For a guaranteed fantastic day hike not too far away from home, we love heading out to The Crack in Killarney Provincial Park. Since it’s on the La Cloche Silhouette Trail, we go as far as we can until we have to turn back, so it’s never the same hike twice. And as one of Ontario’s high points at 355 metres, a day hike to The Crack is of course a great way to get killer views of Killarney and the surrounding Georgian Bay area.
This time around, we began at the access lot nearest to The Crack, but it’s also possible to begin at the George Lake campground to take in the Cranberry Bog Trail. But since we wanted to reach the Proulx Lake and Little Superior Lake campsites, we decided to save that route for our next day hike to The Crack.
Our dogs, black labs, didn’t need much help while climbing The Crack itself. Most of the time, they were able to find their way under or around the boulders we had to climb over, but Marc did give them a boost here and there.
We only met a few people along the trail on the way up. Once we reached the top of The Crack, we stopped briefly to admire the scenery and take pictures, then continued following the La Cloche Silhouette Trail, planning to stop for a longer break on our way back.
During the rest of our day hike to The Crack and beyond, we only saw one other group of hikers; otherwise the trail was ours. Killarney may be known for its crowds, but it’s quite peaceful at the right time of year (or far enough in the backcountry).
Once we got to the Little Superior Lake campsite, we explored for all of five minutes before deciding to check out the Proulx Lake campsite instead. The two sites simply don’t compare. As long as it’s unoccupied, I definitely recommend stopping for lunch at Proulx Lake while on your day hike to The Crack and beyond.
The way back always goes by faster, for some reason, so we were back at The Crack in a flash. So fast, in fact, that I didn’t realize we were there until we started to climb down! I insisted we go back up the hill to the lookout point and take a break — there wasn’t anyone there, the sun was lowering in the horizon, and everything seemed to stand still, except the birds and the bugs.
Climbing down The Crack is harder than climbing up, in my opinion. I find the way down a bit hard on the knees, so we took our time. Once we got to flat ground again, the dogs were happy to find a lake and go for a swim.
While the Ontario Parks website indicates that it’s a challenging 6-kilometre, 4-hour return day hike to The Crack from the nearest access point, our trip to Proulx Lake and back took us a total of about 7 hours.
Driving away from Killarney, our day hike to The Crack now over, we saw a fox on the side of the road, who kindly stood still long enough for me to take a picture.
Tips For a Great Day Hike to The Crack
- Bring plenty of water if you’re planning on continuing beyond The Crack — and if you’re filtering your own, make sure to fill up at Kakakise Lake, since the next available spot isn’t until Little Superior Lake.
- Try to make the trip in May or June, before Killarney fills up with visitors. Killarney attracts crowds of tourists during the summer and autumn months, so spring is best for those wishing to spend solitary time in nature.
- On the other hand, the best scenery is in the fall, when the vibrant colours of the leaves contrast against the white quartzite of the Killarney Ridge.
More Hikes in Killarney
If a day hike to The Crack isn’t enough for you, the Killarney area has plenty of other trails you can tackle!
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