Nice Places
Killarney Provincial Park. Spectacular! Near Georgian Bay, home of the 62 lb. Muskies.
By Len Greene
Mar 8, 2004 - 11:00:00 PM

Killarney Harbour

Chikanishing Creek looking north

Location: The park is North East of Manitoulin Island. Take Hwy. 69 heading towards Sudbury, then, about 40km south of Sudbury, turn onto Hwy. 637 which heads west into Killarney. The distance from Sudbury is 100 km and from Parry Sound it is 250 km.
Distances: 5-6 hours north of Toronto / 7 - 8 hours from Ottawa / 9.5 - 10.5 hours from Montreal

Size: The park is 48,500 hectares in size and is currently being expanded.

Camping: George Lake has the only front country camping in the park. It is close to the front gate and is not far from the waters of Georgian Bay. It has 122 campsites. George Lake has great swimming and there are a number of trails leading from the campground for hiking.

Interior Camping: There are 180 backcountry campsites in the interior of the park for backpackers and canoe trippers. You must camp at designated campsites. The camping sites are indicated by a diamond shaped orange marker with a tent symbol. There is a can and bottle ban in the interior of the park.

Chikanishing trail, great sightseeing!

There are plenty of self-guided trails in the park that lead from the George Lake campground. The Cranberry Bog is a moderately easy 4km loop that takes about 2 1/2 hours to complete and leads you through bog, marsh and swamp with plenty of beautiful plant life and birds.

Old Boat

The Chikanishing Trail starts at the end of the Chikanishing Road and is a moderately easy 3km loop with a lot of ups and downs over granite outcrops. It leads you to Collins Inlet on Georgian Bay.

The Chikanishing trail should take about 1 1/2 hours to complete. The Granite Ridge is a moderately easy 2km loop that is steep in sections. The trail takes you to two lookouts with views of the park and out to Georgian Bay.

Other hikes are the East Lighthouse/Tar Vat Trail that begins right behind the parking area at Killarney's East Lighthouse and two trails that follow parts of the La Cloche Trail, one 14km trail that starts at the George Lake Dam and the other is a 20 km trail that starts from Blue Heron Circle parking lot.

Jenna Greene at beginning of Chikanishing Trail

There are two trial heads with parking, one at George Lake Dam in the west, the second at Blue Heron Circle in the east.

The Lacloche is one of the great hikes in Ontario with lots of diversity and incredible scenery. The trail winds through wetlands, hardwood and softwood forest and is rarely far from one of the parks many lakes.

Map and compass skills are essential, particularly if you

Len and Kids ready to go

do any off trail hiking or wander off the trail. The parks topology is surprisingly confusing and it's easy to get disoriented.




NOTES FOR BOATERS, FISHERMAN, SIGHTSEERS...

Chikanishing launch ramp.

If you want to boat Collins Inlet, I recommend taking the Chikanishing Creek to Collins Inlet rather than taking the large open water in smaller craft from Killarney to Collins Inlet.

It is an excellent winding creek that has scenery galore. Plus you have a place to park your truck and boat trailer and it's only approximately 3 miles from the Killarney Provincial Park.

Unique Rock Structure

The area is just teeming with granite, awesome looking trees, and ground cover.

We got up real early and my oldest daughter Jenna and I had a tour of the trail done before 08:00 am. It was a perfect day, clear blue sky with a nice breeze. When we reached the mouth of the creek where it enters the inlet, we both went for a dip in the cool waters of Georgian Bay.

Authors daughter, Jenna, at the Mouth of Chikanishing Creek and Collins Inlet

After the tour we went back to grab the rest of the gang, my younger daughter, Rachel, my son Carson, and of course my wife Yvonne.

Collins Inlet looks like a long river approx 1 - 3 football fields wide in some spots and approx 20 miles long. Just full of spectacular sights and great fishing.

Fish On

Fishing was totally on my mind. Just as I was popping the boat into the creek at about 10:00 am, I had a chat with a dude who was out early, cranking, plugging, and trolling. He said he caught a 7lb bass and lost a large, what he assumed was a large caliber pike or muskie. He said he was going to fuel up on some grub and grab some live bait and head back out. He actually looked a little rattled and had sort of a nervous look, the kind of look a man has when he may have lost a world record Georgian Bay Monster.

Another guy in his 60's told me that he has been coming up hear for 30 some odd years. So what kind of message does that tell you in only 5 minutes while unhooking the boat?

It tells me this is a great place! The boat slides in perfect, I start the 9.9 Honda, & start to weave through the meanders of Chikanishing Creek. It snakes through the granite like a main circuit cable that

Cliffs are common throughout the inlet

will plug me straight into Muskie, Walleye,

Collins Inlet (20 miles of Excellent Fishing)

Bass, and Northern Pike.

I hope my test line is adequate, but I am a little worried that it may have a little freezer burn from the past winter.

It was the old - "leave-it-in-the-boat-compartment-for-the-winter-trick! Uh O"! FISH ON!

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