Lookout Trail

Next up in our tour of the Algonquin Provincial Park hiking trails, we have the Lookout Trail.

Porter did this trail at some point in the past few years, but only wrote 4 sentences about it:

“This was a nice trail, well packed and wide. Some short boardwalk, goes along a small stream for a bit (might be seasonal).

Massive boulders along the sides and the cliff edge is actually boulder you're walking on. A fair amount of inclines make this moderate, if it were flat I would call it easy.”

... super descriptive, eh?

So, when we decided to do trail guides for all the Algonquin Trails, I made him redo this one! Here’s what he can tell you about it, now that he’s had his little refresher!

The Basics:

Name: Lookout Trail
Algonquin Park Section: Highway 60 Corridor
Kilometre Marker: km 39.7
Season: Year-Round... sort of.
Trail Length: 2.1 km
Difficulty: Difficult
Suggested Completion Time: 1 hour

Logistics

Some basic information to help you plan your hike on the Lookout Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park:

Registration and Check In

All hiking trails in Algonquin Provincial Park require a valid permit to be within the park in the first place. There are a few different ways you can do this, depending on how you’re visiting the trail.

1. If you’re currently camping in Algonquin

If you have a current, valid camping permit for a campground in Algonquin Provincial Park - you just show up to the trail. Your license plate number is already registered with the park, and you’re good to go.

2. If you’re currently camping in a DIFFERENT Provincial Park

If you’re driving in for a day trip from somewhere like nearby Arrowhead Provincial Park, Bonnechere Provincial Park, Lake St Peter Provincial Park, or Silent Lake Provincial Park - you can take advantage of the reciprocal program.

With a few exceptions, a current and valid camping permit from one Ontario Provincial Park will act as a daily vehicle permit at another.

You just need to show up at one of the gates on the way in (East Gate and West Gate are the ones on either end of Highway 60), and show proof of that permit - a paper permit if your campground has it, or your email confirmation.

They will register your license plate number and you’re free to go - no additional fees required!

3. If you have an annual Ontario Parks Pass

Generally speaking, all you have to do is show up at one of the gates, present your pass, and have your license plate noted.

Note: Sometimes you’ll need to reserve a daily vehicle permit ahead of time. This is usually during peak fall colours season, when certain areas of the park reach capacity.

4. If you don’t have any sort of camping permit or Parks Pass in place

You can book your Daily Vehicle Permit online at Ontario Parks Reservations - up to 5 days in advance of your visit.

If you’re planning your visit for October... you might want to be ready to do so right when that 5 day window opens up, to ensure availability!

Otherwise, you can pay for a DVP at any one of the Algonquin Provincial Park gates.

Note: Some of the trailheads have QR codes for booking your DVP, but with such spotty internet throughout the park ... I really recommend doing it ahead of time.

Parking

The parking lot for the Lookout Trail is a bit of a weird situation.

It has a notice that RV/Trailer/Bus parking isn’t allowed... but there doesn’t actually seem to be a reason for that.

It’s a relatively large parking lot with both ends open to the road, and the entire parking lot is clearly visible from the highway - basically ideal for RVs and such.

Instead, those larger vehicles are asked to park in the nearby lot for the Big Pines Trail... which has a single access, and isn’t as visible from the road.

Bizarre.

Washrooms

There are no washroom facilities at the trail head or along the Lookout Trail itself.

That said, there’s a short, downhill trail from the parking lot (east side), that takes you down to the Big Pines Parking lot - where there’s a 2 stall outhouse.

Maps and Signage

There is a rough map at the Lookout Trail trailhead, but it’s more of a general overview of the layout, than anything. There are no distances marked, etc.

For a MUCH better map, grab one of the trail guides. It has a much more detailed map, with segmented distances, points of interest marked, and even a graph showing the elevation changes.

In terms of trail signage, there aren't many of blue trail blazes on this trail, but since the trail is groomed with gravel, you won't get lost on the ascent and descent.

The cliff side area isn't as well defined, but there are blazes, and also you're constrained between thick forest and cliff edge, so again you really can't get lost.

Accessibility

Most of the trail is well-groomed gravel, with little to no obstructions. The cliffside area is more rugged, with roots across the rocky path.

The steep inclines and declines are the main barrier in my opinion.

Those that need poles for balancing will be fine, but mobility aids like a walking boot probably aren't a good idea, particularly on the descent portion where grip could be an issue.

There aren't any good spots to stop and have a seat during the long incline, and only one bench during the long decline.

Pets

Dogs are allowed on the Lookout Trail, and I saw two groups with dogs on this last visit. I think it's totally fine for a medium-sized or larger dog that can handle the incline and declines.

Since this trail follows along a cliff, though, you definitely need to keep pets on a short, tight leash.

Beyond that - as always - all of the standard Ontario Provincial Parks rules apply.

Dogs must be leashed at all times, and aren’t allowed to harass other hikers, wildlife, or plants.

They can’t be left unsupervised, and aren’t allowed to make excessive noise.

Owners must pick up after their dogs, and properly dispose of the droppings.

On that note, there are no poop baggie dispensers on site, but there is garbage can near the trail head - down in the Big Pines parking lot. Plan ahead!

Day Use Area

There are no picnic tables at the trailhead or along the Lookout Trail itself.

If you’re looking for a post-hike picnic, your closest option is going to be either the Lake of Two Rivers Picnic area (right on the side of Highway 60), or the East Beach Day Use Area.

For a more secluded picnic, I recommend driving a few extra minutes - in the opposite direction - and go to the Costello Creek Day Use Area, on Opeongo Rd.

Connectivity

I had connectivity in the parking lot and on the trail but didn't have the need to use it much, so I don't know how strong or how complete the coverage is.

That said, cell phone coverage varies wildly in Algonquin Provincial Park, far more so than anywhere else we’ve been.

A spot may have fantastic coverage one day, then none the next. You may have fantastic coverage at one point on a trail, then none just ten metres later.

Carrier, how busy the area is, elevation, and the weather all seem to play a part.

We can’t reliably tell you what the cell coverage will be like on this trail, as a result. Our best advice is to assume there will be no cellular coverage, and plan accordingly.

Note: We can say that the most reliable place we’ve found for cell coverage in Algonquin PP has been the Visitor Center Parking lot. Also, there is wifi available inside the Visitor Centre itself.

Activities

Some information on the various things you can do, while hiking the Lookout Trail at Algonquin Provincial Park:

Hiking

Here’s what Porter had to say about hiking the Lookout Trail.

As a note, the photo sets are all done chronologically, but don’t necessarily line up with Porter’s commentary, below. WAY too much effort to try and fit the photos to the text!

This trail starts out as very wide, well groomed trail. It's wide enough to hike with two people side-by-side, and the trail is well-packed gravel that is easy to walk on.

At 300 meters the trail splits, with a sign directing you to the right. You begin to climb, moderate incline in this area, as you pass signpost 2 at a large boulder.

When you're a half kilometer into the trail, the moderate incline becomes a steep incline. It's still a wide, well groomed trail with good grip.

To the sides you see moderately young forest, with a mix of small and medium sized trees, only a few large trees. There's lots of foliage near the ground, along with moss-covered boulders and ferns.

670 meters into the trail it evens out, with some modest elevation changes on the path in this area. I'm out of breath after the steep climb, and I passed a couple of groups that took a break to catch their breath.

At 920 meters in, you descend a short but steep section along a massive boulder covered in mosses, lichens, and even ferns. Next you climb up a short - but steep - section back to roughly the same elevation.

The forest transitions to more sparse, tall skinny pines as you approach the cliff at signpost 4.

There's a bench there, and I saw several groups taking a break, and several people near the cliff edge taking photos.

I can see why it's a great place to take a break, it was a long climb up and the view here shows the massive and diverse forest below you and for a great distance.

I took a few photos and quickly moved on because there were already so many people there. Only about 50 meters ahead is another bench with another good cliff view.

Bonus, there was nobody at this spot!

At this point you're at about 1.12 km into the trail, and the trail is more rugged. It's no longer groomed, you're walking on stone with with lots of small roots on the path.

In this section the main trail isn't as clear, pine needles blanket the ground.

There are blue blazes along the path, but there's thick forest to your left and a cliff to your right, so you're not going to get lost, even if you end up off of the primary trail.

You're walking near the cliff still, but the views aren't as great since there are lots of pine trees obscuring the panoramic views. It still looks really nice in person, but photos won't look as good here.

At 1.33 km, the trail veers away from the cliff edge, going in to the forest. Again it's a fairly young, thick forest. Here the trail goes back to the well-groomed gravel, wide trail where you could walk side-by-side.

You travel down a severe slope downward. You can feel the crushed gravel start to slide a bit as you step.

It's not as steep as the beginning of Fork Lake trail if you've done that, but it's still a steep decline, and it continues for quite a ways.

Along both the ascent and descent portions of the trail I saw quite a few types of mushrooms during my hike in late August, which make for interesting travel.

There's a bench at signpost 8, 1.48 km into the trail.

At 1.67 km I passed another boulder, but then I realized it's the backside of the same boulder seen on the ascent since this is at the end of the split and you follow the same short path back to the parking lot.

I measured this trail as 2.0km on MapMyRun. It's tough to classify the difficulty of this trail. Most of it is nice gravel groomed trail, which would be easy if there weren't drastic elevation changes.

The amount of climbing definitely takes this out of the easy category.

I'm not sure whether to call this moderate-difficult due to how much energy it takes to climb that much that fast, or easy-moderate because the path is so easy to walk during those elevation changes.

I guess I'll go with the super-confusing rating of easy-difficult due to the mix!

Birding, Wildlife, and Nature

I didn't see or hear any wildlife during my late August hike, and my Merlin app didn't hear any birds either.

It was very busy when I hiked it, I'm sure the constant line of people scared away any nearby wildlife.

I didn’t even see much in the way of fungi during this most recent hike, so - I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife and nature, beyond the surrounding trees.

Educational & Cultural Opportunities

While there are no educational signs on the Lookout Trail, you can pick up a Friends of Algonquin trail guide at the trailhead.

It’s free to use and return, or you can keep it for $0.50 - there’s a coin collection pay tube thing at the trailhead.

Alternately, the guides are available for purchase at the visitor centre, and at the gates.

These guides are amazing educational accompaniments to the trails in Algonquin Provincial Park, teaching about the geology, flora, and fauna you might see on your hike, as well as some of the history of the area.

They also tend to include information about the elevation changes throughout each trail. All around, a great resource to refer to while you’re on the trail!

Unlike many of the other trail guides - which mostly focus on plants an animal life - the Lookout Trail guide is almost entirely about geological makeup / geological history of the area.

Winter Activities

The Algonquin Winter Guide has the Lookout Trail listed under “Additional Trails - Parking Lot Conditions Permitting”.

In our experience, this means that they do not maintain the parking lot during the winter.

When there’s no much snow - and you’re not driving a low vehicle - it’s usually not that bad to access trails like that.

The trails under that category, though, tend not to be as popular as the “recommended” trails - so expect the trails to be less packed down, etc.

Lookout Trail, specifically, is available for both hiking and as a snowshoe trail.

Final Thoughts

This trail has a really nice overlook, actually two overlooks near each other. It's a great place to see the forest from a rare viewpoint, which I love.

I imagine this would be absolutely amazing in fall color season, I'd like to check it out if I get a chance.

The downside is the steep ascent and descent, which takes a lot of energy to conquer.

To their credit, Algonquin has done a great job with the groomed gravel trail, making the best of a tough climb.

More Algonquin Provincial Park Trail and Campground Reviews

Want to read some more of what we have to say about the campgrounds and attractions in Algonquin Park?

Check out our Algonquin Provincial Park Mega Post, or any of the links below for even more in-depth info:

Algonquin Provincial Park Campground Guides / Reviews

Achray Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
< a href="https://2nerdsinatruck.com/brent-campground/">Brent Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Canisbay Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Kearney Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Kiosk Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Lake of Two Rivers Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Mew Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Pog Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Raccoon Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Rock Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Tea Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park
Whitefish Lake Campground, Algonquin Provincial Park

Algonquin Provincial Park Trail Guides / Reviews

Barron Canyon Trail, Algonquin Provincial Park
High Falls on York, Algonquin Provincial Park
Provoking Falls, Algonquin Provincial Park

Interested in exploring campgrounds beyond Algonquin Park? We've got a huge - and ever-growing! - list of them here: 2 Nerds in a Truck Campground Reviews.

We also have posts on Ontario Waterfalls, other Places to See, and a ton of Camping Recipes to cook up, while on your adventures!