Hardy Lake Provincial Park is considered a non-operating park. There is no camping here, no visitor centre, but there is parking that is maintained in the winter. There are three trails here maintained by Muskoka Trails Council.
We finally got a good dumping of snow! So in good fashion I suited up for a snowshoe day hike. Hardy Lake Provincial Park was next on my list of parks to visit. There are three trails, however two of them overlap.
The start of Hardy Lake loop.
Hardy Lake Loop: This is a very picturesque hike around Hardy Lake. The trail weaves up and down hills and through trees. It often offers views of Hardy Lake. A little past halfway there is a cool boardwalk over and through a little island.
Bridge at km 4.7.
From here the trail goes over a slow flowing stream that did not freeze this winter despite the freezing temperatures.
Near the end there was a rock that was deposited by glacial retreat. It’s really cool whenever you see something out of place in nature.
Hardy Lake loop is a well maintained trail that I’d recommend to anyone in the Muskoka area. The hike is 7.5 km long and has 193 meters of elevation gain.
Hardy Lake Eastern Loop Trail: This trail is not well traveled at all. It starts pretty much where the other trail ends and heads east. The entire time it felt like I was playing hide and seek or Marco Polo with white trail blazers.
Can you spot the white trail blazer (Hint: it’s on the left).
The snow was almost knee deep the whole way. At the start of the hike there were clear skies but by the time I got to the lookout the snow was coming down pretty good.
View of Lake Muskoka.
The Eastern Loop was 9 km with 233 meters of elevation in total. I wouldn’t suggest this trail in the winter unless your looking for something challenging or someone else has already laid down tracks for you to follow.
Click on the 
icon to make the Google Map full screen, to see all the photos I took and where they were taken. Click on the 
symbol to see all the photos. There are 14 in total. I colour coded each hike: blue for Hardy Lake trail, and purple for Hardy Lake Eastern Loop Trail.
Ontario Adventurer 