mizzy lake trail

Best to mark out most if not all the day for this hike. It takes you through a variety of different settings, and is well known for specific birds species including Spruce Grouse, Northern Jay and Boreal Chickadee.

Be on the lookout for black bears and moose! We were sitting on a bench eating a snack and spotted a black bear across a lake...he spotted us too! Guess our snacks smelled good. Saw moose tracks, but not moose. Saw beaver dam too.

Mizzy Trail is my heaven. A long and somewhat difficult hiking trail, filled with the BEST wildlife (saw my first wild bull moose!!) and stunning views. I only wish I lived closer so I could visit more often!

This trail takes a while to complete but you will be rewarded for the effort. It takes the best part of a day and your chances of seeing wildlife are excellent. Important Note: no dogs are allowed on this trail due to the abundance of wildlife. The most interesting species I've seen on this trail was a Pine Marten. Normally very reclusive and hard to spot but this one was very curious and returned our stares for a few minutes while it was trying to invade a bird's nest nearby. The trail is varied - from rocky to wooded to open meadow and quite a few lakes. Due to the length of the trail it also tends to not be very busy. Some of the smaller trails can almost feel crowded in peak Summer and Autumn months. I think it's great that Algonquin has trails of varying length and difficulty so that everyone can enjoy the park. Personally if I'm committing to a longer hike in an effort to see wildlife though, I prefer to bump into animals rather than other people! :-) I would personally rate this as a moderate-difficulty trail. It is 11 km or so and while I didn't find the terrain particularly challenging, you do require a certain level of fitness to complete the trail. Proper footwear is essential. Trail is clearly marked and easy to navigate. Get an early start if you are able to and try to go on a cooler or overcast day if possible - there is one stretch that is very open and gets quite hot when it's sunny.

I walked this trail at the recommendation of a lady working in the East Gate. At 11km long, it's the longest of the trails off Highway 60 and I was assured that it was an easy walk, fairly flat and only its length has given it the 3/3 difficulty rating. This trail also offers a lot of potential for wildlife sightings, perhaps more so than the others, because it seems to be less used.First off, I found this trail hard. It took me 4.5 hours to walk the 11km! To be fair, I'd walked a long way the day before, my feet were blistered, and I skipped both breakfast and missed lunch while I was on the trail (I forgot my food in the car). So yes, ensure you have enough food and water to last you for that length of time. If you get tired, there's a bench at each of the checkpoints on the map, although you'll probably find that people have already taken them and are unwilling to share. The first part of the trail takes you through the forest, which will require stepping over tree roots and dodging mud pools. Eventually you'll come to a short boardwalk section along the lake edge then it's back into the forest before reaching the best bit - a flat section of old railway that leads to yet more lakes. After the railway, it's back into the forest for the latter half of the trail - the section that I found the hardest - all the way to the end of the trail. Some of the mud pools in the last half of the trail are deep (i.e. well over your hiking boots) and wide so gators might be useful if you have them.As for the wildlife viewing, I only saw a heron. There's turtles at the halfway mark (didn't see any but I think I saw some nests with eggs in the path itself), a bear den (best seen in winter without the foliage blocking the view) and apparently there's wolf howling too on this trail at certain times of the year. During my walk, I did come across fresh moose prints on the old railway and heard some weird sounds; I've never heard a moose before but now I've checked it out, that's exactly what I heard. It sounded very close (<50m) but sadly I couldn't see it through the trees.The trail doesn't seem particularly popular, perhaps because of its length, so if you're looking for some peace and quiet then this would be a good trail for you. The landscape, especially in the open sections, e.g. the lakes, is beautiful. I'd walk this trail again.

This is the longest trail from the main highway, and a great trail to do. As it is long, it is relatively quiet, and the chances of seeing wildlife are high. Although long, it is not overly challenging, but it does take the best part of a day to do. Hiking through varied landscapes, this trail really shows you the full beauty of the park.