Story
Located just down the highway from the Canoe Lake access point and heading into the bush in the general direction of the Arrowhon Pines Resort, the Mizzy Lake trail isn’t in the most remote part of Algonquin Park. On the other hand, at twelve kilometres in length it’s one of the longer trails accessible from the highway 60 corridor, and the theme of the interpretative guide is wildlife viewing so it makes a good day hike destination.
The trail typically takes four to five hours to complete, so we left Stouffville at six AM. The weather forecast was calling for clear blue skies, but the sudden change in the temperature had blocked the sky as the snow sublimated to fog. The fog hung in for most of the two and half hour drive before it burned off quite suddenly just as we entered the park. We were greeted to some spectacular views of the last tendrils of mist clinging to the hills around the lakes.
There were some delays stopping at Algonquin Outfitters to get some snowshoes and picking up our permit at the park gate, and then we had a warm up hike on the short but scenic lookout trail, so we didn’t get onto the Mizzy Lake Trail until a little after one.
Mizzy Lake Section
The first section of trail is in moderately easy terrain but rugged. The rolling hills of Algonquin provide a nice backdrop to the many small lakes, ponds and marshes that the trail cuts through. There are boardwalks and bridges wherever the trail crosses the water, and these are more than adequate for keeping feet dry in the winter, but I’ve heard that some sections can be muddy in the spring and summer. The trail had seen enough recent traffic that the snow was well packed down. Snowshoes weren’t mandatory but they did help with traction in several places.
I had been wondering if the ‘wilderness’ aspect of the trail was just a theme for the trail guide, or if we’d actually get a chance to encounter some wildlife. After all we were bounded by the highway to the south, Arrowhon road to the west, the rail trail to the east and Arrowhon Pines itself was to the north.
We didn’t encounter any large animals, but not long after we passed Mizzy Lake we did make an interesting discovery. I was looking at the ground in front of me when I realized that some of the tracks weren’t human. Deer tracks are quite common near trails, but a brief inspection revealed that these belonged to a moose that had followed the trail quite recently. We had missed where the moose got onto the trail, but after following the tracks for a few hundred meters we saw where it left. This was the first of several sets of moose tracks we encountered and at once point we saw some coarse black hair that had been shed.
Rail Trail Section
Not long after Mizzy Lake the trail merges with the bed of an old rail line. Rail trails can be notoriously dull, but this one is fairly nice even if the terrain isn’t particularly rugged. The rail line cuts right across several small ponds on earthen dikes. While the intrusion of the trail on the ponds is a bit unsightly it did give us some great opportunities to see animal tracks on the ice. There were a surprising number of tracks considering how close we were to such a heavily trafficked trail, and we spent some time discussing the various creatures that must have made them.
It was on the rail trail section that we had our most interesting encounter. A pair of very bold and plump grey jays landed in a tree nearby and started chattering at us. We were quite surprised by how close they approached, and while snapping some photos Mike noticed that they had both been tagged with several rings around their ankles. I didn’t realize that grey jays had such a reputation for boldness and figured that the birds were used to human contact because of the tagging.
We left the birds behind, but they caught up to us again on Wolf Howl Pond while we were having a snack. The birds were nattering at me so I held out a handful of trail mix and was quite surprised when one of the jays flew over and landed on my fingers to sample my GORP. Far from being ‘wild’ the birds were quite tame! If only the moose had been so forthcoming.
We took several pictures of the birds landing on our hands before we pressed on, and they followed us to the next section of trail before they realized we weren’t giving out any more handouts.
Bear Nests
There’s a side trail that heads into a beech tree grove where bears frequently climb the trees to get at the beech nuts. As the bears climb they break small branches causing them to be packed together and form ‘nests’. Unfortunately when we got to the side trail there was a note posted by park staff explaining that there were currently no bear nests so we decided to forego the side excursion and keep to the main trail.
Return Section
After Wolf Howl Pond the trail leaves the rail bed and returns to the bush. This section of trail is much more close and interesting and slightly more challenging than the Mizzy Lake section. The scenery is classic Canadian Shield, lots of rocks and trees interspersed by small ponds and lakes. This is the longest section of trail, and the most interesting and scenic, but there’s not much to say about our return hike through this pleasant area.
The sun was starting to set by the time we got to Dizzy Lake, and we had just enough light to make it back to the parking lot before dusk.
Tips
- You’ll need to obtain a permit at the park gate in order to park at the trailhead.
- Snowshoes can be rented from Algonquin Outfitters on Oxtongue Lake.
- The trail is long enough that you have to ensure you have time to complete it before the end of the day.
- The trail is fairly busy. We met three other hikers on our walk. In the winter this increases the chances that the snow is packed down, but it probably also reduces the chances of seeing wildlife.
- Some sections of the trail are reportedly muddy in the warmer seasons.