There are nearly a hundred different hiking trails to be discovered in and around beautiful Algonquin Park, Ontario. Some are long hikes in the deep backcountry with challenging terrain. Many of them are perfect day hikes. Others you might need to spend a couple of days backpacking and camping if you want to accomplish the full trail and see all that it has to offer.
Some of the most popular trails are nice and light short hikes, making them excellent for families with small kids to get away for a few hours and enjoy a picnic while listening to the birds sing.
Whispering Winds Trail (Egg Rock) Day Hike
Last summer, my wife and I took our four small kids and went out to discover a trail that we had heard about, but never hiked ourselves. We had been told of the steep incline to reach the top of the Egg Rock escarpment where there would be a beautiful view of Stringers Lake down below.
We started our day off by driving to the trail site. Taking the Basin Depot Road which is a gravel road mostly used for forestry as well as access to lakes and rivers for kayaking and fishing. The trail is just a short drive from Round Lake Centre, making it the perfect getaway if you’re camping at Bonnechere Provincial Park.
When we reached the site to start the hike, which is just on the outskirts of Algonquin Park, there was a small blue and white sign to indicate that we were in fact at the entrance to Whispering Winds (Egg Rock) trail. So, we parked the vehicle there on the side of the road, packed a few snacks and put on our running shoes.
The length of the trail is only around 600 metres up a narrow path so it is perfect for those people that like short distances. The real challenge with this trail is the 53 metre elevation difference from start to finish. Even with that, our 3 year old son had no problem making the climb, chasing after his 6 and 8 year old sisters while we mostly carried the 1 year old. But even she was eager and walked a good portion of the trail.
Along the trail, we saw many different species of trees typical to this part of Ontario including oaks, maples and poplar. Because we were there in June, all of the plants along the trail were in full bloom and we even came across a few of Ontario’s official flower, the white trillium.
We reached the top of Egg Rock in about 15 minutes and looked out over the vast landscape of one of Canada’s most beautiful forests. Springers Lake was visible to the south and we could see in the distance that there were a couple of kayakers enjoying the warm sunny day out on the water.
The top of Egg Rock is a great location for a picnic and we took full advantage with a full basket of lunch foods that we enjoyed in complete peacefulness. We stuck around for about an hour, enjoying the view, climbing on the rocks and taking pictures.
2021 was an awful year for Gypsy Moths in this area as they feasted upon acres and acres of tree leaves. Unfortunately, this location was not spared. We noticed hundreds of them feeding on the oak leaves as well as other species of trees. Hopefully this winter has been hard enough on them to vastly reduce there numbers and allow the trees a chance to recuperate.
All in all, we had a great time on our hike up the Whispering Winds Trail and highly recommend it. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to check it out. This link to the All Trails app will help you pinpoint the exact location of the trail so you have no trouble getting there to enjoy this wonderful hike and spectacular view. You can also use it to find plenty of other Algonquin Park Trails to hike.
