Before some friends and I took a road trip to Utah a couple of years ago, I felt it was important for them to do a bit of a practice hike (as we were going to be doing a lot of hiking in Utah). In one case it was to make sure one of my friends broke in his first pair of hiking boots. So we hopped in the car, drove up to Algonquin Park, and settled on hiking the Booth’s Rock trail. I actually had the opportunity to hike this in the winter quite a few years ago but attempting this in the Spring just when the mosquito season begins is probably daring on our part.
The trail is a bit trickier to get to as the trailhead isn’t accessible right off Highway 60 but it just requires one to pay attention to the signage to know when to turn off on to the somewhat unpaved gravel road that leads to the trailhead.
Booth’s Rock is considered a moderate hike. The Park suggests approximately 2 hours but I’d say lean towards 3 hours depending on the pace of you and your fellow hikers. Especially if there are shutterbugs in the party.
As with most moderate trails I’ve encountered, the trail isn’t necessarily difficult but it requires people to pay attention to where they are stepping to avoid tripping over tree roots or rocks — as well as some uphill walking. A fairly large chunk of the trail resembled above.
One of my favourite parts of this trail was what my friends referred to as the mosquito farm. This huge body of still water was perfect for mosquito larvae. I simply enjoyed the green and reflection that was provided. That said, this was the beginning of lots of pesky mosquitoes following us around. Consider that a heads up if you do make a visit (pending weather and temperature of course).
Once you get through the wet part of the wooded area, you finally make it to an awesome lookout point. You can see it is Spring here as many trees are still bare. This was a great place to sit down and enjoy lunch. I’ve done this in the winter too although in the Spring, the mosquitoes were a bit of a nuisance — especially for a friend who couldn’t stand flying insects.
As you move along the lookout area you’ll come across Booth’s Rock. Don’t be fooled by this photograph, it’s pretty huge.
Here’s a photograph of the lake while I’m sitting on a part of Booth’s Rock.
As we descended the trail, we came across this brilliant muddy obstacle. This was the trail back. This was a good opportunity for everyone to test drive their waterproof hiking boots.
Of course, the trail is made a little easier for most folks by this giant staircase.
Along the way back to the trailhead, the route pretty much sticks to the lake which makes for an excellent and peaceful view.
Even came across a beaver dam.
This is one of my favourite hikes to do in the autumn. I love to just hike up to the lookout point, sit on Booth’s Rock and enjoy the view with some lunch. These are just some highlights but you can check out the whole trek and a bit more in my photo album.