Lake is a cute little lake to paddle and there are a few cabins there for rent also. The cabins seem pretty nice, probably pretty pricey to rent.
We parked the truck and put our canoe in, just to the left of the put in was a small river going behind us to a small pond.
We did spot a heron in the pond, which you can walk to from where we parked, but he was pretty far away.
It’s a really nice little lake to paddle, picturesque. Below is Bon Echo Lake.
They have some trails and we have, over the years, done all except for the two longest Abes and Essens Trails. There are walk in sites on the longer loops of this trail. The loops are 3.5 km, 9.6 km and 17 kms. We normally take our time, we are looking at things, taking photos, enjoying nature. Near the end of the trail, I could feel somebody right behind me, it startled me When I turned around it was a young guy and I said “Oh you should have said something, I didn’t know you were there” I let him pass and we heard him say ” Well you people walk so slow” hahaha yes but we probably see things you don’t is what I was thinking!
It was a pretty nice trail but lots of steep hills. A guy and his son were portaging their canoe and fishing equipment as they heard there was good fishing on a lake on the trail. He’s a brave one, he had an old heavy canoe probably weighing 80+ pounds. Our canoe is an Ultra Light and weighs 44 pounds. We didn’t envy him. As you can see below, quite a bumpy trail!
Clint enjoyed the walk and there was lots to see.
Bon Echo Creek Trail is only about a 1 km and follows along Bon Echo Creek; High Pines Trail is a little less than 2 kms through the forest; Shield Trail is about 4.8 km through the forest and past a beaver swamp; Pet Exercise Trail is an off leash 1.4 km trail. They also have a terrific Dog Beach for your furry family members.
Bon Echo Creek Trail follows the river. You can paddle this, it’s quite nice.
River
Dog Beach was pretty great, one of the better dog beaches we have seen in Ontario Parks. We sat for a bit and watched the dogs playing.
Dog Beach
High Pines Trail was not too long and we saw a snake !
The trail was pretty open which is kind of cool, you can see so far.
The other trail is the Cliff Top Trail which is about 1.5 km and you have to paddle or take a ferry service (called the Mugwump) across the lake to get to it. You take a pathway and stairs to the top of Mazinaw Rock overlooking the lake. It’s hard to spot but right above the kind of reddish tree in the middle of the photo below you can sort of spot a small wooden structure. That is the viewpoint spot. I took this shot from the lagoon.
The lagoon is where you can rent canoes, paddleboards etc and catch the Mugwump Ferry when it is working. It was closed this summer due to COVID.
Just a few miscellaneous photos I took around the park plus another view of Mazinaw Rock.
Woodpecker
I love this wasp on the yellow flowers.
Wasp having lunchAnother view of Mazinaw Rock
There are other things to do in this area if you run out of things to do in the Park. We drove to the Lower Madawaska Provincial Park Reserve about 40 kms from Bon Echo. There are some really bumpy side roads here and you can drive so far and then have to park and walk to different areas. We went to Crooked Rapids, Slate Falls, Buck Bay and Aumonds Bay. Some really nice spots and we love to explore new places. I think they have about 36 back country sites for camping. This is a really pretty area.
Beautiful spots along here
Wish we had our canoe with us !
Just some random flowers
The colours were still pretty nice here
We made a stop at the Irvin Lake airstrip, pretty cool, no buildings left just the old runway. The road to get there was pretty bad but we have an off road truck so no problem for us. This is Crown Land so you can camp here if you want.
Old Airstrip
It’s funny the things you find in the middle of nowhere. We spotted this hanging off a tree, Clint spent an hour looking for the owner, he said it was his civic duty. lol
We drove to the Skootamatta Dam which was a long drive down a back road and hydro access road but we couldn’t get access to the dam. Then we tried to get to Sheldrake Lake Dam Road but couldn’t get there either! Usually these roads are gated up. We did stop at Skootamatta Lake and it was very pretty with little islands all along the shoreline.
Marble Rapids was also pretty and if you are doing the big Kishkebus Canoe route, one of the portages is here. On to Semi Circle Lake for a look and this is also part of this portage.
So to wrap up, this is a park I would recommend, we will definitely, at some point, return to this one. As I mentioned, it is not a long drive to do day trips from where we live so we may get there again in the next couple of months.
We had quite a few days of nice weather so last week we decided we needed a day trip to Algonquin Provincial Park before the weather gets too bad for driving. So last Friday, we got up a o’dark thirty, packed up our lunch, water and coffee and were on the road before 5:30 a.m. It takes 2 1/2 – 3 hours to drive there from where we live.
It was already 7 Celsius when we left and later in the day it rose to 11-12 Celsius with beautiful blue skies. We drove from one end of the Park to the other with stops in between. The Park was pretty quiet, hardly any people at all which was fantastic! We were surprised to see that ice was forming on the smaller bodies of water already and there was lots of ice on some of the rocks along the highway. They must have had some really cold days prior to us going for our trip.
We were hoping to spot some moose but no such luck today, which was disappointing. But we had a great day anyways spotting beavers, otters, grouse, a pine marten, Bufflehead ducks and assorted other ducks and birds. It was a great day to get in some hikes and some photography.
The photos below were both taken on Arrowhon Road (west end); first one taken last Friday and one taken in early October. Quite a difference!
Arowhon Road in November
Arrowhon Road in October
We saw lots of Grouse, everywhere we went. We also spotted some Bufflehead Ducks, from a distance.
Grouse
Bufflehead Ducks
We spotted a couple of otters but they were pretty far away and my lens is only a 300 mm so I snapped one photo just to say I saw him ! To be honest, even editing couldn’t help this photo! It would have been nice to have been closer.
We saw the little Pine Marten that we always see, in the same spot. He really liked our truck this visit. They are super cute until they open their mouths and then they look like little vampires!
He likes our truck tires
Pine Marten
Pine Marten
There are always tons of birds hanging around, Grey Jays, Chickadees, Blue Jays and more.
Chickadee
Nuthatch
Some photos taken along one of the trails we walked.
One of my favourite spots along Arrowhon Road. March Hare Lake.
March Hare Lake
Mew Lake Campground had a few campers, such a different vibe when there is hardly anyone around. The Squirrels were busy getting ready for winter.
Mew Lake
These guys are cute but they can also be mean
The beavers were out in full force, we probably saw 1/2 dozen that day.
Why did the beaver cross the road?
Looking both ways
Off he goes
He crossed the road to get his stick, that’s why.
this was a very long branch
And back to his house, stocking up on winter food
The branches these guys chew down and drag back to their houses are incredible. The photo below is from a distance but I wanted to show the length of the branch he was swimming with. You notice to the left there are some grey branches sticking out of the water and he is on the right of the photo. Quite amazing really. The second photo is a close up and third photo is of a beaver just sitting in the grass, deciding whether to go get another branch or head back to the water. That’s right, I’m a beaver whisperer……..lol
A very long branch he is swimming with
Amazing
Chilling
Well that’s that, a nice day but long. I think we got home around 8 p.m. but we always enjoy our time spent in Algonquin Park.
Sharbot Lake Provincial Park was not a park I enjoyed. I don’t even really have any particular reasons why, you know sometimes you just don’t feel comfortable? My husband thought the park was unique and enjoyed his stay. They only have about 150 sites in this park and this park is very long and spread out. Sites are very open and not private and the campground is tiered in some areas. So from our site, we could see straight down to some other sites along the water. Kind of hard to explain, but this park is very hilly.
Sharbot Lake Provincial ParkCovid barriers š¦
You can paddle on Black Lake or Sharbot Lake, a short portage connects the two. We did not do any paddling here, we were only here 2 nights and spent our time doing other things.
There are only two trails, we did the Discovery Trail which is a little less than 2 km. Lots of up and down with some steep hills. A nice trail and you walk by, and can see, both the lakes.
Map
Going Up !
Nice Trail
Clint taking a look at the view
Nice Beach
They have one other 0.5 km trail so not too much to do in this park. They do have a Beach and a Dog Beach; the Dog Beach is at the other end of the park, so quite a walk depending on where you are camping.
Silver Lake Provincial Park is not too far from this park, they have about 100 sites. We drove there twice and ended up walking on the Marsh Trail which was about 0.5 km along a boardwalk. It goes through a marsh at the east end of Silver Lake. This lake is about 9 km long and is the only lake in the park.
Small little Park!
Information Board
Clint pausing for a photo!
This was a short but really pretty boardwalk trail
We also took a drive to Hungry Lake Conservation Area, we went down a dirt road to the end where we ran into private property and had to turn around. We stopped at Big Pond and saw a bunch of Cormorants, I love Cormies. We also saw a “herd” of grouse.
Big PondI love Cormorants, they are just chilling in the pond
Then on to Palmerston-Canonto Conservation Area, kind of a weird place. All kinds of trails through the woods yet no details or signage. So you had no way of knowing the route, mileage or anything else.
We like to just drive down whatever roads we come across and so we ended up on a bridge near Myers Cave and there was Georgia Lake on one side and Marble Lake on the other. Really cute spot and we did take some photos of a small cascades on the Marble Lake side.
Marble Lake
At Kashwakamak Lake we spotted two tiny islands and someone had built tiny little houses and a tiny lighthouse on it. Super cute. We drove through some other little towns like Ompah on our way back to the park.
Cute little miniatures
We were pretty close to Perth so we drove in to purchase some beer to take back to our trailer. We stopped at Weatherhead Brewery which was situated in an old Wampole Factory (pharmaceuticals), really unique spot and they had some beautiful decor on their walls and some lovely paintings. You weren’t allowed to stay, just purchase beer and leave so that’s just what we did.
Weatherhead Brewery
Inside
They had beautiful decorations here, it would have been nice to stay but you could only buy and go
We also stopped at Perth Brewery and bought a few cans, same scenario as Weatherhead, you purchased and left.
Cute place, we just purchased some to go
This was a cute little place too but no one was allowed to stay
So there is lots to in the area but I wasn’t too keen on the campground and I likely won’t stay there again.
I really enjoyed this park, we were here once years ago but I definitely will come back. I have a friend, Erin, who reads my blog and I’m not sure if she has been to this park but if not, her boys would enjoy it. Murphy’s Point is a smallish park but with a lot to offer. It is located on Big Rideau Lake which is part of the historic Rideau Waterway.
Great Park !
Park Office
Interesting history
Beach !
Haha Trum is making sure you read the sign
The park has 2 campgrounds, 3 Group campgrounds and interior camping as well. We had a great site located by Loon Lake. They do have pull through sites, not very level and some of them are two tiered. Our trailer was in the driveway part and we had to walk down a slope to the area where our firepit was.
The Silver Queen Mine was located here and you can still tour where the mine was and see some old buildings. This mine was an early 1900’s mica mine. I had no idea what mica was until I read about it on the Park information boards. Mica are silicate minerals used in a variety of items; drywalls, paints, auto parts, roofing, electronics. Quite interesting to read about it.
They have 5 trails, we did the Silver Queen Mine Trail which intersects with the Beaver Pond Trail, I think about 3.5-4 kms total. On the Silver Queen Trail you can view a restored early 1900s open pit mica mine, all fenced in and some old buildings. You park and start these two trails across the road from the Lally Homestead. I have to say the Beaver Pond Trail was not well maintained; weeds were growing over parts of the trail and due to the Tick issue you would have thought they would keep the trails clear.
Silver Queen Mica MinePart of the trail to the old mine areathey had different displays along the trail
You can walk up into the forest and see the old mines, all fenced in now for safety
One of the entrances, barred off from the Public
Just a cute little random shack!
Spooky! Can you imagine crawling into here?
View of some old buildings
I do love old buildings
Can you spot the chipmunk?
Part of the Beaver Pond Trail
We like to canoe so one day we did the Canoe Loop. We put our canoe in on the main beach on Hogg Bay which goes into Big Rideau Lake. We paddled about 2 hours on Big Rideau Lake, hugging the shoreline to look for things to photograph. We did spot a heron and some ducks. This is a very big lake and lots of motorboats but we started early in the morning so it wasn’t very busy.
Paddling Big Rideau Lake
Once we arrived at the portage, which was not long, Clint portaged the canoe and I portaged the rest and off we went into Loon Lake. We spent quite a while in this lake paddling the entire perimeter. It is not a big lake but we really enjoyed it. (No motorboats are allowed on Loon Lake)
We spotted a mom loon and a young one. She was still feeding the young one which we thought was odd as it is late in the year.
Mom Loon and Young One
Mom feeding her little one
Lunch Time !
I did this Loon photo in B&W
This guy was on the shoreline of Big Rideau Lake
He saw us and fled !
I forget what lake we spotted this guy but he was super cute
Taking a break
Well that’s not nice !
so cute
So we puttered around this lake and then headed to the portage to go back into Hogg Bay which we also paddled the perimeter. We had a great time doing this and spent most of the morning, because we are slow! We like to look at things and investigate the shoreline. We spotted lots of turtles and deer walking through the forest and even a snake! There are many other places to canoe if you wish to do more paddling.
I also love turtles, pretty much any type of wildlife I love !
The Lally Homestead trail is super easy, about 800 m and you can see the buildings and farm fields as you walk the trail. It is right across from the Silver Queen Mica Mine Trail.
We also walked the MacPharlan Trail which is about 6 kms and you can hike or bike on it. We chose to walk and it’s a very nice trail, wide and with moderate hills. You cross a little bridge to the old buildings which are kind of cool. This takes you past Loon Lake also. The trail ends at the buildings but we continued past the buildings and the trail turns into the Rideau Trail which is a 300 km hiking trail from Kingston to Ottawa. We only went about another km or so and headed back the way we came. Only about 6 km goes through this park.
This is a really nice trail
Nice walk, , it’s about 6 kilometers
Part of the trail goes by a lake and you have nice views
Some of the old buildings still left here
A barn maybe?
Great weather and nice trail, which you can also bike
I think that’s all the trails we did but we also went biking through some of the closed campgrounds and came across deer frolicking around! Two moms and they each had a fawn and then there was third adult just lounging around. We spent an inordinate amount of time photographing and watching them. However, they were deep in the dark bush, mostly behind trees.
One of the does with her fawn
The two fawns were so cute, chasing each other around
This doe just laid down in a small sunny spot and stayed there, having a rest
One day we drove into Westport, a cute little touristy town by the water. We bought some beer at Westport Brewery and we didn’t mind their Red Ale but my favourite beer is IPA and their IPA was honestly the worse I ever had so that was disappointing.
Notice the old style Provincial Park sign? That’s what they used when I was a kid
On our way to Westport
Westport Brewing Company
All in all I really enjoyed Murphys Point Provincial park and would definitely head there again!
The weather was crazy nice last week so Tuesday, 10 November, we decided to pack our lunch and our photographic equipment and head up north. Normally when we hit Maynooth, we turn left to go to Algonquin Park but we decided to keep on goin’ and head north instead.
Further down the road we passed the small village of Maple Leaf (how Canadian is that?) and stopped at Neuman Falls. This is a favourite spot of ours but we haven’t been here for quite a while. But now, sadly, there are no “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs ALL over the place so I took a couple of snaps from the bridge and we moved on.
This is one side of the road.
The other side of the road is below, not a great photo and does NOT show the beauty of the area. But it was the best I could do as we were not allowed to go down there anymore, which is really unfortunate. It was a lovely spot.
Then on to High Falls, we think that’s what it’s called. It’s hard to find, it’s literally a hole in a rock wall. And it’s not the easiest trail. It’s very steep and you have to be super careful climbing down to the falls. But, it’s a lovely spot.
It’s also not a spot with signage, you have to know where you are going. This is the spot and we parked on the side of the road.
Secret Passage !
Below is the first part of the trail when you leave the highway, not too bad.
But after that, it is an extremely steep trail to get down to the water. Someone tied a rope to some trees to help you get down and back up. The pine needles made it kinda slippery and I was able to get about 3/4’s of the way down and then said forget it! Clint went all the way to the bottom but he said it wasn’t easy. Too bad the access wasn’t easier.
So this is the photo I got ! Not very good as I was not at the bottom. One day I’ll get there ! Last time we where here it was early spring and there was still ice and snow on the trail, so I didn’t get to the bottom that time either.
We left there and just past High Falls, we turned onto Boulter Road and it was a scenic route to Rivers Run…………..apparently. Not so scenic for us, we turned around and headed back and on to Papineau Lake. This lake had a beautiful sandy beach. Really nice spot.
Papineau Lake
Off to White Duck Lake ! Not that we knew about White Duck Lake but we like to explore, this was a really cute lake.
White Duck Lake
One day we may take our canoe and go for a paddle as there is a boat launch, sort of…………..
This story actually made it into Ripley’s Believe It or Not. “Dead Man saves three”! It was the worst maritime inland tragedy in Canada occurring on November 12, 1912. Nine people died, but three people survived by hanging onto a coffin and floating to an island!
Information Board !
Below is the view from the top and way out in the distance, you can barely see 2 small islands and the one on the right is the one where the survivors ended up.
Overview of Kamaniskeg Lake
After that we headed to Crooked Slide Park. What a cute spot! I really liked it. The story is that there used to be an log chute on Byers Creek used in 1900’s to float logs down to the Madawaska River. This is a reconstruction but so cool. You can follow a few different, short trails along the river and see the cascades.
Entrane to the park, actually there are two entrances
There is more parking at the second entrance, well 1st entrance if you drive from the other way lol. No picnic tables or washrooms though and that would have been nice. We spent quite a while here and ended up sitting in our truck to eat the lunch we brought with us.
You can walk up past the slide to a bridge and along the river.
We will definitely come back some day. View from the bridge in below photo. the other side of the bridge is more cascades, lots of rocks and moving water.
We then drove a Forest Access Road,(Mayo Lake Road) over to the highway, to make our way home. That was an interesting drive. My small car would not have made it!
So another day trip down and gone…………waiting for the next adventure !
I can’t get over the weather! It was 8 November (Saturday) and we were outside in tee-shirts! ………. and pants – we were also wearing pants ! lol
Some people were wearing shorts, it was that warm.
We had to do some stuff around our property and then we decided to head to Belleville’s Waterfront for a walk. They have beautiful trails on the Bay of Quinte and as I have said before, we are so lucky to have these spots to head to for some exercise and fresh air.
It was a beautiful day on the bay, we saw lots of ducks, seagulls, and Canada Geese. Enjoy my photos.
Hard to get a photo of these guys, they are so fast !
Milk Pods
Bay Bridge – one view
I know they are just seagulls, but I get a kick out of them
One more seagull photo !
Okay, maybe one more, he was fighting to keep this fish
This guy was chillaxin’ and making such cute sounds
View from the trail
View of the bridge from the other side, in B&W
Another view
City of Belleville, one view
So that was our walk, we walk here quite often, it’s a really nice trail. You can walk, skate, bike and there are lots of great views.
Well as I mentioned in my last Blog the last few days were so warm, almost as though winter is not coming, although it is, sadly.
So this past Saturday we decided to head to Brighton to take a walk at Proctor Park. We haven’t been here for a while for a hike. At the entrance is the Brighton Barn Theatre which we have been to for concerts and plays. Of course, it has not been open this year which is sad.
I love walking through forests, this one is quite open. At one time, we had to step to the side as a family was coming towards us. Three little kids were walking towards us and the one little girl said “everyone off the trail, there’s old people coming!” Oh my God we all laughed so hard but yeah thanks little girl, not that old yet lol
The road to the park and to the left you can see the Brighton Barn Theatre
Me ! on the Trail
This part of the forest looked spooky to me !
We left there and headed to Presquile Provincial Park for a drive. It was such a beautiful day and Lake Ontario is very photogenic!
We are really fortunate to live in our area, there is so much to see and do and most of it within a good distance, anywhere from a couple of kilometres to maybe an hour drive. So let’s see what we’ll do tomorrow !
Wow our weather lately has been amazing ! It has been unseasonably warm, 15-20 Celsius and it is supposed to continue for a few days. So this past Friday, we decided to drive to Prince Edward County, this is one of my favourite areas and I have blogged about it before. Depending on where we are going it takes us from 30-50 minutes to get there. PEC (Prince Edward County) has lots of little villages and towns, the three primary ones being Picton, Wellington and Bloomfield. If you like touristy areas, this is the place for you to go.
We quite often stop at Campbells Orchards on the way for a fresh scone and to buy some applies and vegetables. This is a great place for fresh produce and fresh pastries but we did not stop here today, we had come here a few days ago to purchase apples. We like to make a bunch of apple crisp and freeze them.
But I digress………on to the County….first stop Wellington Bakery. This is without question our favourite bakery in North America. And trust me, we have been to a LOT of bakeries. My husband LOVES pastries and baked goods, I cannot stress this enough, if he sees a bakery sign, we’re going. One time we were in a city in Northern Ontario, in a sketchy neighbourhood I might add, but he had spotted a bakery sign and there was no stopping him. Unfortunately it was located right next door to a Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang Headquarters, we DID NOT LINGER. lol
But I digressed yet again, so back to the county. Joe and Lorie are wonderful people who run Wellington Bakery. I love their chelsea buns while Clint goes for their cinnamon buns and cookies. They also have terrific breads, buns, croissants and more. The ham and cheese croissants fresh out of the oven are so delicious.
On to Wellington Bay; there are usually lots of ducks and swans there but none today so we will continue on………
So weird seeing a cow pulling a sled on top of this roof
We ended up at the Sandbanks Provincial Park and parked and walked around the shoreline of Lake Ontario. We took a trail through the forest while we were there.
Then we headed to Point Petrie. We stopped here and there. One of the dirt roads we took, (sometimes we take roads maybe we shouldn’t) but this one was okay. We do have an off road truck so we can do a lot of traveling that most vehicles can’t do. I like this look below, I tried it in B&W and left it in colour. What do you think?
B&W
Colour Version
We always find strange things when we are off on dirt roads. One time this year as we were off roading, we found a pink bra hanging from a tree; today we found keys hanging in a tree and then someone’s undergarments!
There are keys hanging in this bush !
Hmm wonder what was going on here?
Most of the roads we did today were okay, lots of water puddles though which is odd because it hasn’t rained for quite a while.
We found the cutest spot on the beach and someone had spray painted writing and pictures on these huge rocks.
Me on the rocks !
Beautiful views of Lake Ontario
I love the big white barn and house with the blue roofs, certainly gets noticed !
We headed to Prince Edward Point National Wildlife area and drove some dirt roads off the main road. We drove out to Little Bluffs Conservation Area but it has been closed off so we couldn’t walk the bluffs.
We pulled off here to walk around and see the views
An island off the shore
Well we left about 830 this morning and now it’s after lunch so time to check out a couple of craft breweries that have opened in the past year before we head home. We haven’t had a chance to check them out so here we go!
First off, Slake Brewing Company located in Picton. I could not believe the road to get to it! It’s 0.7 kilometres from the road to the parking lot and a very winding road ! All we could think was, who is plowing this in the winter ? lol We didn’t stay, but we did buy some beer to take home and we haven’t had it yet but it’s a very interesting spot, we’ll eventually make it back there. They are open Friday to Sunday 11-6 pm and Wednesday and Thursday 12- 6 pm. Not sure if they change to winter hours or not.
After you park, it is about another 150 metre walk to the building
Clint buying our beer to go inside Slake Brewery
The outside deck on the building, the parking lot is on the other side
Then we went to Prince Eddy’s Brewery in Picton, we have been here many times. I particularly like their Cream Ale and So Many Friends NEIPA. We bought a few new ones there to take home. They also have an on site food truck serving Caribean Fusion food. We didn’t stay so I am not sure if they still use them, but years ago when we went there for the first time, we got a taster tray, or sampler tray. They served the beer in small taster glasses and then put them on a skateboard. With the WHEELS LEFT ON! ………..well this was a disaster waiting to happen! It kept trying to roll off the table. Too funny.
Next stop is Matron Fine Beer located in Bloomfield. The road getting to the brewery was, well interesting to say the least, but they did warn us with a sign. This is a cute place and they are still working on it, at least I hope they are! They are building a second outdoor patio at the back of the building. The inside is really cute and they have lots of room. We purchased some beer to take home, including IPAs and ales. They make lower alcohol beers, all under 6.5% and they are in small cans, 355 ml. They have a large outdoor patio at the front of the building. The brewery is open Thursday 12-5 pm; Friday and Saturday 12- 7 pm and Sunday 12-5 pm.
This sign cracked me up but they weren’t kidding
bumpy road but nothing our truck can’t handle !
Front of the building, I think they need a sign
You can see me taking the photo and Clint is off to the side !
Outdoor area they are working on
Last stop was Gillingham Brewery, I think one of my new favourites. This was a cute spot and they have a terrific outdoor space, particularly in this pandemic. They have 4 separate walled areas with picnic tables for seating with heaters; two tables in the centre with gas fireplace tables and then of course they have a big campfire with Adirondack chairs all around. We were able to get a warm spot at one of the picnic tables. We shared a taster tray (maybe two) as well as purchasing some for home. I love IPA’s and they had a terrific IPA called Down Yonder. And they had a Porter for Clint as that is what he likes. Open Thursdays 12-5 pm; Friday and Saturdays 1130-6 pm and Sundays 1130-5 pm. I really like this place and I wanna go back………soon.
Such a cute spot with lots of ambience
So that was our day, great day, long day but I would do it again tomorrow!
Charleston Lake Provincial Park is a Park set on Charleston Lake, which has 75 km of shoreline. I am not fond of canoeing on big lakes, I prefer smaller lakes, marshes, rivers where I have a better chance of seeing wildlife. However, if you are adventurous, give it a go and they have two other lakes you can portage to: Killenbeck Lake and Redhorse Lake. We only stayed 4 nights here but that was enough for me.
They have 1/2 dozen trails and we walked a couple of trails which were interesting, especially the Sandstone Trail. The Sandstone trail is only 2.6 km but it is a nice walk. The highlight is a rock shelter that was used over 1,000 years ago by Aboriginal peoples.
Rock Shelter
You had to pay attention on the trails, lots of ups and downs and rocks and roots
View from the trail
We also did the Shoreline Trail, 2 km loop which followed the shoreline, hence the name lol.
The Hemlock Ridge Trail, 1.7 km loop was also pretty good, it followed the water for a while and we had to clamber over some big rocks. There are four other trails ranging in length from 2 km to 10 kms long. It rained a lot while we were there and also I had a knee issue, so I was not able to do quite as much as I normally would have done.
Hemlock Trail
This was not part of the trail but I thought it was pretty interesting
They have a cute dog beach and picnic area, we always go and check out the dog beaches! I love to watch their happy faces as they romp in the water lol I can’t find any photos so I guess I didn’t take any which is too bad.
They have three campgrounds, a Group campground and a handful of back country sites. I don’t know why but I probably won’t be back to this park, although I never say never……….My husband enjoyed it.
Our campsite
One of the Group Campsites, they were really nice but none were by water
While we were in the town, we parked and walked down to their waterfront. They have a river with a small waterfall at one end and luckily for us, we saw a heron standing in the waterfall. As I have mentioned before, we take our cameras everywhere so we were able to get some shots.
Heron blending in with the scenery
Another day we drove to Dunder Rock Conservation Area which is a 230 acre wilderness area. There are three trails and we did a shorter one, I was having a really bad knee day. The trail we did went through woods and down to water at different spots. I believe we had to pay $10 to get in and park in order to do the trails. Where we live, we purchased an annual pass to do the Conservation areas, the passes and payments are worth it. We enjoy going to different Conservation areas and hiking.
We also stopped at Jones Falls and walked around that area. This is part of the Rideau Canal National Historic Site. Lots of history here and we really enjoyed it. It was raining so one day I would like to go back and explore this area further.
So that’s Charleston Lake, off to Murphy’s Point Provincial Park tomorrow !