There’s more to Algonquin Park than meets the eye. Most families are familiar with the popular (and often crowded) Highway 60 corridor, featuring the welcome centre, Loggers Museum, and roadside campgrounds. More adventurous types may associate the park with hiking trails and paddling on any one of countless lakes.

But Algonquin isn’t all about camping, canoeing, and hiking. Few people realize that Algonquin Park is also an excellent biking destination, ideal for riders of all ages and experience levels.

As its name implies, Algonquin Park’s Old Railway Bike Trail follows the bed of the historic Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway (OA&PSR), built by 19th-century logging magnate J.R. Booth to access his expansive timber limits in the park and connect with grain-bearing steamers on Lake Huron. The railway ran from Ottawa to Georgian Bay, where Booth built his own port and town (Depot Harbour) near Parry Sound.

The line closed in 1959 and the rails have long since been lifted, but Booth’s legacy is a perfectly smooth and straight biking path that offers 34 kilometres of scenic views and wildlife viewing.

Because of its level, well-maintained, hard-packed surface, the trail is ideal for even novice riders, children included. It’s also quite scenic, passing through a mixture of forests and wetlands, along the shores of two lakes, and even past a large meadow that was once an airfield. Watch for interpretive plaques along the route that share details on various aspects of Algonquin Park’s human and natural history.

While the trail is one-way, there are access points at several campgrounds (Mew Lake, Kearney, Pog Lake, Raccoon Lake, and Rock Lake), allowing you to tailor the excursion to your own interests and ability.

You can bring your own bike, of course, or rent one – your choice of fat bike, mountain bike, tandem bike, or cruiser – from Algonquin Outfitters through their Two Rivers Store on Highway 60. All bike rentals come with a fitted helmet.

The ride is peaceful, the wilderness around you hushed and pristine. It’s hard, but exciting nonetheless, to imagine that a century ago, several dozen trains would have clattered along the same route.

The railway’s demise is the recreational biker’s gain.

Just the Facts

For more information: algonquinoutfitters.com/daytrip/old-railway-bike-trail
Old Railway Bike Trail | Algonquin Provincial Park | The Friends of Algonquin Park