Parks Blog

Category: Backcountry

  • What it's like to fly in and paddle out of Wabakimi

    In today’s post, influencer Ken Jones recounts his backcountry trip to Wabakimi. This past year was interesting to say the least. The global pandemic has changed a lot about how we travel. After having to cancel a trip to Alaska in September, my wife and I wanted to explore somewhere in Ontario where we’d not…

  • Backcountry basics: storing and disposing of food

    We don’t know about you, but when we pack food for our backcountry trip, we plan on eating it. That plan can go downhill quickly when raccoons, squirrels, and bears dip into your trail mix, or rain soaks through your pack, ruining your soft sausage buns. You want to see a grumpy bear? A weekend…

  • Backcountry basics: drinking water

    Whitney Arnott is a hiking and canoeing enthusiast that likes to spend days at a time in the backcountry when she’s not working at Ontario Parks branch office. Here are her tips for safe drinking water when you’re in the wilderness. When it comes to drinking water in the backcountry, you may think it will…

  • Planning a “bucket-list” trip to Quetico Provincial Park

    Today’s post comes from paddling enthusiast Dave Caughey who, along with his wife, recently made the trek to Quetico Provincial Park. For years, my wife and I longed to visit Quetico Provincial Park. We had heard the canoeing there was awesome, through a terrain peppered with countless lakes, and routes that could involve days between…

  • The measure of a canoe trip

    Today’s post is a polite rant from Quetico Provincial Park’s Librarian Jill Sorensen. We seem to constantly hear about expedition-style trips. Grunt narratives where people have broken speed records, paddled the longest distances, or have been “the first” to complete a route. The blisters. The sleep deprivation. The endurance. And that is fine. I have…

  • An Ontario Parks glossary

    Are you new to parks, or maybe a park veteran looking to brush up on your knowledge? We’ve assembled a handy guide to all the terms you’ll need to know and understand before you visit the park…

  • A canoe journey to each point of the compass

    In today’s post, Conor Mihell captures the timelessness of Wabakimi Provincial Park. The rumble of car tires on gravel slowly fading into the distance is the glorious sound of freedom after many long hours on the road. Silence descends, and suddenly my wife Kim and I are alone and faced with the task of loading…

  • Planes, paddles and portages: a journey of garbage

    This is a story about garbage. It wasn’t a quick journey. It took a plane ride, some paddling in a canoe, portaging, more paddling, another plane ride, and a drive on the highway. This garbage was left in Algonquin Provincial Park’s remote backcountry, something that, unfortunately, happens far too often.

  • Woodland Caribou trip-planner

    Woodland Caribou Provincial Park is arguably one of Ontario Parks’ best destinations for backcountry wilderness camping and canoeing. This vast park (544,160 hectares) features a Boreal ecosystem influenced by a prairie climate and displays a diverse community of flora and fauna, including being a home to threatened Woodland Caribou.

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