Canada Hiking

A lake. Rushing river waters. A raven atop a weathered spruce. The crackle of breaking wood. A loon's cry. And at the end of it all, there it looms. They call it the "Sleeping Giant." An apt name for a sleeping giant block of a stone, sitting in utter stillness, frozen in time, as though trapped in perpetual slumber.

These are what Ontario's northwestern areas offer as you go on a Canada hiking trip on its big and sprawling wilderness of forests, rocks, and water. The land is composed mostly of rolling ground so when you go Canada hiking in this area, be prepared to be greeted by the sight of rocky cliffs interspersed with rivers all rushing down for a tumble in Ontario's 250,000 lakes.

And the biggest lake of all is Lake Superior, another apt name. Stretching for 600 miles along the boreal forest, Canada hiking around the Lake guarantees trails through whole forests of birch, pine, maple, and spruce.

So , if you want great places to explore during Canada hiking in Lake Superior's shore, be sure to include the northwest in your agenda. From Thunder Bay on Highway 11/17, you can make your way to the Canada hiking trailhead by following the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Here, you can have a scenic, leisurely drive paralleling the coast of the massive lake and get great views of the still waters before you formally start your Canada hiking trip.

Parks for Canada hiking are easily accessible from the road, so when it comes to options for getaways, there are virtually no limits. If your Canada hiking trip is larger and longer, you can combine these parks or choose your own adventure and get the true flavor of the forces of nature at work here.

Ontario boasts of three provincial parks for Canada hiking. The Sleeping Giant is only one of them. There is also the Ouimet Canyon and Rainbow Falls, also excellent places to go Canada hiking. Incidentally, all these parks show off the best of what Superior country has to offer, both along the shore and inland.

So How did the Sleeping Giant Get Its Name?

One of the perks of Canada hiking, or just hiking in general, is you get visit places you would not normally get to visit. So if it is your first time in a certain place and you find it beautiful, you want to know as much about it as you can. Canada hiking enthusiasts who are in Ontario's Sleeping Giant Provincial Park for the first time find themselves curious about the name. How did it get such an intriguing name?

Well, locals say the Park actually got its name for a series of mesas built of sedimentary rock and covered by more resistant igneous rock that make up what resembles a huge stone figure in repose. The Park offers Canada hiking adventurers gently sloping eastern lowlands, high cliffs, valleys, inland lakes, and quick-running streams.

The variety of wildlife you get to see while Canada hiking in the Park is astounding. But not quite as astounding at it was in the 1900s when woodland caribou roamed the forests. Logging, however, soon led to the dwindling down of their population. But in their place came moose and white-tailed deer. There are also the elusive timber wolf and black bear, the lynx, red fox, and porcupine. A cornucopia of birds thrive in this region and Canada hiking enthusiasts experience their choral greeting to the sun each morning like ceremony to start another day of Canada hiking.