Emily provincial park
Address: 797 Emily Park Rd, Omemee, ON K0L 2W0, which is about 1.5 hours or more driving time from Toronto.
Emily Provincial Park is about up north from Peterborough. It is an interesting and huge park to explore. And it is not a long drive to get there from Toronto, plus it is so much worth it for a visit. It has a lot of trails to explore and campgrounds as well.
Admission: during the winter months like January or Feb until May, the park is free for admission since there is no one there to check in for us to pay or fees. And I called the park phone line, they said that the park is close and will be re open in May for the summer months. And people could still park in the park ground and do the hiking activities for free. When I was there, only a few cars were parked there and it was not crowded. It was great for our hike even though the weather was cold out there.
Snow Leaves
The beautiful snowy day is so magical that I find winter is a forever loving season and make me feel that I love winter more and more. It was snowing the days before and that created thick snow hanging on the leaves and branches which made the whole landscape a winter wonderland!
Every Corner is a Beauty and Life
I love it more and more when it was sunny out there and all around you was white colour with the sun reflection and all the trees turned to be white like ice statues. Also, we encountered a wildlife along our way. Could you guess what we saw? It was a busy woodpecker. We could not miss it because it made so much chopping sound, and we just enjoyed listening to it and seeing how determined and hardworking it was for a woodpecker to find its food.
Trail Path
The trail paths were difficult to walk on as you see in the picture because the snow was not removed. Some parts of the trails especially at the beach area, it reached the upper part of our leg and could get inside the boots. That was why it took me longer to complete the trail loop. The path that was in the picture was leading to the swamp area and it was so beautiful to just stand there and enjoy the sun and the view.
Explore the park more:
The park has quite decent trails and campgrounds. I did not have a chance to explore the campgrounds though. We could complete the connection trails (Marsh Trail and Fern Trail)- the length is about 3 km. They were all great trails because they have both the combinations of the forest and the waterfront/beach theme even though you could not see the water. You could explore more of its trails from: https://www.ontarioparks.com/pdf/maps/emily/park_map.pdf
They also have another trail called Emily Tract. I will try that trail when I visit there again. https://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/index.php?url=trails/view/emily-tract—loops-1-and-2
You could also explore more trails at Emily Provincial Park at AllTrail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/ontario/emily-provincial-park
