Ontario Provincial Parks Trail Guide: Trail Guide

Rating:
Summary: Good for a quick overview with no "meat"
Review: "Ontario Provincial Parks Trail Guide: Trail Guide" summarizes a good few of the many provincial parks in Ontario. The parks are listed by region (Northwestern, Southern, Algonquin, etc.) in the province. The descriptions of the parks are not extensive, neither are all of the trails for each park listed or described. Walking/hiking distances are given for each trail that has been listed. At the end of each region section, 2-3 trails are highlighted in a section called "Al's picks" and described in greater depth (some with B&W photos).

While no detailed maps are required of any guide book, it would have been helpful if the book included some maps with a few key cities and roads in Ontario, and the parks pointed out. The parks would have been much easier to locate this way than by just listing addresses and telephone numbers to contact. There are no maps in the book except for a region map (without any detail) at the beginning of each region section. As an avid hiker I expected to see small detailed maps of at least a few selected trails. There are no trail maps in this book.

If you visit the Ontario parks website, you can find similar information as that given in the book. And with a little more surfing, you can even find websites of conservation authorities with - yes, you guessed it - maps of park trails.

"Ontario Provincial Parks Trail Guide: Trail Guide" is a brief summary of the wealth of provincial parks Ontario has got to offer. While it's not of much use to avid hikers like myself, it is good for people wanting to get a general idea of some of the parks in Ontario.