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Drew (All of Algonquin) has just published his account of a morning's worth of checking out a number of brief hikes into the backcountry from Highway 60 ..
Reading his account reminded me of some "Highway 60" recollections of my own. Back many years ago, there were many more opportunities to pull a car off the asphalt and to hike north or south along many trails and portages.
Then the highway got "improved" with many blasted out hills, filled-in low spots, and miles of added guard rails. Unfortunately these "improvements" eliminated these opportunities to "pull-off-and-poke-around".
Amongst these "forgotten accesses" is a popular canoe route between Canisbay and Cache Lakes that actually crosses Highway 60, and belatedly got formal cuts built into its guard rails .. but without any opportunity for cars to drop-off or pick-up canoeists. There was also what seemed to have been an unofficial foot access to Heron Lake on the south side of Highway 60 just east of the West Gate, but a guard rail and grade change have eliminated that. And unloading a vehicle and its canoe directly to Sunday Creek from the south side of the highway isn't practical or safe any longer!
As I typed this forum post, I searched out some of these "accesses" using "Google Earth" and checked out Drew's hikes. This exercise took me back to the early '90's when I participated in a number of the guided interpretive hikes conducted by park naturalists. I recall that some of them were conducted along trails starting from Highway 60 without marked accesses .. some located on the opposite side of the highway from formal interpretive trails.
I wonder how many people these days are poking around these unmarked or poorly marked nooks and crannies? Have any others recently discovered overlooked little gems along Highway 60?
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