Beaver Pond Trail

Well, it's another day in paradise. The sun is shining and we have a new trail to explore. Today is Beaver Pond Trail day. This trail is slightly longer than yesterdays and a little more challenging. Susan opted out but the girls (Calusa & Charlie) were raring to go.

Beaver Pond Trail is located at kilometer marker 42.2 on Hwy 60. It's 45.2 km from the west gate and 10.8 km from the east gate. This 2 km loop trail winds through rugged terrain and introduces us to the role of the beaver in Algonquin Park. I grabbed a trail guide ($ .50) and handed it off to Kathy since she is our official trail narrator.

We left the parking lot, which only had one other car, crossed a bridge, then stayed to the left to continue along the trail. You can tell we had some rain, the creeks which are normally dry this time of year are full.

It didn't take long before we saw our first evidence of beaver. In the distance was an old abandoned beavers den. The trail lead to a boardwalk which crossed a meadow. This meadow would not have been possible if not for the beaver. Originally, the whole area was forest. Long ago the beaver created a dam causing the area to flood and in turn the trees died and eventually fell. A good example of how the beaver can manipulate our environment.

In the distance we could see the lookout where our hike is taking us. At this point I wish I had some mosquito repellent. It was so still I could hear the mosquitoes buzzing around my head.

The trail gets a little more difficult but the reward is worth it. Crossing the tiny bridge the trail opens up to a very impressive beavers dam. Impressive because Amikeus Lake would not exist without this dam. The dam is steep on the downstream side and slopes gently into the pond. This is due to the beaver adding material to the dam on the upstream side which in turn causes a stronger dam.

There are several ranger-led programs that are being offered during our stay here. One is on the different varieties of fungus and mushrooms found in Algonquin Park. We will definitely go to that one.

Another look at Amikeus Lake before we started making the climb to the lookout.

This is where the trail gets a little more demanding. Lots of exposed roots and rocks to climb over but the view is so worth it.

From the cliff top we could see the beaver-created environment including the pond and meadow, which is located below the dam. Unfortunately we did not see any beaver. All-in-all it was another great day of hiking.