Tag: Hiking

This is your brain on nature!

Nature? We’re here for it and so are our friends at Coleman Canada. Read on to find out how they’re helping us encourage Ontarians to spend more time outside!

It’s easy to feel a bit low at this time of year. It seems to get dark outside immediately after lunch, the sun is elusive, and our bodies are still adapting to cooler temperatures.

There’s a part of our brain that really wants to hibernate.

But we’re going to fight that urge, and you should too! Here’s why: our brains need nature! Continue reading This is your brain on nature!

Keeping dogs on-leash protects our parks’ ecological integrity

Today’s blog comes from Emma Dennis, an assistant Discovery Program leader at Killarney Provincial Park.

I am a lover of the outdoors and an avid hiker, so it’s only natural that I own two dogs that share that same passions. As Killarney residents, we are lucky enough to have Killarney Provincial Park as our backyard.

Whether we are hitting the Granite Ridge Trail on a Sunday morning for a quick hike to start our day, or spending the afternoon adventuring to the top of “The Crack,” we live our best lives when we are hiking the trails.

Continue reading Keeping dogs on-leash protects our parks’ ecological integrity

The great OP retirement tour: Charleston Lake

Buckle up for the ride of a lifetime! Interpreter, David Bree, is about to take us on a journey down memory lane.

After 32 years, the end is near.

Hi, my name is David Bree and I have worked at Ontario Parks as an interpreter (also known as a park naturalist) for over half my life.

As I go through my final year as an Ontario Parks employee, I have embarked on a retirement nostalgia tour of the parks I worked at.

Continue reading The great OP retirement tour: Charleston Lake

Discovery and trails go together like peanut butter and jelly

In our “Behind the Scenes” series, Discovery Program staff across the province share a “backstage” glimpse of their favourite programs and projects. Today’s post comes from David Bree, Discovery Program Lead at Presqu’ile Provincial Park.

Trails and parks go together like (fill in your favourite pairing here: “like peas and carrots,” as Forrest Gump would say). Trails are arguably the most used recreational facility in our park system.

But trails don’t just happen; first a concept must be born.

Continue reading Discovery and trails go together like peanut butter and jelly

Backcountry camping and paddling at Bon Echo

Today’s blog comes from Danny and Tiffany of Venturing Two.

Last weekend, we headed north to Bon Echo Provincial Park to document our first backcountry experience.

The park was buzzing with activity! There were BBQs at family and pet friendly beaches, people fishing, kids canoeing and kayaking, friends hiking to scenic lookout points, families observing pictographs, and fellow campers unwinding at lakeside campsites.

Continue reading Backcountry camping and paddling at Bon Echo

Mississagi: a hiker’s paradise

If you have been to Mississagi Provincial Park, you’ll know that it’s one of Ontario’s best-kept secrets. The scenery is spectacular, thanks to the geology of the area, which forms a series of hills, ridges and cliffs, and valleys with sparkling blue lakes.

Covering the hills and surrounding the lakes are the forests of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region. Sugar maples, red maples and yellow birch make up most of the trees in the forest, but white pine and black spruce find places along the rocky ridges and lake shores. These forests light up in the fall with red, yellow, gold and orange.

Continue reading Mississagi: a hiker’s paradise