Oxtongue River-Ragged Falls Provincial Park is a cute little destination with a gorgeous waterfall. Located just outside the west gate of Algonquin Provincial Park, here's what you need to know about visiting!
Originally posted March 24, 2025, Updated on 5/12/2025
Located about 33 minutes (38 km) from Arrowhead Provincial Park - and 8 minutes (9.8 km) from Algonquin Provincial Park, it’s a pretty convenient little field trip to take, when visiting the area.
(It was about a 30 minute, 42 km drive from our campsite in Mew Lake Campground, as an additional reference point!).
The park covers 382 hectares of land and water along the Oxtongue River. It's an ancient glacial spillway that once drained melting water from glaciers in the Algonquin Highlands, into the now-ancient Lake Algonquin.
This was a HUGE prehistoric lake, which eventually receded to leave what are now Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Nipigon, Lake Nipissing, and Lake Superior.
Known as one of the top 10 waterfalls in Ontario, we could hear the rushing water all the way from the parking lot!
It’s a large cascade waterfall, which is said to have a vertical drop over about 25 meters over the course of about 200 metres. There are several nice viewpoints along a short hiking trail, allowing you to see it from above the falls, right beside the falls, and from the base of the falls.
Really gorgeous views, for not a lot of effort!
As a head’s up, we wrote this post for the first time after our winter trip. We updated it with more main-season photos later in the year, the next time we visited - May, 2025.
Anyway, let us tell you all about it - and share a few photos!
The Basics:
Location Name: Oxtongue River - Ragged Falls Provincial Park
Address: Ragged Falls Park Rd, Dwight Ontario. Click Here for Google Maps location.
Website: https://www.ontarioparks.ca/park/oxtongueriverraggedfalls
Price Ontario Provincial Parks uses a pricing matrix across all their parks. See 2025 Day Use Fees for more details.
Reservations: Ontario Parks Reservations
Park Classification: Waterway
Season: May 9, 2025 to October 19, 2025
Logistics
The park is open from 8am to 10pm, May to October, though you can access it in winter as well. Here’s what you’ll need to know to plan your visit:
Registration and Check In
There is no ticket kiosk or office at the park, so you have to buy your daily vehicle permit online. There’s a QR code on the map sign to help you purchase one on the spot.
Alternatively, you can call the Ontario Parks Reservation Line to purchase one over the phone.
I believe it's $6.50 for up to two hours, going on some of the reviews I've read... though booking fees might apply.
An interesting thing to note: You’re only allowed to book your "pay-and-display" parking (it's booked under that section, not day-use, on the website) on the same day, and they want you to wait until you actually arrive.
As it says on the Ontario Parks reservations site... “ Book this permit once you have arrived at the park and secured a parking spot in the designated area. Parking is not guaranteed if booked prior to arrival.”
Ooof.
As with all parks, though, your yearly or seasonal Ontario Parks Pass will cover the cost for visiting Ragged Falls, as will a current day pass or camping permit from another Ontario Provincial Park.
Parking
There’s a relatively small parking lot at the trail head - definitely more “trail head” type parking, than “full Provincial Park” parking.
I can see it being too small to accommodate interest on weekends in the fall colours season, but - during our first visit - we assumed it to be more or less sufficient for the size of the park, most of the time.
We were wrong. On a random May afternoon - not even during the long weekend - the parking lot was completely packed!
Also important to note: There’s not a TON of room to turn around in there, so - while it may fit an RV or a trailer - you might have a hard time getting in and out, if the parking lot is busy at the time of your visit.
When we tried to visit earlier in the winter, there was a large snowbank plowed along the highway, completely blocking ANY access at all. As there’s no parking on the highway itself, we had to abort that visit.
When we visited in March, though, it had been melted and/or cleared, and people could park in front of the gate:
From the highway to the actual parking lot is about 0.4 km, with some inclines and declines.
Washrooms
There is a single set of 2 vault toilets in the parking lot, with a little bench in front of it.
We’re not sure they’re open in the winter - there were no tracks out to it during our winter visit - and you definitely would have wanted snow shoes to get across the parking lot. (We did not have ours on us!)
Maps and Signage
There are no paper maps on site for Oxtongue River - Ragged Falls Provincial Park.
That said, there IS a good map sign in the parking lot, though, basically a trailhead sign. This one tells you a bit about the park, and the 3 trail sections.
We were happy to see that trail distances were listed for the various segments. I was NOT having a good tendon day, and it’s really helpful for me to be able to temper my expectations!
In terms of signage, there isn’t much of it within the park. For the most part, it’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t need much signage.
When on the trail, there are a few little “falls” arrow signs on trees, but that’s about it.
On our winter visit, it was a little difficult to tell where the different trails actually existed. The whole thing is basically a single trail that splits off into a loop, with two small linear trails - one off the far end of the loop, and one on the single trail, right before the loop.
We found the first linear trail, but didn’t really see a split for a loop. I had to wonder if the section that was shown to go along the water was REALLY right along the ravine edge, and not used in winter due to conditions?
Or maybe the outer loop, away from the water, just wasn’t used at the time? Not sure.
Anyway, even without knowing where the mapped trail was, we were able to get to the falls easily, on a path that had been packed down by previous visitors.
Accessibility
The trails are not wheelchair accessible, and the washrooms were definitely not wheelchair accessible in the winter. (Not that it matters - there’s no way a wheelchair user would be able to get as far as the parking lot in winter anyway)
If you’re using any kind of mobility aid, I wouldn’t recommend visiting the park in the winter, as the packed trail - assuming it exists at the time of your visit - can be extremely narrow and precarious. Very easy to slip off, even without an aid.
Beyond that, a lot of the trail was rocky, uneven, and/or covered with ice.
Very rocky, roots, and inclines - all together - no matter which route you take.
I can do a LOT of things when I’m stuck in a boot, there’s no way I would have been able to do this trail if I was using any kind of mobility aid at the time - even just a cane.
Pets
Dogs are welcome - and we saw several during our first visit, even though it was off-season.
As always, they’re to be leashed at all times, picked up after, and aren’t allowed to harass other visitors or the wildlife.
Park Store
There is no park store at Oxtongue River-Ragged Falls Provincial Park.
That said, it’s only about 18 minutes / 24 km up the highway from the Canoe Lake Store in Algonquin Provincial Park.
Visitor Centre
There is no Visitor Centre at Oxtongue River-Ragged Falls Provincial Park.
That said, it’s only about 39 minutes / 54 km up the highway from the Algonquin Provincial Park Visitor Centre.
Day Use Area
It’s a day-use only park, so I guess you could say the whole thing is a day use area!
That said, we didn’t actually see any picnic tables and such during either of our visits - just a park bench next to the toilet building.
That said, people were picnicking closer to the falls during our May visit. There’s a rock formation at the top of the falls that you can walk out to (at your own risk), and several people had laid our their picnic blankets and food up there.
Annoying for anyone looking to get nice photos of the falls, but I bet you can’t beat the view.
There were also a few groups picnicking near the base of the falls, at the bottom of the Black Trail.
Connectivity
We seemed to have pretty good cellular reception and internet access on Rogers Wireless, during our stay.
We weren’t there for long - and didn’t check our phones often - but I was able to easily upload a 1 minute long waterfall video to a friend’s Facebook timeline from on the trail, and had no problem accessing weather and aurora apps along the way.
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Entertainment and Activity
This is a very small Provincial Park - really more of a roadside attraction than anything - so the available activities are more limited than most of the active parks.
That said, there are several different things you can do while visiting:
Hiking
There’s one main loop of a hiking trail, though the map has it designated as 3 trail segments.
These are:
Green Trail: 379 m long
Blue Trail: 163 m long
Black Trail: 69 m long
Basically though, you start out on the green trail at the parking lot, which very soon splits off to the left for the black trail, which takes you down a fairly steep path to the base of the falls.
Really pretty view, during both of our visits!
It’s a fairly rustic path, with a fair amount of inclines and declines. If you’re not mobility impaired, it should be relatively easy.
Birding, Wildlife, and Nature
On our winter trip, we heard a few Black-Capped Chickadees along the trail at one point, but it was generally pretty quiet on the wildlife front.
The waterfall was pretty loud though, so maybe we just weren’t hearing any birds that may have been present - they were VERY active that day, in other parts of Algonquin Provincial park, right before we drove to Oxtongue River - Ragged Falls Provincial Park.
At the front of the park -as we returned to our car - there were a few VERY chatty Pine Siskins, though.
During the May visit, it was just Black-Throated Green Warblers. So, not really a birding hot spot on either visit!
We did see some pretty Yellow Trout Lilies on the side of the road up to the parking lot during our May visit, though!
Swimming
While it’s not listed on the park sign or website as an available activity, I’ve seen a few mentions online (including on the Algonquin Outfitters site) about swimming in the Oxtongue River, beneath the falls.
It’s a steep path to get down there - the Black Trail - but I bet it WOULD make an amazing swimming spot.
There are no lifeguards or anything, of course, so you’d be doing so at your own risk.
Boating
Ragged falls seems to be a popular destination for canoeing - and there’s a portage running through the park. That said, I don’t know how many people would go canoeing *from* the park.
Seems like a weird place to start a route!
There is access to the water below the lower falls, though - I’m assuming that’s the end of the portage. Very little information online, unfortunately.
Anyway, Algonquin Outfitters has a self-guided tour package, for people to visit Ragged Falls via canoe, kayak, or stand up paddle board.
The route starts out at their Canoe Lake Store - click the link above, for their details.
Fishing
While there wasn’t anyone fishing during either of our trips, apparently you can fish for Brook Trout, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass at Ragged Falls - Oxtongue River Provincial Park.
Nearby Oxtongue Lake is also a popular fishing destination, for basically the same varieties of fish.
Obviously, seasonality and licensing restrictions apply, to both locations!
Winter Activities
The park may not technically be open during the winter, but if you can get parking out front, it’s a nice place to go snowshoeing or winter hiking.
The caveat being - the snow was QUITE deep in March.
We were lucky to have visited at a time where a path had been packed down by previous visitors, but I wouldn’t doubt that there are times during the winter where you’d basically NEED snowshoes to get in and around the park.
As it was, we went in our hiking boots, with cleats attached - HIGHLY recommend using cleats in the winter.
With the way the trail was at the time of our visit, there’s no way we would have been able to safely see the falls... IF we’d been able to get that far in the first place.
Note: We use the ICETRAX V3 Tungsten Winter Ice Grips for Shoes and Boots, which are a new thing for us this winter.
HOLY HELL, why didn't anyone ever tell me how *magical* cleats are?! These things are amazing. We can walk right across sheer ice like it was NOTHING! 10/10, highly recommend!
Niantic Games
The map sign in the parking lot is an Ingress Portal / Pokestop / etc, but that’s about all there is.
On our winter visit, we opened Pokemon Go near the waterfalls to see if it could tell us where the actual trail is.
(I have no idea why this is the case, but Pokemon Go is often the BEST source of trail maps - even over fitness /trail apps, a lot of the time!)
Unfortunately - at least where we were at the time - it did not show the trails. It DID take a little while - and two attempts - to open the app, so it could have been a connectivity issue, but I’m not sure about that.
Either way, I wouldn’t recommend planning on a day of Pokemonning at this park, LOL.
Final Thoughts
This is a really nice little roadside attraction kind of park, sort of like Chippewa Falls.
Like that one, it’s a big waterfall - with the waterfall as the main destination - with short, scenic trails involved.
If you’re staying in Arrowhead Provincial Park or Algonquin Provincial Park, it’s definitely worth a visit.
While there’s a bit more work - and luck - involved with visiting in the winter, we HIGHLY recommend it. From what we could see, we likely had a much better view of the falls in a few areas, that would be more obscured by foliage in the summer and fall.
That said, we’re definitely looking forward to visiting Oxtongue River-Ragged Falls Provincial Park during other times of year. I bet it’s particularly pretty in the fall, as a LOT of the trees along the trails were deciduous.
Either way, definitely worth the drive!
More Ontario Waterfall Posts
Looking to waterfalling in Ontario? Here are more Ontario Waterfalls to check out:
Aguasabon Falls
Chippewa Falls
Devil's Monument
Eugenia Falls
Falls Reserve Conservation Area
Gariepy Creek Falls
Healey Falls
Hogg's Falls
Indian Falls Conservation Area
Inglis Falls
Jones Falls
Kakabeka Falls
Mink Creek Falls
Onaping Falls
Provoking Falls
Rainbow Falls
Sand River Falls
Sauble Falls
Scenic High Falls
Walter's Falls
Webwood Falls
Beyond the beautiful waterfalls, be sure to check out our Places to See category, to find more interesting Ontario places to explore!
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