Bon Echo Provincial Park is a very popular park north of Cloyne in the province of Ontario. The most popular feature of the park is the Mazinaw Rock, a cliff rising out of the Mazinaw lake which has over 260 Indigenous pictographs. The park is also popular for camping, canoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddling, hiking, rock climbing and day picnicking.
Duration: 2 nights
Getting a camping reservation at Bon Echo Provincial Park is difficult. It is an extremely popular park and when we went there we knew why. The key is to book well in advance. Ontario Parks automatically cancelled our Bon Echo booking in May since we were still under lockdown. Luckily, we were able to book again for the month of August for 2 nights.
How to get there? Bon Echo Provincial Park is about 272 kms or 3 hours from Toronto. The drive via highway 7 is quite scenic with lots of lakes along the way.
We arrived at the park, got our permits and moved towards the Fairway campground where our campsite was. After a quick lunch, we picked up our bikes to explore the park.
Camping in Bon Echo Bon Echo is a fairly large park and there are many campgrounds. The Mazinaw Lake campground where we were, is on one side of highway 41. On the other side, there are four more campgrounds, two of them are backcountry sites (one is the Abes & Essens campground and the other is the Joe Perry & Pearson campground), one is for camp cabins and one for regular tent camping called Hardwood Hills Campground. Mazinaw campground itself has many smaller campgrounds: Fairway Midway Walk-in Campsites Sawmill Bay Cabin on the hill Yurts The ones closest to the lake are Fairway, Cabin, Walk-in and Yurts. A breakdown is below according the style of camping you prefer. Backcountry camping - Joe Perry & Pearson or the Abes & Essens site. Car Camping - Mazinaw Campground and Hardwood hill. There are three camping loops at the Mazinaw campground, SawMill Bay, Midway and Fairway. The Midway and Hardwood Hill are radio free. Walk-in Camping - If you prefer some distance from other campers and your car, there are five walk-in campsites at the SawMill Bay campground which are located right next to the Mazinaw lake. Roofed Accomodations - There are 12 cabins on the campground. Rustic Cabin - Cabin on the Hill is a historic log cabin dating from the 1870s. Yurts - There are 6 Yurts on the campground.
We went towards the parking to go to the Narrows. There is a beach on the way towards the Narrows. The views from there towards Upper Mazinaw lake is splendid.
Mazinaw Rock The natural feature of the park, Mazinaw rock rising about 100 meters above the waters of Mazinaw Lake is stunning. The rock which contains over 260 Indigenous pictographs which the park is preserving is visited by numerous visitors every year. The pictographs are about 300 to 1000 years old and were painted using red ochre. The rock is also home to many ancient cedars. The only way to see the pictographs is by getting on the water on a boat and getting close to the base of the rock.
At this time, the visitor center and amphitheatre on the way to the narrows were closed. Moving further and you come to the spot where the Bon Echo Inn used to be and the memorial for the Denisons who were the original owners of the Bon Echo property. You go further and reach The Narrows.
The Narrows divides the lake into Upper Mazinaw Lake and Lower Mazinaw Lake and a point where there is a narrow passage.
We wanted to enquire about the boat rentals and we headed towards the Lagoon where you can rent canoes and kayaks at the Bon Echo Outfitters.
While on the way to the lagoon, we passed by another amphitheatre.
Bon Echo Outfitters Boat rentals at the Outfitters near the lagoon are provided on a first-come, first served basis. The rentals are given on a per day basis and are not hourly, but the prices are quite reasonable.
We were to come back the next day since the outfitters do not allow rentals to be booked in advance.
From here we rode towards the Main Beach area which is close to the lagoon. This day use area is a great spot for picnicking and the beach is also shallow here.
We rode along the road from the Main Beach parking, going along the Bon Echo creek. There is a 1km round trip trail which runs on the other side of Bon Echo Creek called the Bon Echo Creek trail. Near the Main Beach, there is a footbridge to get onto this trail.
The Main Beach does not allow pets on the water. There is a Pet Swimming Area close to the footbridge after crossing the creek and also a Pet Exercise Trail. There is also a road here which takes you to the Day Use Area near the South Beach.
From the creek, we headed to the North Beach which is between Walk-in campsites and the Cabin.
The Cabin on the hill can be booked either online or by phone.
The Greystones Gift Shop and Cafe is also close to the Cabin on the hill.
We returned to our site from here. The rest of the evening was spend generally strolling about the campground and the beach. We slept off early to get some rest to prep for the next day which was going to be a long day.
Cellular/Mobile Reception at the park By the end of the first day, we realized that the mobile network is terrible at the park. My wife's phone could not get a network for the whole three days that we were there and I had an off and on connection. Though it did not affect us that much, it was good to switch off from the outside world, but if that is important to you, it is something to be aware and keep in mind.
Woke up early the next morning, had our breakfast, packed up a lot of snacks and headed to the lagoon.
After getting ourselves a canoe and we rowed towards the narrows and into the Upper Mazinaw lake. We passed by the Old Walt carving on the rocks. The carving is a bit difficult to read now since its now about a 100 years old. If you see it at an angle, you might be able to read a bit.
Continuing on, we start to see the pictographs on the rocks. Again a lot many years have passed and it was a bit difficult to see and make out the patterns.
I guess we managed to make out only about 5-6. I guess having a guide to show all the ones that are still visible would be really helpful. Not sure if that facility is available at Bon echo.
You can also see a few people rock climbing. The climbers here are all members of the Alpine Club of Canada and are highly trained. They are also permitted to climb on designated routes. Climbers who are not members of the Alpine club are not allowed and are to check-in at the park office before climbing to get permissions and to sign waivers. No one else is allowed to climb on the Mazinaw rock at any time.
We kept going further up the Upper Mazinaw Lake enjoying the calm lake and the nice views of the landscape.
At one point we turned back towards The Narrows and stopped a while at a spot to take a break and also to cool off in the pleasant waters of the lake.
After a much needed break, we crossed The Narrows towards the Lower Mazinaw lake.
We went as far as we could passing by cottages on the Mazinaw rock almost till Snyder bay.
Turning around from here, we docked on the Mazinaw rock to do the Cliff Top Trail which is about 1.5 km roundtrip. There are lookout points at the end of this trail with stunning views of both sides of the lake.
We spent some more time casually canoeing in the waters, viewing the Main beach, resting every now and then on the beach before finally heading back to the lagoon. We had been on the water for almost 6.5 hours. After returning the canoe at the outfitters and we went to our site.
There was a brief period of rain early evening. We had our dinner.
After sunset, we went to the beach to enjoy the view of the stars. We returned in about an hour and went to sleep after a long, hectic and awesome day.
We woke up to a beautiful day but it was a day for us to wrap up. A slow, easy going start to the day, had our breakfast and went to the beach to take a dip on what was promising to be a nice warm day.
We returned to our site, packed up and vacated the site. We then drove to the site of the South Beach to check it out and the Yurts along the way. Spent a couple of hours at the South Beach before finally hitting the road.
Two days that we had was not sufficient to enjoy the Bon Echo Provincial Park. It has a lot to offer, lots to do and explore. Though we covered a lot in the time we had, camping at a park is about slowing down and exploring at a leisurely pace. We will keep that in mind going forward.
What's Nearby? Sharbot Lake Provincial Park is 45 mins or 67 kms from Bon Echo Provincial Park. https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/sharbotlake Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/w9iBhnWCaD9KD76T6 Silver Lake Provincial Park is 58 mins or 91 kms from Bon Echo Provincial Park. https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/silverlake Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/f7M1bHwmEeJ1hLze9 Dark Sky Viewing Area (Lennox and Addington) is 30 mins or 42 kms south from Bon Echo Provincial Park. Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/xexecj9rYbn9y2CB8
For additional information, visit the below links: https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/bonecho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Echo_Provincial_Park
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