This will be my first visit to the national park. I was wondering if there were any good places to start with. I plan to stay 2 nights over the long weekend. Should be about 3-5 people in the group. Camping spots? Hiking Trails? Scenic trails? Don't plan to do any fishing or anything. Just enjoy the view.
The triplogs are a great start typically, accessible from the main page. If I'm looking for a new area to check out I'll peruse through there and look at the timelines people had -- 2 days, 5 days, overnight, etc. Filter for your timelines, check out the pictures and descriptions and you'll have a good start on whether or not you think you'd like to go there.
A good place to start, is to book your reservation NOW, if you plan on staying on any of the interior lakes along the highway 60 corridor on the long weekend. That area of The Park is insanely busy on long weekends. If you cannot get a spot, other access points might be accessible. I remember way back in 1993, we showed up at the west gate(on a long weekend) without any reservations, we couldn't get anything...all lakes were booked. So we drove all the way up to Kiosk access, it was empty up there and despite the weather had a good time.
So first things first...make sure our destination is made in advance...showing up on a long weekend without a prior reservation just isn't doable along highway 60.
Much depends on the type of experience you are looking for. If you are camping along the Hwy. 60 corridor you'll find a standard 'car camping' environment in any of the camp sites. Lake of 2 Rivers has a store handy but the one time I tented there I felt like I was in the parking lot at WalMart. There is a nice beach there for swimming though. I tented at Mew Lake once and thought that was a bit better. Hiking the Western Uplands trail, or a portion of it is always an option but any of the day trails along the Hwy are relatively easy and a nice hike. I would recommend the visitor's center and for a look at the logging history, the Logging Museum is mostly outside and a nice walk through the lumbering history of the park. Exploring the interior is the other experience and the one I choose. If you have something more specific in mind, posters here have years and years of experience and can tailor the info to your needs.
Thanks for the replies guys. Ya I do plan to book sometime this week. Just figuring out where would be a good place to stay. I think I am going to go with Mew Lake, it seems like a nice place, not too crowded.
I suspect Mew Lake was booked solid months ago. I'm not kidding. Have at least 2 alternates planned prior to phoning.
One saving grace, there are a few non-reservable, first come first sites at Mew. So if you showed up maybe on the Thursday evening before a long weekend you just might score a site..but this is unreliable way of getting a site on an otherwise booked campground.
Markus is right.. I neglected to mention booking well in advance if camping along the corridor. There are no reservable sites available at Mew Lake on the long weekend. You can check the availability of sites at www.ontarioparks.ca but long weekends usually book up in the day or 2 when reservations can be made which I believe is 4 months in advance. I believe there are less than ten sites which are available on a first come first served basis but I, personally, would not arrive expecting to get one of them. Good luck and hope you have a great time.
If you're looking for a car-camping experience, there are hundreds of options beyond Algonquin. Almost all the parks I have been to offer similar experiences, hiking, boating, interpretive programs. It's high season through to labour day, with long weekends being the heaviest time. So if you can't get into APP, there may be options with other parks in the area.
There are also lodges in the area. The Wolf's Den is popular among the people here. You could day pass into the park to do hikes and make use of the facilities and programs.
Hey Guys, I got lucky there was one site still available. Hope its not because its a terrible site! Thanks for all your info. I am really looking forward to it!
