General information about Algonquin Provincial Park
Ontario's oldest nature park covers an area of 7,725 km² and protects vast deciduous and coniferous forests, swamps, and over 2,400 lakes. The provincial park is part of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve. Algonquin is incredibly rich in species and is home to over three thousand moose, around two thousand black bears, wolves, and over 30,000 beavers, among others.
Number of visitors
Best time to visit: The park can be visited all year round. Since a large part of the park consists of forest, we would definitely recommend visiting in the fall. However, the summer months are also a paradise, especially for campers and canoeists.
Our visits:
So far 2 visits: September 2021 and October 2025
Entrance fees and opening hours
- 21CAD/car/day - additional permit required
- Covered by the Provincial Park Day-Use Vehicle Pass*
- Open year-round
*The Day-Use Vehicle Pass is a “flat-rate” pass for all provincial parks in Ontario. You can choose from an Annual Pass (full calendar year – CAD 99), a Summer Pass (April 1 to November 30 – CAD 75), and a Winter Pass (December 1 to March 31 – CAD 60).
Highway 60
Description: Most visitors to the park stay along Highway 60. This leads for about 60km through the southern park and offers plenty of opportunities for recreation. Who wants to use the facilities of the park needs a permit. This can be reserved online via the link above, up to 5 days in advance. If you cross the park on the highway without parking, no permit is necessary. The permits can also be purchased on site, but especially in the fall, it can happen that they are sold out.
Our rating: When researching the Fall Foliage in Eastern Canada, this park always showed up on the lists of the top 10 places. Therefore, we had to visit the Algonquin Provincial Park of course. We really liked the park very much. Although the weather was not always perfect, the leaf coloring was just great and impressive. Since the park consists practically only of forest, swamps and lakes the park is basically only an autumn park in our opinion. Without the leaf coloring, it wouldn't be even half as interesting for us.
Fork Lake
Description: The Fork Lake Trail is the newest option for hiking in Algonquin Provincial Park. The trail starts right at the Visitor Center and leads up a hill over gravel, boardwalks, and forest paths. Here you can enjoy beautiful views of lakes and forests.
Trail length: 3.6km roundtrip
Altitude difference: 188m
Time needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty level: moderate
Our rating: The trail is beautifully laid out and is basically not difficult to walk. Since it is almost constantly uphill, sometimes a little steeper, it can be strenuous at times. The view is beautiful, but we think there are better trails in the park, especially if you don't have much time and have to choose between one or two hikes. However, the advantage here is that there is a large parking lot and you don't need a permit to park, unlike at Booth Rock, for example.
Peck Lake
Description: The Peck Lake Trail leads you around the small lake with the same name. The trail is relatively flat and basically easy to walk. Sometimes it leads over roots and stones and then again over a short staircase.
Trail length: 1.9km round trip
Altitude difference: 50m
Time needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty level: easy
Our rating: We enjoyed the short trail. The foliage color was great but unfortunately the weather let us down a bit during our hike. With a little sun, the colors would have certainly shone more beautiful.
Booth Rock
Description:At the beginning the trail is flat and easy to walk. After a while, the climb to the viewpoints begins. Again, the trail is not difficult, it is just a little more strenuous because of the steep uphill. The descent then leads over numerous stairs, also steep in parts. The last third of the trail then leads level along a lake back to the parking lot.
Current: If you want to hike this trail in autumn, you will need an additional permit to park in the very small parking lot. These permits can be obtained together with the permits for the park via the official website.
Trail length: 5.1km round trip
Altitude difference: 250m
Time needed: 3-4 hours
Difficulty level: moderate
Our rating: It may have been the great weather, but this trail was by far our favorite of our hikes in Algonquin Provincial Park. Even though it was a bit strenuous at the beginning, the view compensated for every drop of sweat. The trail definitely has our recommendation.
Lookout Trail
Description:Actually, the trail is easy to walk because it is very well developed. It leads, sometimes steeply, up to a rock from which you have a great view of the surrounding forests. Especially in autumn this is really spectacular.
Trail length: 1.9km round trip
Altitude difference: 116m
Time needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty level: easy
Our rating: We also liked the Lookout Trail. Since it is relatively short, it is one of the most crowded trails in the park. The many people and the not so great weather have clouded the mood during our hike a bit. But the trail is definitely worth a look.
Whiskey Rapids
Description: The short trail is easy to walk and well maintained. It leads down to the river and rapids and then back up to the parking lot.
Trail length: 1.9km round trip
Altitude difference: 38m
Time needed: 1-2 hours
Difficulty level: easy
Our rating: The rapids weren't particularly spectacular, but the trail was still quite nice. Nice to stretch your legs for a bit.
