Hardy Lake Trails, Muskoka
A photography-lover’s wonderland!
Hardy Lake Trails, Muskoka
Hardy Lake Trails are found in Hardy Lake Provincial Park in Muskoka Lakes, off highway 169 just east of Torrance. They’re a bit of a hidden gem, and in my opinion, one of the best places to visit for a day or two within a short driving distance of the Greater Toronto Area.
There are a number of trails in the park, the longest being 9kms, and the shortest just 3kms.
The long trail takes you on a spectacular hike across boardwalks to an island, and the vast views are Instagram-worthy at the very least. In fact, the island view is the most instagrammed view in the park! The openness of the area means there is often a breeze, which helps keep the bugs away during summer months.
If you’re looking for a great place to hike and enjoy some nature and landscape photography in Ontario Canada, then Hardy Lake Trails may just tick all the boxes. I popped up for a day, staying overnight, to do some autumn photography. Hardy Lake has now become one of my favourite places to visit for quick fix of the classic Ontario “lakes, rocks, and forest” landscape photography.
There are many views across the lake with rocky outcrops and pine trees. This, to me, is classic Ontario landscape photography.
A long lens is useful for scenes like this, where you want to compress the image, and create a tight shot without a distracting sky.
My favourite Hardy Lake Trail for photography
The main 3km trail (the green line on the map, below), runs north along the east side of Hardy Lake, then veers east, before taking you back south through forest, passing wetland. I found myself spending the entire day on this trail, walking it twice. It offered so much for photography. You experience rocky shorelines, views across the lake, large granite outcrops, wonderful forest sections, and a highly photogenic boggy wetland with a beaver pond, as you head south back to the parking lot.
The wetland section can be boggy and tricky to navigate, but offers some wonderful scenes to photograph.
My favourite photo from the day. The pastel colours and diffused light create a painterly feel.
What To Bring: Gear for hiking the Hardy Lake Trails
Good waterproof boots are recommended for this trail, there are wet muddy patches that can get very boggy and tricky to navigate, particularly on the east side of the 3km trail, as the trail passes a beaver pond.
To view the beavers, binoculars are a good idea. For photographers, this is a great opportunity to take a long telephoto lens. A long lens is also useful on the west side of the 3km trail, as it passes along Hardy Lake. There are rocky outcrops across the lake that look wonderful if shot with a telephoto, to get a nice tight compressed shot. I dragged along my heavy 300mm prime for this purpose, and it was well worth the effort.
The open areas in the summer means sunscreen is essential, or at least a brimmed hat to keep the sun off your face and neck. With all the wetland, mosquitoes are prolific, so some bug spray is handy too.
You can end up walking and exploring the trail for many hours, so remember to bring a bottle of water. May I suggest a stainless steel bottle, to avoid using plastic.
Article & Photos by Simon Burn
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Watch my YouTube video of my Hardy Lake Muskoka day out, photographing the fall colours:
For those of you who own a tripod and neutral density filters, Hardy Lake offers a great opportunity to do some long exposures. In the midday photos above, I shot the left image at 1/30 of a second with a good depth of field, but felt it needed to be simplified. The right shot, using neutral density filters, was a 4 second exposure, blurring the water and taking away the busy reflections.
Where to stay for Hardy Lake Trails
If you’re a keen photographer who likes to be up and out early in the morning to experience some wonderful low warm light, then consider finding your overnight accommodation in Torrance, at the Muskoka Beer Spa. They have some wonderful rustic cabins, and are just a few minutes drive from the Hardy Lakes Provincial Park parking lot. You might consider staying there at the end of a long day hiking and photographing, and relax in their saunas, or hot tub. Across the road from the Spa you’ll find Clear Lake Brewing Co., where you can grab a nice local ale and some great food.
