Barron Canyon and High Falls – Welcome to Algonquin Park’s Back Door
Deep into the northern extremity of of Algonquin Park, where access is not provided by the paved asphalt comforts of Highway 60, lies a region of a distinct natural beauty. Accessed via an active gravel logging road, it is much less crowded, yet just as worth seeing.
This article is a stub of the much larger Algonquin Park article. For more info consult here.
Table of Contents
Barron Canyon
This tiny 1.5km loop is perhaps the most rewarding in the entire park. At first you will make your way up a short ridge surrounded by woods only to emerge at an incredible precipice. It can easily be accessed via the Barron Canyon Parking lot.
Below you will find the Barron River, the stream flowing past the viewpoint, It sits at the bottom of a 100 meter precipice surrounded by thick forested land.
But don’t look down! The unsecured edge is enough to give any man vertigo.
Honestly, its get wrenching!
That’s the beauty of this hike! No guardrails anywhere! A miracle in the overly cautious province of Ontario!
Enjoy walking the edge of the canyon lookout for more incredible views of the geology of the canyon.
As well as the watercourse itself!
Here are a few more pictures for the road.
High Falls (The “Natural Waterslide”)
For those felling a little more intrepid, follow the 8km walk down to High Falls (not to be confused with the High Falls in southern Algonquin Park).
This area can be acessed via its own parking lot along the main logging road just west of the Barron Canyon lot. From here a well marked pathway leads you south past the cascades towards High Falls.
On your way you will see the magnificent Stratton Lake.
This body of water is connected to High Falls Lake via High Falls itself, serving as a flow regulator of sorts between both bodies. A narrow boulder filled pathway will take you down to these falls.
Before you head down check out the view of the pond just before high walls, as well as some of the jumping rocks.
The falls lead down to a second, even deeper pond surrounded by sheer rock.
As you can see below the current down this falls is rather strong, starting with a small semi circular shaped basin that devolves into a full scaled rock “chute”.
Before you go down the chute, some time to take in the magnificent landscape surrounding the falls.
To go down position yourself along the upper rim and allow the flow to take you down as below!
Epilogue
This is one of my least wordy blog post… yet do not be deceived! This part of the park is an absolute treasure trove of great hikes! Not only is it less busy then the main sections along Highway 60, but it is clean and well maintained.
