The Small Slide Loop tends to be my go to hike in Frontenac Provincial Park. It’s easier to get to than the rest of the park. And, the hike has a lot of interesting features like good views, a cool waterfall and a ton of varied terrain.
The Small Slide Lake Loop is what’s known as a “blue loop” on the Rideau Trail. That means it’s definitely worthwhile! The Rideau Trail has been meticulously planned, and they only add on a blue loop if it makes for a really good hike. Essentially, a blue loop takes you off the main part of the Rideau Trail and along an “additional” section of trail that eventually rejoins the main trail. Usually after netting you a sweet view or something else you wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
A lovely little creek on the Small Slide Lake Loop.
As is typical of Frontenac Park, the Small Slide Loop trail is extremely well marked and well maintained. Despite this, there are still times (especially in the spring) when there are sections where you’ll probably get your feet wet if you don’t have proper footwear.
Dogs are allowed on the Small Slide Loop-even during the winter!
Map of all the trails in Frontenac Provincial Park.
Getting There
There are a few ways the Small Slide Loop can be accessed. Obviously, one way is from within Frontenac Park.
It can also be accessed from outside the park, off of Perth Road. Doing so makes for a much shorter route, because you’re on the trail immediately, instead of having to hike out to it through the park.
The trailhead on Perth Road is only a 30 minute drive from Kingston, and about 90 minutes from Ottawa. You can use these GPS coordinates to find it (and you should, because it’s not well marked!): 44.504723, -76.473802.
Tricky to find but worth the trip!
Next to the trailhead, there’s a little parking area that can fit about four cars. There’s also a gravel shoulder on Perth that’s quite wide and could be used for parking too. If you’ve never checked out the Rideau Trail maps, take a look now! This parking spot is point 5C on their maps.
This is the parking lot that you’re looking for- blink and you’ll miss it!
From the parking area, you’ll start spotting orange triangles on the trees that take you away from Perth Road. These markers are the markers used by the Rideau Trail Association to mark the Rideau Trail (which is what you’re taking into the park).
The Rideau Trail also continues left from the parking area, running parallel to Perth Road and away from Frontenac Park. The trail markers headed in this direction will have yellow tips (which the Association uses to indicate the trail is running southbound- or from Ottawa to Kingston)
This is the beginning of the trail- it doesn’t look like much, but don’t let that fool you!
Beaver Dams and Ravines
Almost immediately you’ll come to a ravine and walk along it for a bit. Then, there’s a descent before you cross a stream near a beaver dam.
A good looking beaver dam!
From there, you’ll cross a few ravines and then reach a fork in the trail. Turning to the right (following the orange trail markers) would bring you to a lookout after a bit of a climb. Heading in the other direction (following the blue markers) will spare you the climb but will send you through a part of the trail that is often flooded. I tend to follow the orange triangles to the lookout to avoid the mud and water!
Next, you’ll make your way through another small ravine, across a grassy meadow (which can get soggy) and towards a fairly large sign with a map of the Small Slide Lake Loop.
Keep an eye out for this sign before getting on the loop!
Getting onto the Loop
When the trail splits to form the loop, there’s another choice to make. I have always gone right here. At this point, there are two sets of trailmarkers- there are the Rideau Trail markers (which are blue with yellow tips) and the Frontenac Park trail markers (which are diamonds with little hiking guys on them).
Completing the loop this way brings you to the campsites and the waterfall on the trail sooner, and the high rocky cliffs above Slide Lake later. Heading in this direction, you’ll soon cross a stream below another beaver dam.
Another beaver dam! P.s. we don’t endorse wearing jeans when hiking!
The trail then follows the shore of a small lake before turning into the woods to head toward Campsite Cluster 1 on Buck Lake.
The campsites make a great spot for lunch along the trail.
I tend to hike this trail when it’s cold and nobody is camping so this is a great place to stop for a picnic and use the washroom (there’s an outhouse there). Technically, these things are reserved for the campers to use. Just so you know.
After leaving the campsite you’ll head toward Slide Lake itself. There’s one spot where you’ll climb down a little rocky bit and then see a bay off Buck Lake on your right, which is easy to mistake for Slide Lake. There’s a cool ice slide that can form here in the winter from the marsh on your left down to Buck Lake.
Looking out over Buck Lake.
Approaching Slide Lake
Next, you’ll climb a hill and approach Slide Lake. The cool thing about Slide Lake is that it’s right next to Buck Lake but quite a bit higher. There’s a neat spot as you hike along the thin rise of land with Slide on your left and Buck on your right where the loggers built a chute to push logs down.
The log slide in cold weather.
Not long after the chute you’ll come to a fairly impressive stream that flows out of Slide Lake. The stream makes a turn and then travels over a pretty little waterfall before emptying into Buck Lake. Cottagers on Buck Lake often boat to this spot in the summer to hang out and explore under the waterfall.
Frozen waterfalls are the best!
The West Side of the Loop
Following the trail, you’ll hike around the top of Slide Lake and get some nice views down the lake.
Beautiful views looking down Slide Lake.
You’ll also come to the northern junction for the larger (25 km long) Slide Lake Loop, which is billed as Frontenac Park’s hardest hike.
From the northern junction, you’ll continue to climb up to the western shore of Slide Lake. Here, there are tons of cliffs and some great views of the lake. There’s a lot of bare rock here and great places to sit for lunch or a snack and enjoy the view.
Rock face on the western shore of Slide Lake.
Slide Lake will taper into a marsh that you’ll follow before it breaks up into a series of terraced beaver ponds. The terrain around these can have some muddy patches, but nothing too bad.
Beaver ponds!
As you get away from the beaver ponds, you’ll reach another split in the trail where it joins the larger Slide Lake Loop again. Here, there’s a detailed sign.
Not long after, the trail markers will change back from blue to orange.
Approaching the second split where the Small Slide Lake Loop meets the bigger loop.
Getting Back
The next section of the loop has a couple fun features that become more or less interesting depending on the season and rain levels. Sometimes, there’s a section of the trail where the marsh has expanded over the trail near a cliff face. This forces you to lean against the cliff and balance on logs to cross the water. Told you it was fun! Then, there are a few more wet sections where you’ll need to balance on logs to cross the muddy water.
Balance on the trail is key!
Finally, there’s an overgrown field that used to function as a farmer’s field and a scenic farm (which is still maintained) abutting the trail on your right.
Then, you’ll rejoin the trail you used to access the loop from Perth Road and head back to where you parked. There are no more Frontenac Park Trail markers here, because you’ve left the park.
All in, this route is 13.2 kilometres long. With how varied the terrain is, it makes for a good challenging hike any time of year. It takes me about four hours and fifteen minutes to complete the whole trail, and I try to hike it fairly quickly. I do stop to take a lot of photos though, so that adds on some time!
Views from a higher point on the trail.
Map and Elevation Gain
GPS tracked route of the Small Slide Lake Loop.
Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Elevation gain and loss along the trail.
Gear I Brought
- Hiking Boots (Alico Summit Boots, available at Sierra Trading Post)
- Gaiters (for mud season or winter)
- Sweater (MEC Ember Jacket)
- Hat (Fjallraven Ovik Melange)
- Gloves
- Daypack (Black Diamond Bolt 24- no longer made, but the Nitro 26 is similar)
- Nalgene Bottles
- Water Treatment (Pristine AB system)
- Frontenac Park Map
- Compass (Suunto Field Compass)
- Camera (Canon Rebel XS)
- Sunglasses
- First Aid Kit (with waterproof matches)
- Lunch
- Snacks
- Toilet Paper
- Hand Sanitizer
- Garbage Bag
Gear for Warmer Months
- Sunscreen
- Sun Hat (Tilley Airflo)
- Bug Net
- Bug Spray
A big thank you to our friends over at www.thingstodoinkingston.ca for checking out this trail and reporting back for us!
Terrific trail report enhanced by great photos. Informative, and does the job of enticing the hiker. Thanks.