General Info:
– 3 hours and 15 minutes from Toronto
– 4 campgrounds:
Hardwood Hills (drive-in/walk-in)
Mazinaw (drive-in/yurts)
Abes and Essens (backcountry sites)
Joe Perry and Pearson (backcountry sites/portage)
– cabins available for rent
– Indigenous pictographs
– 3 natural sandy beaches
– 5 hiking trails:
1. Cliff Top Trail (1.5 km) – only accessible by water
2. Abes and Essens (3 loops – 3.5 km, 9.6 km & 17 km)
3. High Pines (1.7 km)
4. Shield Trail (4.8 km)
5. Bon Echo Creek Trail (1 km)
– several paddling routes
– boat rentals available ($40 – bring cash)
Directions:
https://goo.gl/maps/kamiVQ4S1jhXku3z7
The Good Stuff: Rating and Review
The first of my 5 stars! I cannot WAIT to go back to this one! Aside from having half our food pilfered by a racoon and nearly being stuck in a tornado, this park really couldn’t do any wrong by me.
The bar has been set. And Bon Echo put it there.
This 66 km2 of rugged playground features some of the best opportunities for the adventure seeker as well as those looking to kick-back in their own brand of luxury. All with the backdrop of pristine lakes, expansive forests and towering Mazinaw cliffs. Whether hoping to try out backcountry camping for your first time or cozying up in a rustic cabin or pulling-in with a monster RV, this place has you covered.
We got a really good feel for this park in the 4 days spent there, (which, by the way, isn’t nearly enough time to see it all), and the feeling was clearly a positive one. Getting a first-hand look at a drive-in site, a walk-in site, AND a backcountry site helped shape my understanding of the park’s amenities. Each had its perks and quirks.
The drive-ins weren’t particularly special when held up against other parks, but they did provide slightly more privacy and varied sizes (at least in Hillside). As for the walk-in sites, I wouldn’t recommend them to everyone – least of all anyone with the intention of being reliant on your car or those adverse to peeing in the woods. Densely forested and stunning, these sites were pretty cool but you did have to walk up a hill, follow a sorta marked trail for roughly 300 meters and get comfortable with that commute if you were relying on your car for stowing away food and gear.
As for the backcountry site? It was perfect – (At least in my highly biased opinion.) I’m taking the liberty of divy-ing up the Abes and Essens backcountry sites into categories 1. 2. and 3. 1 being closet to the trial head (5 km) and 3 the farthest (17km). Since we’re new to this trekking in lifestyle, category 1 was our destination. And I don’t really feel like I got cheated out of an experience here. With just one other site on the same lake, this place provided all he privacy and beauty that being alone in the woods has to offer.
Aside from the overnighter options, Bon Echo blew me away with its beautiful lakes and towering cliffs. The park offers plenty of adventurous outlets, such as hiking, paddling, swimming and rock-climbing. The Mazinaw Rock is a 100 metre high cliff featuring over 260 Indigenous pictographs visible only by water and the trek up to the lookout at the end of the Cliff Top trail provides sweeping views of the park and its surrounding areas.
The sandy beaches were brimming with visitors and the coast lined with hopeful fishermen and sightseers. Connected to the Park Store a small cafe overlooks the lake and offers pastries, coffees and teas. Staff was friendly and informative and the roads surprisingly well paved/maintained in the main day-use/Mazinaw Campground areas.
Overall, Bon Echo has easily topped my list of Ontario Parks worth visiting and I’m excited to see more of it! I completely understand those that make several trips to it each year and might become one of those commuters myself. With so much to see and do, and in such a beautiful place, I can’t see myself getting bored of this one anytime soon.
She Collects Campsites 