Length of stay: 1 day
Visited: September 2021
Blue Lake Provincial Park is situated in northwestern Ontario and is known for its long sandy beach and crystal clear water. Blue Lake is actually one of dozens of lakes left behind after the retreat of ancient Lake Agassiz which covered much of northwestern Ontario and southern Manitoba. Besides providing excellent opportunities for swimming and fishing, it also offers camping and a variety of trails for hiking.
After spending the morning hiking in Rushing River Provincial Park, we arrived at Blue Lake in the early afternoon.
First things first, food. We drove to the beach area where there’s a sheltered picnic area to make and eat some lunch. The covered picnic area provided nice relief from the sun plus we had lovely views of Blue Lake. I’d say the park lived up to its name and reputation.
We went for a short stroll along the sandy shore. The benefit of visiting later in the season was that we had the beach all to ourselves, which was surprising considering how warm the weather was.
We then went to hike along the Spruce Fen Trail (1km, loop, rated easy). The trail follows along a boardwalk through a black spruce forest and out onto an open fen. There are interpretive signs along the way that provide more information about the importance of fens and the types of plants that can be found here.
The Spruce Fen Trail connects with a couple of other longer trails in the park, but we were unfortunately pressed for time.
Instead we hiked along the Boulder Ridge Trail (1km loop, rated easy), which meanders through the forest and passes a series of glacial erratics. The trailhead is located just south of the park entrance along Trans-Canada Highway 17. There is no parking along the shoulder of the road though, so we instead parked back at the day-use area by the main beach and walked a few hundred metres to get to get to trailhead.
It was a short hike through the forest. And with that we were back in the parking lot and ready to hit the road once again.
L
My progress on the Ontario Parks Challenge can be found here
Blue Lakes looks like a wonderful park. I love these Ontario Parks with their white powdery Sandy beach! And that water does indeed look blue and very inviting! 😊
How many park crests did you end up accumulating last year? And no worries if you’re saving that tidbit to share for later. 😊
Happy Thursday!
It’s pretty amazing how many beautiful sandy beaches there are in Ontario. I was surprised at how crystal clear the water was at Blue Lake. The trails were also very nice.
I haven’t done a final count of my park crests yet (there’s too many!), but we visited just over 100 parks last year. It was such a fun challenge and a great way to see more of Ontario.
Happy Friday! The weekend is almost here! Woohoo!
Look forward to your final tally. Enjoy your weekend too!
Thanks! We’re planning on going snowshoeing at Pinery Provincial Park (since our plans for last weekend fell through). I just booked our accommodations in Grand Bend this morning. I can’t wait!! Have a wonderful weekend as well.
Enjoy your snowshoeing! A beautiful park to spend a snowy weekend at.
Thanks! It was a little chilly today, but at least the sun was shining and it wasn’t windy. Once we got moving around it wasn’t so bad. I’ve been camping at Pinery a few times, but this was our first time visiting in the winter. The beach looked beautiful and there were some pretty neat ice formations. Hope you’re enjoying the weekend so far. It seems to go by way too quickly.
This lake so calm and beautiful view 🌷🙏👍🏻♥️😊
The views of the lake were gorgeous. I’m glad we had such nice weather to enjoy the beach and the various trails throughout the park. It was the perfect day to have some fun in the sun.
Love that deserted beach
It’s hard to believe that this beach is in Ontario and that we had it all to ourselves. It was a lovely spot to stop for a picnic and eat some lunch.
A beautiful clear lake with lovely hiking trails. I love the variety of trails and topography. Too bad your time was short. Thanks for sharing. Allan
I’d say Blue Lake was appropriately named. The sandy beach and hiking trails were beautiful. It’s too bad we didn’t have more time to spend here as it would have been nice to hike the remaining trails in the park and to stay at the campground overnight. Oh well, it gives us a good excuse to come back someday. Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend. Linda
Beautiful view😍
This was a lovely park to stop for lunch and to stretch our legs. I’m glad we had such beautiful weather to enjoy the views of the lake and hike along some of the shorter trails in the park. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
Wow, that is a very scenic picnic area!
We couldn’t have picked a better spot to eat our lunch and soak in the views of Blue Lake. The covered picnic area was also quite nice and spacious. The best part was that we had the place all to ourselves.
Wow! Amazing place and photos! Very peaceful.
Thanka for share.
Have a wonderful time!
Elvira
Thanks for your kind words. I love how the sun makes the water shimmer and shine. It was a lovely spot to stop for a picnic. Take care. Linda
What a lovely beach (and happy days when you don’t have to share that with anyone else 😁). And another great boardwalk … looks to me like the perfect hiking trail!
I’d say the park lived up to its name. This was a lovely spot to soak in the views of the crystal clear water while eating our lunch. The trails were also fantastic. I’m such a fan of hikes through the wetlands that also feature a boardwalk. It’s too bad we couldn’t stay for longer as it looks like it would have been a nice spot to camp.
Lovely nature and weather! Having a beach all to yourself has to be one of the happiest occurrences in human life, ha ha. How’s your January been thus far? Have you been to the cabin recently?
It’s always nice to have blue skies and sun when camping. The sandy beach and brilliant blue waters were such a lovely surprise. It was hard to believe that we were still in Ontario. It was a lovely park to stop for lunch and stretch our legs.
We’ve had a bit of a slow start to January and are really feeling the pandemic fatigue. I am starting to map out our holidays and just booked a trip out west though. We went to the cabin earlier in the month to ring in the New Year and are hoping to return in February. The winter is actually my favourite time to visit the cabin as there’s no bugs! Hope all is well with you and Sladja. Have a wonderful weekend.
Nothing like a deserted beach on a hot summer day! Looks beautiful. Maggie
It’s a rarity these days to have a little slice of nature all to yourself. It was quite the drive to get to northwestern Ontario, but it was so worth it for the peace and quiet.
The lake and beach are beautiful! the glacial boulders and ancient lake are amazing, I’ve read about that lake. ❤️🇨🇦
This was a lovely park to stop to stretch our legs and eat some lunch. The water was so crystal clear and blue that it was hard to believe that we were still in Ontario. The best part was that we had it all to ourselves.
I love the views. Such a pretty trail. I wonder how cold the water is in the lake? 💦
We visited in mid-September when the days are usually still warm, but the nights are cold. The lake felt pretty chilly when I stuck my hand in, so we decided to stick with the trails rather than go for a swim.
I am pretty sure your warm and my warm aee very different. Lol. Anyways the trail and views are worth the hike
Most definitely!! Same with the cold. Right now it’s -14C (feels like -21C) here in Ontario, which is actually not bad compared to yesterday!
Wow. For reference… I am in Trinidad. It was 30 C yesterday…cold here is 19 C. Lol 🌞🧊
I’m very jealous. We’re hoping to go somewhere warm over Easter to escape the cold. We’ll probably decide closer to the date as there’s still a lot of uncertainty around travel.
Yes indeed travel requirements change all the time. I wanna have a winter Christmas sometime soon ❄️🥰
I’ll trade you 🙂
Lolol 😁😄 🌞 for ❄️
Wow what a beautiful place to explore!! Thanks for sharing!
The scenery in Northern Ontario is beautiful. This was a lovely park to stop for a couple of hours to eat some lunch and explore. The nice thing about taking a road trip in September was that many of the parks were mostly empty, which meant we had the trails and campgrounds mostly all to ourselves. And there were no bugs. Thanks for reading. Linda
That’s so cool you had the beach to yourself! That never happens!
No kidding!! Unless you are willing to drive 18+ hours up north to get away from the city and the crowds! It was a far drive to get to northwestern Ontario, but it was so worth it for the scenery and peace and quiet.
Sounds like it was definitely worth it!
You bet. I would do it again if I had the time (or if travel restrictions remain in place).
Blue Lake looks idyllic Linda with the beautiful pale sand and another one of those wonderful badges to add to your collection.
Blue Lake is probably one of the nicest lakes I’ve seen in Ontario. The water looked so crystal clear and I love the rolling greens hills in the background. The water was a bit too chilly for swimming though. It’s been fun trying to collect all the various park badges. This one was really pretty.
That lake and beach are gorgeous! The water is so clear. Too bad you weren’t able to stay longer.
Oh I know. I wish we had more time to hike the other trails in the park. It’s too bad we didn’t camp here either as the campground looked quite nice and spacious. Next time. I have a feeling we’ll be back here someday.
Thank-you for another ‘healthy dose’ of pretty and peaceful park pictures. 😊
Thanks for your lovely comment. We were a bit hesitant about visiting in September as the days are shorter and the the nights can be quite chilly. But the parks were much quieter and there were no bugs. I’d say the pros outweigh the cons.
Oh. this is so nice! I love boardwalks, and that water looks so clear.
Julie
I’m such a fan of boardwalk trails that weave through the wetlands. Bogs are so fascinating and it’s amazing to see all the various plants that grow here. I’m glad we visited in the fall though otherwise I’m sure the mosquitoes situation would have been out of control.
ANother beautiful park and lake to add to the list!
I gotta say, the provincial parks in northwestern Ontario were well designed for a road trip. It’s nice how many of them are located close to the highway and are spread out in such a way that we were able to break up the drive every couple of hours to stretch our legs. Blue Lake was one of my favourites. I would totally return, stay the night, and explore the remaining trails.
That’s a great observation!
The only issue was figuring out how much time to spend at each park while planning our road trip. There never seems to be enough time.
Gorgeous clear water. Looks so beautiful.
I love a good fen too. This definitely looks like a park worthy of visiting. Thanks for sharing your valuable research.
It was hard to believe that we were still in Ontario with those crystal clear waters and beautiful rolling hills in the background. Even though the Spruce Fen Trail was super short and sweet, it was one of my favourites during our Northern Ontario road trip. I am obsessed with bogs and fens and I love a good trail along a boardwalk. Thanks for reading. Linda
True! The water does look like a tropical destination. Your photos and articles do Ontario proud.
Aww thanks!! I tend to take where I live for granted and would usually spend most of my vacation days outside of Ontario. The one benefit of this pandemic is that it’s forced us to explore more of what’s in our own backyard. Turns out there’s quite a lot to see and do.
Another nice post and another lovely trail badge you ve got!
All these trails there, look very well established and organised.
Thanks for your kind words and for commenting. Blue Lake was a lovely place to stop for lunch and to explore some of the trails. The trails were all well signed and easy follow, which is great since I’m terrible with navigation. It’s always a bonus to score a park badge as well.
What a pretty trail to explore on a sunny day – I love the views of the shimmering water you captured beautifully through the trees. Makes me miss warmer days, I can’t wait to shed heavy winter coats! Thanks for sharing and have a lovely day 🙂 Aiva
Thanks for your lovely comment. It’s funny how the sun can make such a difference in terms of how the water looks. The scenery in the park was beautiful and it’s always nice to take advantage of the warm weather by going for a picnic and a hike. I sure miss those warmer days as well. Currently it’s -15C (feels like -20C). Brrr. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Linda
What a grand hike! And maybe you can take on the Spruce Fen Trail in the future. Your shots lead me to believe it would also be stunning.
It’s always nice to plan a few stops while taking a road trip to break up the drive and stretch our legs. I love a good trail along the boardwalk and am so fascinated with fens. We had such wonderful weather to be out on the the trail.
Such a beautiful place
The landscape was stunning and the sun was shining which made the water appear crystal clear. It was a great day to be outdoors and just enjoy our surroundings. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment.
Oh wow, this is beautiful – definitely one of my favourites you’ve shared. The water is just stunning in the sunshine with the light bouncing off it 🙂
Blue Lake was very beautiful. I love how the sun makes the winter shimmer and shine. This was a lovely spot to stop for some lunch and explore the trails.
The water is just so clear and blue. Exciting and relaxing at the same time. It’s my work weekend so I’m hiking I imaginatively through your adventures. Thanks.
It’s surprising how many beautiful sandy beaches there are in Ontario. The water looked so blue and beautiful. I’d say Blue Lake was appropriately named. That’s too bad that you had to work on the weekend, but hopefully that means you’ll have next weekend off. Take care. Linda
Thanks Linda. Yes, off next weekend. Thinking of outdoor activities and Roadtrips already. Nice to excite on something.
For sure. It’s always nice to have something to look forward to to get you through the work week. 2 days down, 3 more to go.
This might be the most beautiful of the park entry artworks. This looks like a lovely spot, the boardwalk through the fens and the lake.
I love how some of the parks add a unique design to their entrance sign. Agreed, the one at Blue Lake was very well done. I’m such a fan of trails with a boardwalk, especially through the wetlands. It’s neat to see and learn about all the different plants and trees that grow here.
I have wondered how difficult it must have been to construct some of those boardwalks. It would be interesting to see.
Good question. It probably wasn’t easy and would have required getting wet and muddy and being pestered by mosquitoes and flies!