Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I'm planning to head out to Algonquin this weekend for a day or two trip. I searched the forum and there seems to be alot of different areas to see.

Since this will be my first time, can anyone suggest a particular place for some scenic/landscape photography. some calm water w/ rocks with a nice background of trees would be perfect.

oh, may need a place to stay at so any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

I am going to assume you are planning to basically stay along the Hwy 60 corridor and use a car to get around. Algonquin is a huge place and this presents a challenge sometimes as there can be too much to see and shoot. Here are a couple of suggestions;

Early morning cliche location but still one of the best places for sunrise is to shoot from the beach at the Two Rivers Campground over Lake of Two Rivers.

The road to Opeongo Lake offers a couple of excellent locations including Costello Lake (good morning location) at the start of the road and the large Spruce Bog at the mid point. This road can be excellent for wildlife.

Brewers Lake towards the east end of the highway can be good for sunsets as can be the East Beach at Lake of Two Rivers and the bridge over Smoke Creek towards Tea Lake.

There are numerous lakes along the highway and any of them under the right conditions can be wonderful.

The trails along the highway can also offer opportunities for images if you are willing to put in the time and the effort to walk them. Some of the trails are relatively short, but others will take a morning or afternoon to walk and shoot.

As for accommodation you may find that hard to get on a long weekend. Having said that the East Gate Motel in Whitney is popular with a number of my friends. The other motel across from the Shell station in town is not as popular. The Mad Musher restaurant in town has some rooms, but I don't know anything about them.

http://www.algonquineastgatemotel.com/

On the west end you will likely find they are much busier and there may be no vacancy. There are a couple of motels in the town of Dwight and in Oxtounge Lake. I don't have any experience with them, however, friends speak highly of the Algonquin Lakeside Inn. I have also heard many good reports on the Wolf Den Bunkhouse.

http://www.algonquininn.com/
http://www.wolfdenbunkhouse.com/

A list of local accommodation is found on the Algonquin Park web site at;
http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/service/ser_lodges.html

Hope that helps a little. I may be up in the park myself on Sunday.

Daryl

I usually stay at the White Birches cottages on Oxtongue Lake. Nice, clean cosy cottages and a short scenic walk to Algonquin Outfitters. They're located just a short ride from the park entrance.

http://www.whitebirches-algonquin.com/

I've also stayed at the Dwight Motel which is a litter further west from the gates but it is the cheaper route if you want to save some $$.

http://www.dwightvillagemotel.com/

Thanks Daryl/Carlton! checking them out now.

No probs. I think the Dwight Motel was like $45/night but it was 6yrs ago when I last stayed there. Have fun!

I've stayed at Algonquin Inn, and it's a very nice place. The owner is a photographer as well, and he'll give you suggestions on where to go.

That said, if you don't have a reservation yet.... good luck! You'll need it.

The best time for anything in Algonquin is the morning, the earlier the better.

Opeongo road is a nice stretch for scenery, but the best requires hiking/canoeing in.

Darn, The Algonquin Inn's minimum stay is 3 nights. only staying 1 night... this is tougher then i tought.

How is the drive to and through the park?

Is it as fun and intense as Adirondack's in New York? i had a blast driving through Adirondack with strangly high speed limits...

For shorter stays, you could try a Hostel. There's a Hostelling International (HI) one on the East Side of the park, down on Hightway 127 in Maynooth. I've been to HI Hostels before and they're OK. You don't need to be a youth.

http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostel0110 ... map=Y#book

Haven't been there myself since I end up just camping when I go to Algonquin..

Booth's Rock is a pretty good hike with a great lookout of the lake and forest.

Centennial Ridge is a good (and long) hike. Numerous lookouts if you do the full trail or you can do the main lookout by doing the trail in reverse and back in a fraction of a time. Booth Rock's is also an excellent trail and not as long.

As for the drive, going through 60 is nice, and even better in the fall though traffic can get pretty bad. Roads up there, there are some nice drives to get there going through Coboconk and Bancroft if you want to get to the east side or Lake of Bays from the west... longer drives of course.

Centennial Ridge is a good (and long) hike. Numerous lookouts if you do the full trail or you can do the main lookout by doing the trail in reverse and back in a fraction of a time. Booth Rock's is also an excellent trail and not as long.

As for the drive, going through 60 is nice, and even better in the fall though traffic can get pretty bad. Roads up there, there are some nice drives to get there going through Coboconk and Bancroft if you want to get to the east side or Lake of Bays from the west... longer drives of course.

Find somewhere to camp out

So how did it go? I love Algonquin. I am up in Haliburton Forest quite a lot.. which is essentially Algonquin teritory for all intense purposes.