After several weeks abroad for work, I’m finally back home! And since I haven’t hiked in nearly two months, I decided to not take notice of the current heatwave and went back to one of my favourite spots visited this year: Charleston Lake Provincial Park.
In May, I visited this park for the very first time and had vowed to return there to hike the trails that I had not had the chance to explore that time. On my list: Quiddity Trail and Tallow Rock Bay Trail, which I decided to follow on that (very) hot August day.
Quiddity Trail
Quiddity Trail and Tallow Rock Bay Trail both have the same starting point, from the parking lot at the park’s Discovery Centre. My main goal was to hike Tallow Rock Bay Trail, as it is the longest trail in the park, but while I was there I decided to take the short detour to get to the end of Quiddity Trail too.
“Quiddity” is a philosophical term referring to the essence of a thing. The creators of the trail perhaps found that it reflected the very essence of the park, as it passes through wetlands and winds under the tall trees of the forest, before ending at the top of a rocky ridge offering a view of a bay of Charleston Lake…
Quiddity Trail is 2.4 kilometres round trip. It’s not the most interesting trail in the park, but it offers a good alternative for those who don’t have the time or the energy to hike the long Tallow Rock Bay Trail. In addition, the first metres of the trail are accessible to wheelchairs.
Tallow Rock Bay Trail
I hiked the short Quiddity Trail quickly, but the real challenge awaited me: hiking the ten-kilometre Tallow Rock Bay Trail. I like to think I’m used to long trails, so it wasn’t ten kilometres that was going to scare me, but with my lack of physical exercise in the last few weeks and the current heatwave, I quickly realized that it was going to be a little harder than I expected.
The Tallow Rock Bay Trail is a loop, which I decided to follow clockwise, for no particular reason. The trail is arguably one of the best ways to experience Charleston Lake Provincial Park. It offers an overview of the landscapes that can be found in the Frontenac Arch, a granite region recognized by UNESCO for its importance for biodiversity.
And during the first few kilometres, the landscape varied greatly, passing through meadows, birch forests and rocky ridges.
The heat and humidity were intense, but the first kilometres still went by quickly (and weren’t too painful). Shortly after the 4-kilometre mark, I reached Tallow Rock Bay, the one that gives the trail its name, and decided to stop there for a few minutes to rest my already tired legs.
I would have loved to dive into the bay, whose waters seemed so calm and refreshing! Fortunately for me, a good breeze was blowing over the bay, making me forget the scorching heat for a few minutes. But since I still had a few kilometres to go to complete the loop, I eventually resumed my hike.
A few metres further, I came to a rocky ridge where there was a fork with a trail leading to Covery’s Gap and Captain’s Gap, two backcountry campgrounds, accessible via backpacking on the trail or via the lake. I was tempted to go there to see what these campgrounds looked like but decided to keep this project until next time (maybe a future backcountry camping trip?) and continue following Tallow Rock Bay Trail.
It was after the 5-kilometre mark that the trail offered me, in my opinion, its most interesting section. The trail follows the shore of a beaver pond. The beaver pond itself is not spectacular, but the trail follows a rocky cliff under tall pine trees and with the morning light it was just beautiful.
A little further on, the trail winds through a rock crevice, which reminded me of parts of the Hemlock Ridge Trail also found in Charleston Lake Provincial Park. It offered me a good climb over the rocks. Normally I would have loved this portion (I always enjoy rocky and challenging sections on trails), but with the heavy heat the air between the rocks felt a bit stuffy and each more physical section was particularly taxing.
Luckily for me, it didn’t take me too long after this to reach the Slim Bay Bridge. This floating bridge, one of the trail’s highlights, offers great views of Charleston Lake and of Slim Bay. It also gave me the opportunity to enjoy a welcome breeze of fresh air.
The rest of the trail didn’t seem particularly memorable to me. At this point, the heat had gotten the better of me and I was looking forward to be done with it. I eventually passed the nine-kilometre mark and then found the junction with Quiddity Trail, which brought me back to my starting point.
The heat, the fatigue, and the jet lag meant that I didn’t really have the ideal conditions in place to fully appreciate Tallow Rock Bay Trail. But I’m still glad I hiked it! Without having breathtaking views, this trail offers a great physical challenge, and is a great way to explore even more the landscapes of Charleston Lake Provincial Park!
For a list of Ontario’s provincial parks that I have visited, check out the National, provincial and state parks page.
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