The Sylvan Trail- A 2.7k Hike at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park

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We’ve gone snowshoeing at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park before, so we were excited to finally check out the hiking trails in the warmer months. We decided that we’d explore them both during our recent camping trip with our six month old daughter.

There are three main hiking trails in the park. We’ve already hiked the Silver Queen Mine Trail. And the bugs seemed VERY hungry on the Point Trail. So we decided to hike the Sylvan Trail instead. Dogs are welcome on this trail, which was great, because our poor old dog is preferring shorter hikes these days.

The Sylvan Trail starts right near the day use beach. It’s fairly short. So that makes it a perfect hike for when you’re already out at the park for a day on or near the water.

Out on the Sylvan Trail.

Getting There

Murphy’s Point Provincial Park is out near Perth. It’s a really pretty drive through small towns and the countryside, so it makes for a great day trip.

You can use these coordinates to get to Murphy’s Point Provincial Park: 44.782016, -76.237976.

This sign will let you know you’ve arrived.

We stopped at the registration office on the way into the park, and grabbed their park’s newsletter. This had a list of the trails in the park, as well as a trail map. Very handy!

There are also interpretive guides available, but you have to get these from the Park Store. Occasionally there are some up for grabs at the trailhead, but not on the day we were there. These guides explain what the numbered posts along the trail correspond to, so it would have been cool to have.

The Sylvan Trail starts from the parking lot of the Day Use Beach. You can use these coordinates to get to the parking lot: 44.786875, -76.220504.

Where we began our hike.

The Trailhead

The trailhead for the Sylvan Trail is near the back of the parking lot. There are outhouses available at the opposite end of the lot, and a bulletin board right beside the trailhead. There were warnings posted about ticks (of course).

The trailhead was flanked by two big rocks, and started off nice and wide. We walked only 100 metres before crossing over a wide road. This was the road to the Day Use beach, which was off to our left. There was a posted sign at this point, indicating we had reached the trailhead for the Sylvan Trail. So I guess TECHNICALLY it didn’t start at the parking lot.

Aha, the REAL trailhead!

The Trail

The trail began to thin out immediately after we crossed the road, and we began to follow the classic blue and white Provincial Park trail markers downhill.

Trailmarkers made it easy to stick with the trail.

After 200 metres, we reached the point on the trail where it split to form a loop. There was a sign posted there, so we knew either direction would keep us on the trail. We decided to complete it clockwise because the sign let us know post 1 was to our left. May as well see them in order!

Sign at the Sylvan Trail split.

We continued heading downhill. Soon, we crossed over a small bridge that brought us over a creek running into the lake.

We hiked over a ridge, then down an old set of steps. At the .75 kilometre mark, we descended into a gully and crossed over another small bridge. Again, we could see the lake to our left, and we gained elevation until we found ourselves hiking on a ridge above the lake.

Getting a Little Bit Lost

We reached post #6 after hiking for just over a kilometre. It was near a big open rock face, and we found when we went to go check out the surroundings, we weren’t sure where the trail went afterwards. It turns out that the trail branched off to the right immediately before the rock face. So we had to step back the way we had come, instead of travelling further forward, to stick with it. There was a herd path that headed into the forest opposite where we had come from, so it was easy to mistake the two. Of course, the herd path didn’t have trail markers and the official trail DID, so it was also easy to feel confident when we were back on the right track.

An old, dead tree where we got lost.

The Point Trail

Just a few hundred metres beyond where we had gotten lost, the Sylvan Trail joined the Point Trail. There was a posted sign here with arrows pointing us in the direction we needed to go. There was also a trail map with a “you are here” notation on it. We turned to our right to stick with the Sylvan Trail.

“You are here” sticker- very helpful!

This section of the trail was low lying, and VERY wet. I’m guessing the mosquitoes would be bad here in the warmer months.

We had hiked 1.6 kilometres when we crossed a set of two bridges over a swampier section of forest. Soon after, we saw a campsite on our left hand side.

Sturdy bridges to keep our feet dry.

We began to see trilliums popping up here and there, and then arrived back at the original split having hiked 2.1 kilometres.

The Day Use Beach

We headed back the way we had come, on our way to the trailhead. When we reached the road for the day use beach, we decided to go check it out. It wasn’t a very long walk before we reached a sign indicating dogs weren’t allowed on the beach. There was only one of us who thought that was unfair, and we tied that one up and left her behind. Fortunately, the beach was right there, so we were able to see her as we gazed out over the water.

The beach was really small. Like, REALLY small. There were a few picnic tables scattered about, so it could make a nice spot for lunch in the summer. The slope of the beach looked like it would make for a really easy canoe or kayak launch. But it seems like there are other places in the park that might be closer to parking. We’ll have to check out the other beaches and report back.

This is not the beach!

Getting Back

Even with our detour to the beach, we were back at the parking lot in just over an hour. We had covered 2.7 kilometres in that time. The Sylvan Trail was a nice, easy hike with very few hills. With its proximity to the beach, it would make a great hike for anyone spending the day there (although good footwear SHOULD be worn). I think this hike would be even better with an interpretive guide and we’ll definitely get one when we come back to hike the Point Trail.

True representation of how our dog feels about our baby.

For anyone camping at Murphy’s Point who wants to stretch their legs, this is a great little hike. Plus, there were no blackflies out on the trail, even though there were a bunch at our campsite! It doesn’t get better than that mid-May in Ontario.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Map and Elevation Gain

Our GPS tracked route of the Sylvan Trail.

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 on the trail- don’t be fooled, it’s pretty flat!

Gear We Brought

 

 

 

 

 

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