It has been to long since I’ve done a snowshoe day trip. It was 1°C outside today so I had to take advantage of that. The Balsam Trail is located just off Balsam Rd. in McKellar 20 minutes from downtown Parry Sound. The township does not clear the parking in the winter. Also, there is no parking on any public road in McKellar township between December 1st and April 15th without risk of a fine. In my experience as long as it’s not snowing and you aren’t blocking the road you should be good.
Parking in the winter
There is only on trail marker along the trail, a pink flagging tape ribbon marking a sharp right hand turn around the 200 meter mark. After this just follow the widely cleared area. The trail is very well maintained and is fairly easy to follow. There is a wetland around 1 km in.
In the warmer months the wetter section of that trail has board walks. There are a also a few bridges over streams.
Bridge over a stream near the 2.0 km mark
After this bridge the trail opens up to a field. Just follow the fence until you hit a farm and that is where the trail ends.
End of the trail
All in all it is a really nice 4.8 km out and back trail that would be gorgeous in the fall.
Here is fairly shaky video of the entire 2.4 km way back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSG5B9t-T4Y&t=
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 9 in total.
Stats:
Total hike: 4.8 km
Elevation gain: 243m
Ontario Adventurer 