Hiking Trails in the Quetico Park / Atikokan Ontario Area

For the avid hiker the Atikokan area provides a number of walking adventures.

There are a number of established trails, that are well marked and offer good walking conditions through both scenic wilderness or the actual town of Atikokan itself.

There are also a number of trails that aren’t charted throughout the area, that offer some wonderful daytrip adventures.

Many of these are wilderness trails into fishing lakes or old logging roads and trails. The terrain is often rugged and trail conditions can range anywhere from poor to excellent.

Setting up a base at our cam in either a housekeeping cabin or campsite allows for some wonderful daytrip hiking and or canoeing adventures.

Mid to late summer is a great time for a hiking / canoeing adventure allowing you to take advantage of the warm weather and often some great wild blueberry & raspberry picking.

Walking quietly greatly enhances your chance of seeing wildlife.

In Quetico Park there are 7 trails all of which are accessible through the Dawson Trail Campground (about a 1 hour drive from our camp along scenic Highway 11).:

Beaver Meadows Trail – 2.5 km long / approx. 1 hour – strenuous: Features rough topography and steep slopes winds through a forest setting.

French Falls Trail – 2.4 km long – 1 hour – strenuous: A very scenic trail that follows the French Riverthat has some steep climbs.

French Portage Trail – 5 km – 2 hours – strenuous: Traces a portage first established by natives and then adopted by explorers and fur traders. Part of a A key canoe route between the east and the Red River area of Manitoba and further west. Part of the current route between Windigoostigwan Lake & French Lake.

Pickerel Point Trail – 1.6 km return – 30 minutes – moderate: can be difficult & steep in spots; follows the Pickerel River for view of aquatic life (Plants & animals) along the rivers’banks. Pickerel Point is an excellent spot to see bald eagles, great blue herons, king fishers and osprey.

Pickerel River Trail – 0.8 km – 30 minutes – barrier free: The Sheila Haney boardwalk along the Pickerel River clips to lowlands along the river’s edge through alder, balsam fir, and spruce, and then slowly rises to highlands of pine, birch & poplar. It links the Quetico Information Pavilion at Dawson Trail to the French Lake day use area.

Pines Hiking Trail – 10 km return – 3.5 hours – moderate: One of my favorite daytrips, an extension of the Whiskey Jack Trail, a very scenic walk to "The Pines". The Pines was known as a beautiful location on Pickerel Lake with a great sand beach and stands of huge, old growth red & white pine. In the summer of 2003 however, a vicious storm saw hundreds of these trees toppled leaving a huge mess of trunks and branches. The park is debating how to handle the clean up of this area while still keeping the "wilderness" concept intact.

Whiskey Jack Trail – 2.5 km – 1 hour – moderate: This gateway to Quetico’s wilderness begins on a boardwalk that winds through forest covered lowland thick with mosses, Labrador tea, horsetail, twinflower, bunchberry, pyrola, black spruce & tamarack. The boardwalk gives way to a foot path that meanders through a mosaic of forest habitats.

If you do any of these Quetico hikes, plan to spend some time at the Information Pavilion at Dawson Trail, and inquire about current events such as films, wolf howls, stargazing etc.

Many people enjoy the "Atikokan Trail" that features a walk through Canada’s Canoeing Capital – sometimes down streets & sidewalks and sometimes down treed forest settings.

You can also plan to visit scenic Little Falls or perhaps a round of golf hiking the Little Falls Golf Course – a 9 hole course in a beautiful wilderness setting that’s billed as the most challenging in Northwestern Ontario.

If you’re planning to walk the Atikokan Trail perhaps the Little Falls Golf Course, we’d be happy to recommend some great Atikokan restaurants to finish your day with a great meal.

We can also recommend some old logging roads and trails into lake that can add some variety to these more "established" hiking trails.

We’re also looking forward to the Trans Canada trail passing through the area, and taking advantage of a number of established Quetico & White Otter / Turtle River routes.

Walking is great exercise, and walking through the rugged Canadian wilderness offers a great experience that you’ll never get on a treadmill in a health club.