Bon Echo is, simply put, a beautiful place. We spent a weekend there for the first time recently, and absolutely loved it. Camping aside, there is so much to see and do there. We were able to explore some of the shorter trails, as well as the Abes and Essens Trail. We can’t wait to head back next summer!

As a bonus, Bon Echo Provincial Park is only a two hour drive from Ottawa, making it amazing for weekend trips. AND dogs are allowed on all the trails in the park, as long as they’re on leash.

Our first day at Bon Echo, we headed out on the Abes and Essens Trail for a day trip. We weren’t disappointed. This trail is described as being “moderate to difficult” by the park, and is totally worth it. There’s a real sense of calm that you get out at Abes Lake, and the views over the water from some of the campsites can’t be beat.

One of the great things about this trail is how versatile it is in terms of length; there are three loops that you can choose to take, all of which are a part of the largest loop (Abes Loop). Essentially, the smaller loops just cut across to the return portion of the biggest loop. Genius.

The smallest loop circles Clutes Lake, and is only 3.5 kilometres long. The second, called Essens Loop, allows for a longer trek, coming in at a total distance of 9.6 kilometres. We completed the largest loop, the Abes Loop, with a recorded distance of 15.5 kilometres. We were under the impression that its length was 17 kilometres, having read up on it previously, but we weren’t upset to see the road early after a long haul through the woods.

Getting to the Abes and Essens Trailhead

The Abes and Essens Trail is inside the boundary of Bon Echo Provincial Park. You can use these coordinates to get to the park: 44.897370, -77.209859 .

You can choose to camp at the park, or just visit for a day. When we went, we went for the day and it cost $14.50. The first day we spent there was a Friday so the office at the front entrance wasn’t open, but we were able to pay at the administrative office which was just a bit further down the road. It opens at 8:15 a.m. on weekdays. They accept cash and debit/credit cards, although some things (like firewood) can only be paid for in cash so it’s best to bring some with you.

Bon Echo is only technically “open” for use until October 15th, but you can still park outside and head in for the day when it’s closed.

When you first drive into the park and past the first office, there’s a roundabout immediately after. The road to the Abes and Essens Trail is to the north of this roundabout. If you’re driving IN to the park, it’s the second exit on the roundabout, but if you’re heading back OUT of the park, it’s your first exit.

We travelled down a wide, well maintained dirt road until we came across a sign indicating that parking for the trailhead was to our left. These are the coordinates for the parking: 44.902481, -77.245592 . It was really easy to reach the trailhead because the signs were well placed.

We parked in a lot that had room for about twenty cars, and crossed back over the road because the trailhead started on the north side.

The Trail

Starting out on the trail it was quite rocky, and really had us watching where we put our feet. I was totally okay with that, because that’s the sort of thing that makes it feel like a hike to me! The air was crisp and cool, and we hiked for 1.6 kilometres before we reached the split for the Clutes Loop. There is no way that you can miss where the trail splits to form the smaller loops. It is super well marked. There was a sign to our left for the Essens Loop, and a sign to our right for the Clutes Loop. Had we wanted to complete the shortest loop, we would have turned right at this point, but we were taking the long route, so we headed left on the Essens Loop.

Things headed uphill for a bit here (see elevation chart at the end of this report). There was a short break before heading upwards again just before the second split. We arrived at the split for the Essens Loop after hiking for 3.6 kilometres. Again, it was so well marked that there was no way to miss it. We stuck to the left.

The terrain that we were travelling over had already begun to vary. We were spending a lot of time on a dirt trail covered in pine needles, which was great. I really love a path covered in pine needles- I’m not sure why. But, we were in Canadian Shield country, so we got to spend a lot of time climbing over (and walking past) gigantic rocks and wondering about how they got there.

Campsite 530

Not long after we hiked past the second split and officially got onto the Abes Loop, we came across campsite #530. This campsite was incredibly beautiful, and looked out over Little Rock Lake. It also felt really secluded, even though we had only been hiking for four kilometres by the time we reached it.

There are five campsites along this trail, and #530 is definitely in my top three.

This campsite is on top of a giant rock face, and the view is spectacular. All the campsites on this trail have a privy nearby, and a fire pit and picnic table on the site. Not too shabby. #530 didn’t have a ton of flat, soft ground to set a tent up on, so smaller tents or hammocks would be better on this site.

After #530, the trail started to head back uphill, and started to feel a little less travelled. It was still easy to follow, but there was definitely more growth crowding the edges of the trail.

The entire Abes and Essens Trail is well-marked, but in a funny kind of way. There are trail markers consistently, and they always point you in the right direction. The weird thing is how many DIFFERENT trail markers are used along the way. We got used to it after a while, and I’m sure you will too.

Campsites 529 and 528

We traveled through more forest and a grassy field before traversing a swampier section. Soon after, we came across the next campsites. We reached #529 after hiking for eight kilometres. It was a lovely site that looked over Abes Lake, and we decided to stop for lunch.

The unfortunate thing about sites #529 and #528 is that they are basically right next to one another. When we were sitting and eating lunch, we could see right across to site #528. Both sites had a lot of flat land for tents and were right on the water, but their proximity was a bit disappointing.

It’s also worth noting that all campsites are quite close to the trail, so there’s always a chance that you will run into fellow hikers while camping.

On our way back, we reached the return split for the Essens Loop after hiking for 10.1 kilometres. We saw that if we had hiked the Essens Loop it would have required a small water crossing to get back onto the return loop. Where the water flows was quite rocky, and we were able to pick out a handful of spots that looked easy to cross. The water might be higher here in the spring.

I absolutely loved the return trip on the Essens and Clutes Loops. We spent more time alongside the water on this part of the trail, and it was really beautiful. There was a fantastic spot at the 10.5 kilometre mark, right on Essens Lake that would make a lovely spot to stop for a break or even a swim.

Parts of the return loop were fairly wet, but there were boardwalks for us to use. We came across the longest boardwalk at the 11.9 kilometre mark, and crossed over it confidently- it was very sturdy.

Campsites 527 and 526

Not long after, when we had hiked 12.3 kilometres, we reached campsite #527. Campsite #526 was only .2 kilometres further along the trail, but both sites felt private.

#527 was a good sized site, with a fantastic view out over Essens Lake. We couldn’t help ourselves, and stopped for another short break.

It looks like someone’s fire got loose in this area of the forest- a lot of the tree trunks we saw were singed, and there was a pile of burnt logs beside the lake. It was a really sobering reminder of how important it is to make sure you’re keeping an eye on the fire. The damage covered quite a distance, reaching over to site #526.

#526 was even nicer than the site we had just visited. There was a lot of flat, open space, and it had a fantastic, rocky outcrop looking over the water as well. #526 and #527 are both in my top three favorite sites on this trail.

We arrived at our last split of the day after hiking for 13.5 kilometres. We kept to the left at the split for the Clutes Lake Loop, and thought we still had a ways to go.

Getting Home

We were pretty surprised to see the road ahead of us after only hiking for 15.3 kilometres, because everything we had read said the trail was 17 kilometres long. At the road, we turned right. There was a sign at the road pointing us in the right direction, and we walked for just a little bit before reaching the trailhead.

All together, we had spent five hours and fifty minutes on the trail, and had hiked for 15.5 kilometres, according to our GPS. In that time, we had only seen two other people. Bon Echo Provincial Park describes the Abes and Essens Trail as a “backcountry trail,” and it certainly gave us a great day of hiking by ourselves. I would absolutely recommend it for a day trip, or for anyone wanting to get into backcountry camping.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Elevation Change and Maps

Gear We Brought