A guide to completing the Challenge in six days

The Challenge

The challenge is to hike eleven trails in Frontenac Park in September and October. This effectively means covering every area of the park and almost all of the major trails within the park. Trails range in length from the simple 1.5 km Arab Lake trail, which is mostly on boardwalks, to the 21 km Slide Lake trail, which includes some scrambling. The total distance, by the time you have hiked from the parking lots to the trail heads, comes to about 117 km.

Pine Ridge Hiking Club, out of Port Hope, Ontario, used to do the whole thing in five gruelling days, starting with three consecutive 25 km days (see my Frontenac 2018 post). This year, I planned a slightly easier approach over six days, alternating between 18km and 25 km days, with about 15 kms on the start and finish day to allow for travel time.

The logistics

As usual, we stayed at the delightful Snug Harbour Resort, a very well-kept establishment on the shore of a small lake. The cabins are well heated and come with a fire pit, a deck, and a barbecue. They provide kitchen equipment, but you have to bring your own food and bedding. There are no nearby convenience stores, and most days are spent hiking with little time to shop or do anything else, so most people bring a frozen stew or something they can cook in a crock pot. One night, we barbecued sausages on buns.

Sometimes, people take a day off from hiking to fish, canoe, explore local small towns, or just to chill in a cabin by the lake. If you were travelling with a group that had the time and money, it would make sense to include a rest day for these activities.

It is about a 15-minute drive from the resort to the park. You can register for the challenge online in advance and also book your parking in advance. It is worthwhile to arrange to carpool between the resort and the park. Note that on day 4 (Gibson Lake), you can park for free just outside the park.

The hikes

SIX-DAY FRONTENAC CHALLENGE PROGRAM

Date	Travel	Hikes	Distances
Mon 16th	Drive to Park HQ and park there. Move to Arab Lake Parking for Arkon.	Arab Lake1.5 Doe Lake 3 Arkon Loop 11	16
Tue 17th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salmon Lake Lot	Slide Lake (if weather good)	25
Wed 18th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salmon Lake Lot	Little Salmon and Little Clear	18
Thu 19th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park Kingsford Dam	Gibson, Tetsmine & Hemlock	25
Fri 20th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salmon Lake Lot	Big Salmon	18
Sat 21st	Park at Arab Lake lot. Drive home.	Cedar Lake	15
TOTAL			117

NOTE: Trail distances include walk-in from the nearest parking lot

Logic: Do the two shortest hikes on travel days. Alternate long and medium days. Avoid repeating sections as much as possible. When essential, try to do it in different directions.

Get Slide Lake done on the first chance if the weather good

Do the Gibson, Tetsmine & Hemlock in roughly the middle of the trip as they are a bit different.

Hiking Notes

Day 1: Three short hikes. After meeting up and ensuring everyone is registered and has paid to park, walk to the right of the park offices and do Doe Lake anticlockwise, ending at the start of Arab Lake, which is also done anticlockwise and ends at the Park HQ parking lot. The challenge markers can be anywhere on these two trails.

Move to the Arab Lake parking lot and hike the Arkon Lake loop clockwise. The challenge sign will be in the first 2/3 of the loop before the trail joins the Little Salmon Lake Loop.

Day 2: Slide Lake. This is a long and tiring day. In 2023 it took 10 hours, hiking with a group that included several retired people. The section near Slide Lake is hard and includes a few short scrambling ascents and descents. Once started, the only options are to continue or to return the way you came; there are no shortcuts,

All Trails lists shows two parking lots at the end of Salmon Lake Road. This is incorrect. The location nearest the water is a boat launch area only.

The turn south from Big Salmon Lake is easy to miss as a false trail continues along the lake shore.

Do the loop clockwise, as the section near Slide Lake is hard and slow with some scrambling. We started hiking at 8:15 and did not get to the viewpoint over the two small islands in Slide Lake (our lunch stop) until 1:30. We only just completed the loop in daylight, taking 10 hours. Note that several of us are in our 60s and that 5 years ago, we did it in 8.5 hours. We were lucky to have a dry day, with some sunshine to cheer us on as we were flagging near the end!

Day 3: Little Salmon/Little Clear Lake. We did this as a figure of eight, beginning clockwise around Little Salmon and then anticlockwise around Little Clear. This route passes the famous abandoned truck, “Thor”.

We stopped for lunch at campsite 9a, which was vacant. We appreciated the picnic table and washroom! (Note that technically the campsites are reserved for people who have booked and paid to use them).

Going west along the 0.4 km section at the top of Little Clear, the signposts are unclear, and it is easy to miss the sharp left turn path south back down to Little Salmon. Total time six hours.

Day 4: Three northern lakes. Drive north from Snug Harbour and then turn right and take the Devil’s Lake turnoff after about 8 km. After 1.7 kilometres there is a small unlabelled road to the right by a “No Parking” sign. Take this road and there is a free parking lot 250m.

Head towards campsite 11, then do a U-turn and head east. After the mica mine, turn south until you reach the triple junction point between Tetsmine, Hemlock and Lynch lakes. You will return to this exact spot two more times. Consider marking it in some way.

Proceed clockwise around the Hemlock Lake loop. Look for the sign in the east 0.6 km section between Gibson and Clear Lake loops and in the 0.6 km west section between Little Clear and Tetsmine Lops.

From the triple point, go north, repeating a 1.7km section, then go right and proceed clockwise. The marker can be anywhere from this junction to rejoining Hemlock Lake. There is a nice bench near the Rathkopf Fen at the NE corner of the trail for lunch.

Finally, head West and complete the Tetsmine Loop clockwise, looking for the marker any time after leaving Lynch Lake. This section features a walk with views down into a gorge, a steep descent into Moulton Gorge, and some mine remnants, including a large cog wheel.

Day 5: Big Salmon. Park at the Salmon Lake lot, walk down to the washrooms, then head left (West). Turn right towards campsites 3 and 6. Keep going east, past “Thor”, an abandoned truck. Start looking for the Challenge marker as you head around Black Lake, and go south, around the east end of Big Salmon, until you regain the Slide Lake Loop trail and head back to the parking lot.

Day 6: Cedar Lake. Park at the Arab Lake parking lot. Head west out of the lot and follow signs for campsite 2, looking out carefully for the Challenge marker. Head north towards the turnoff for the Dedication Trail, which you do not take. Eventually you will reach the south side of Big Salmon, a good spot to stop for lunch. Later, before you get to the Salmon Lake washrooms, take the left turn back to the Arab Lake parking Lot.

Congratulations, you are all finished!

Remember to hand in your list of trails completed and the code word for each loop at the Park Office or online before November 1^st!