Length of stay: 1 day
Visited: May 2021
Located just outside Bancroft, Egan Chutes Provincial Park is situated along a portion of the York River. It is a non-operating park and the only activity that this park offers is hiking. There are two entrances into the park that can be accessed off Highway 28. One entrance is along the west side of the York River and leads to a shorter trail (to the first waterfall) and the other entrance is along the east side and leads to a longer trail (to three waterfalls).
We rolled into the park in the early afternoon. We opted for the shorter trail since we spent the morning hiking at Lake St. Peter Provincial Park. Plus it looked like it was supposed to rain. The park itself isn’t well signed and the road leading to the trailhead was in rough shape. At the end of the gravel road there is a small parking area and an opening into the forest that looked like the start of the trail. Shortly after starting our hike we came across an official sign for the park so we knew we were at the right spot.
The trail itself is also not well-marked or signed, but the path forward is quite obvious. The path is wide and the first stretch is relatively flat. The trail winds through the forest along the edge of the York River. When we arrived at a bend in the river we could start to hear the sounds of rushing water.
As we neared the first waterfall we could glimpse a preview of the rapids from between the trees.
After this point it’s a steady ascent up the edge of the cliff to reach the first (and best) viewpoint of the first waterfall, which is reputed to be the most impressive of three waterfalls.
We continued along the path, which involves an even steeper climb up and then down the cliff to reach a small beach area. This is where the trail ends. We sat on a fallen log and took a short break to rest and admire the views.
We turned around and hiked back the way that we came. Towards the last few minutes of our hike it started to lightly rain.
We hopped in the car and continued our drive back to the cabin for some proper rest and relaxation.
L
My progress on the Ontario Parks Challenge can be found here
Thanks a lot for sharing such lovely photographs.Take care.🌹🙏
Thanks for your kind words. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but at least the trail wasn’t crowded and there were no bugs. Thanks for reading and commenting.
My pleasure.,🌹🙏
Looks like a wonderful stop en route to the cabin. The sight of an impending river/chute/falls always excites me and the view never disappoints. It’s amazing how many parks you two have discovered and have shared with readers in a relatively short time. It’s gonna be an exciting summer ahead!
It’s funny how we’ve been coming up to the cabin for years and have never really made much of an effort to explore the surrounding area until the pandemic. Granted we’ve been visiting the cabin a lot more now, so it’s nice to do something different. Egan Chutes is such a lovely non-operating provincial park. It’s not very well signed and can be hard to miss, but that just means that the crowds haven’t discovered it yet. To date we’ve visited nearly 40 provincial parks since the start of the year. We are certainly making good progress on our challenge and it’s only going to get better during the summer (assuming we can find parking that is!).
I know I have already told you this, but I really enjoy to follow your almost daily hiking reports from your area.
From the photos, York River seems to be quite rushy and in combination with the trees makes it perfect to capture such nice photos!
From the main sign, I can see that fishing is allowed there. By any chance do you know what are the main species you can catch on York River?
Thanks!! We’ve been trying to take advantage of all this free time we have since we’ve mostly been in some form of lockdown this year by exploring new parks nearly every weekend. It’s incredible how many parks we’ve visited since the start of the year and how many are still left for us to explore. I’ve always enjoyed hiking along the water and the sounds of a rushing river are so soothing. Apparently you can find a variety of fish in the York River including rainbow trout, bass, pike, and pickerel.
Looks like a great hike. I love hikes that have some altitude gain and viewpoints on them. The waterfalls (chutes) are a bonus here. We hiked one path in Quetico that went to a rapids, but you had to climb a rock face and a pile of fallen trees to even get a glimpse. I think the non operating park thing is what our premier is trying to do here to save costs. There is a great amount of resistance to the plan, because he is a dope. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Totally, because when you reach that viewpoint it sure feels so much more rewarding when you have to work for it. We’re actually planning to visit Quetico later in the summer during another Northern Ontario road trip. We’re going for two weeks this time so we are able to explore more around the Thunder Bay area. And yah, your premier seems like a real chump. I saw in the news yesterday that he and his buddies violated their own restrictions around outdoor gatherings by dining on the Sky Palace rooftop together.
I always say, his initials J.K. stand for Just Kidding. He really has no ability to think ahead.
It’s funny because it’s true. But also sad because it’s true. Womp womp.
I love looking at rushing water – even in still shots! Looks like you had a good hike even with a little rain. 🙂
I’ve always enjoyed trails that follow along a river or a pond. I too like the sounds of rushing water. I find it so peaceful. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but I imagine it helped keep the crowds away!
Yes, sometimes you have to work with a trade-off, right?
Definitely!! Our trails have become so busy now that it’s warmer outside that we try to take advantage of the crappy weather to visit the popular areas. Either that or leave first thing in the morning!
Two good options!
It’s always worth a hike to view a waterfall isn’t it, I love the sound and the spray too!
For sure, I always find being by the water so peaceful and relaxing. Depending on the weather it can be refreshing to get hit with some of the spray coming off the waterfall. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Lovely rapids. I find it so calming to just sit and admire the water. When you say that it’s non-operating, does that just mean that there’s no camping, toilets, etc, or does this mean that there’s little oversight?
Same. There’s always something so comforting about being near the water. We’ve had a heat warning in Toronto the past few days and it sure would be nice to be by (and in) the water now. Non-operating park means that camping is usually not permitted and that there are no (or limited) activities or facilities. Most non-operating parks don’t have a park office or washrooms. I’m not sure how well managed or maintained they are, but from the non-operating parks we’ve visited we haven’t come across too much trash on the trails.
Thanks for explaining.
It’s always amazing to find a hidden gem off the standard road that you go on. Have a wonderful time at your cabin!
You bet. I’m not sure if it’s because of the weather or the fact that the park entrance wasn’t very well signed, but there was hardly anyone else on the trail. It was nice to get one last visit at the cabin before it turns into a mosquito apocalypse. We likely won’t return until later in the summer.
Sometimes that’s the case with places that are off the beaten path. Glad you got your visit to your cabin in too!
For sure. It’s hard to come across those these days since it seems like everyone is interested in spending time outdoors. And yes, I’m glad we managed to get one last visit at the cabin. We’re in the middle of a heat warning and I would love to be around (and in) the water right about now.
Just think, someday we can enjoy the outdoors without masks on! Hope you’re able to cool off!
That would be amazing! As someone who wears glasses, I am so over them getting foggy while wearing a mask. By the way, I’ve set my alarm super early (for 5:30a.m) to watch the annular solar eclipse tomorrow.
Yeah, my Dad has the same glasses issue. Well, you have to tell me everything about the eclipse and don’t leave out ANYTHING! Promise?
Pinky swear promise. I even found the old glasses I used to safely watch the Transit of Venus. Hopefully they still work. It’s times like these where I thank my past self for holding onto things like this.
Thank you! 💕 And yes, I certainly hang onto my stuff as a self-confessed Eclipse Chaser
In retrospect I should have done some research on where to watch the sunrise in Toronto as the solar eclipse was supposed to occur around the same time (5:40a.m). I wasn’t able to see much as there were too many buildings and trees blocking my view. I sat outside for about 15 minutes before giving up and going back to bed. Frown town.
I understand. One does need to find the right place to view these things. I watched the replay from NASA. Not the same as being there
Seeing it on a screen is definitely not the same as being there and getting the full experience first hand. I saw a few pictures online and it looked pretty spectacular. Sorry that you missed it. Stupid COVID.
I watched the NASA replay. I remember when I saw the solar eclipse in 2017 my boss was boasting he could see it on his HD screen. Like, really? At least he didn’t resent me taking time off to travel to Oregon to see it for real!
HA! That’s totally not the same! To each their own I guess.
Yeah, except some things you think tech has done too much lol
What a lovely place to stop at on your way to the cabin. The waterfall is beautiful and looks quite powerful, too. 🙂 Fallen logs are certainly perfect for short sandwich breaks especially if there’s a good view. We went on a hike today and were delighted to stumble upon an old fallen tree which provided an opportunity to put our feet up 🙂 Aiva
Now that we’ve been visiting the cabin so often it’s been nice to explore more of the surrounding area, including the nearby provincial parks. I’ve always enjoyed a hike that follows the river and leads to a waterfall. And agreed, fallen logs make such great places to take a break. Take care.
May and no leaves … every year it seems to take a long time to set up, too long. It makes the park look a bit wilder
It’s crazy that when the trees start to bud, it doesn’t take long for the forest to transform. The one nice thing about having no leaves on the trees is that we were able to get a better view of the rapids on the way to the waterfall. Agreed, it does make the park look more wild.
Poor signage, steep paths and rough roads can be good for keeping the crowds away. Looks like a very natural, untrammelled park.
Definitely, that and the rain. It’s crazy how much this pandemic has changed where and when we hike because of the crowds. I’m glad we had this trail and those views of the waterfall pretty much all to ourselves. We encountered only one other pair of hikers.
Looks like a cool spot for a hike! The waterfall looks nice too!
The park entrance isn’t signed, but we did some research in advance and knew where to turn off the highway. It’s a relatively short trail with only one minor incline to reach the first viewpoint. So it’s not too much work to get a nice reward or rather a nice view of the waterfall.
Looks like a great hike, nice views of waterfalls!
That it was. It’s a relatively short trail that leads to a great viewpoint of the waterfall. I’ve always enjoyed being by the water and it’s always nice to hike along a trail and hear the sound of rushing water. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Waterfalls always add something special to a hike, this looks like a good walk
They sure do. It’s also neat how a waterfall can look so different depending on the season. Egan Chutes was definitely worth the detour, even if we did get a bit of rain towards the end of our hike.
I agree with the commenter (AB) who said it’s amazing how many parks you’ve visited in a short time. Canada is definitely on my list of places I’d like to take a hike. Beautiful areas.
Thanks. Being under some form of lockdown or shutdown over the past half a year has really given us a lot more free time to explore Ontario’s provincial parks! We’re at 39 parks and counting!! There’s a lot of wilderness in Canada, making it an ideal spot for hiking. You’d love it here.
I find it interesting how I am very aware of what I am seeing on the “ go to”portion of each trail and somewhat oblivious on the same rout back. How do you handle this predicament?
Well that could be because I didn’t take too many pictures on the way back as it started to rain 🙂
Exciting cascading waters overlooking beautiful greens. Happy wonderful adventure weekend.
The sounds of the rapids were good motivation to continue along our hike even though the sky was getting darker. While it started to rain on the way back, the views of the waterfall were worth the adventure. Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well and managed to get some fresh air.
This is the perfect combination for a great trail … hiking through the forest AND hear (and see) a river on your way! You’e got so many beautiful trails, it’s probably difficult to hike the same one twice 😊.
For sure. It’s always lovely to hear the sound of rushing water along the trail. Ontario has plenty of parks, conservation areas and other green spaces which create a lot of great hiking opportunities. The one benefit of the pandemic is that we’ve been able to explore more of our own backyard and hike a bunch of new trails. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Lovely photos! I love northern Ontario.
Thanks for your kind words and for commenting. I visited Northern Ontario for the first time last summer and fell in love with the area. It’s probably one of the most scenic places we’ve driven through. We’re planning on taking another road trip there this summer!
I loved the scenery and all of the people we came across in Ontario were so nice! Even those working in restaurants and airports and the like.
Us Canadians are definitely known for being polite! If you found the people in Ontario to be nice, you should visit Newfoundland someday! They are among some of the most friendly and welcoming people I’ve ever met. Plus their accents are very charming!