Wabun Lake- A 4 (or 17!) km Hike in Calabogie

The hiking trail out at Wabun Lake thwarted me once. It’s unmarked, and the first time we went it was cold with a dusting of snow on the ground, so we decided not to risk getting lost. That was about 3 years ago and I’ve wanted to complete the hike ever since.

So recently I visited again and completed the entire 17 km loop- finally! It was a unique experience, as most of the trails around Wabun Lake are managed by the Ontario Federation of Trail Riders. Which means they’re mostly designed for motorized vehicles like ATVs or dirt bikes. So to be honest there were two really exceptional, gorgeous spots along this trail… with a whole lot of meh in between. Like 16 km of meh- that’s a lot!

BUT, now that I’ve hiked the whole loop I can let you know a few different route options that bring a bit more wow and a little less meh.

(Don’t visit during hunting season, which typically starts around November 7th!)

This is the lookout BEFORE you get to the actual lookout! Not bad huh?

Quick Facts

Length: 4 or 17 km, depending on your route.
Difficulty: Easy terrain but the length makes it hard! (On a scale of easy-moderate-hard)
Trailhead Coordinates: Depends on the route you choose- see below.
Washroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Cell Reception: Spotty
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Parking: Right at the trailhead.
Cost: Free

Getting There

Where you decide to park is going to largely depend on which route you decide to take, so let’s look at our options.

Option #1: Hike to the Lookout over Wabun Lake and the Madawaska River.
Option #2: Hike the Entire Loop.
Option #3: Drive to Limestone Lake.

They’re all great options!

Option #1: Hike to the Lookout over Wabun Lake and the Madawaska River.

This is what we did… before hiking the entire loop. In order to get started we drove all the way down to the end of Wabun Lake Road and parked in the big lake right beside Wabun Lake. In previous years this road has been in really bad shape, and we’ve actually had to leave cars behind. But this year fresh gravel had been lain down and the road was in amazing shape!

You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.222929, -76.838206.

After parking at the lake, we went back up the road and turned to our left, heading towards the Madawaska River on a wide logging road. In order to get on the trail, we turned left again just before reaching the river, heading uphill on a rocky, bumpy logging road into the forest.

This logging road brought us through the forest and crisscrossed the big power lines a few times before we spotted a short offshoot to Wabun Lake on our left-hand side (around the 1.4 km mark). The view from here wasn’t nearly as magnificent as above, so we carried on, and began heading up the steepest section of trail yet. Despite it still being a logging road where we could easily choose where to put our feet, we were breathing hard as we headed up (and up and up!).

The logging road where we started heading uphill.

The Lookout!

At the “top” of the hill, around 2 km, there’s a yellow arrow that points to the right, designed to keep vehicles on the logging road. But here it’s important to go LEFT instead- both to get to the lookout and stay on the trail!

Don’t follow the arrow! Even though it feels counterintuitive not to.

Heading left here brought us under the power lines again, and to our first impressive view. But make sure you go about 100 metres further, because just a little way on there’s the most perfect spot to sit and take in the view, and you can actually see even further!

Hiking out to this spot and then heading back would totally be worthwhile, in my opinion (especially now that Wabun Lake is so much easier to drive along). Doing this route would get you a hike that was just a little bit physically demanding, and by the time you got back to the parking lot you would probably have logged just over 4 km. Perfect!

The best lookout on the trail.

Option #2: Hike the entire loop!

This is what we did. The best thing about hiking the entire loop is that you get to see both the lookout over Wabun Lake and the Madawaska River, as well as enjoy the serenity of Limestone Lake. The worst thing is that you must hike about 16 km of boring trail and logging road to do it.

In order to continue on along the trail, DON’T backtrack once you’ve reached the lookout. That’s what I did on my first trip, and it was impossible to get back on the trail. Instead, continue on the skinny, single track hiking trail that is to the right and kind of behind you (when you’re facing towards the view).

This is the first time on the hike that we were on a “real” hiking trail instead of a logging road. It was skinny, and really well worn into the dirt. We figured out why not too long after- bike tracks let us know that dirt bikes occasionally used this trail too!

Also, as we hiked along, we started to see bright pink arrows posted on trees behind us. There had obviously been some sort of dirt biking race that happened recently. But these markers are made of paper and will likely disintegrate through the winter (although honestly I hope the organizers come and remove them in order to Leave No Trace), so please don’t rely on them!

Despite being unmarked, the first section of hiking trail past the lookout is quite easy to follow.

Highly Recommend the AllTrails App for this Route

In the absence of a paper map for this route I use my AllTrails app consistently to make sure I was on track. I even brought a backup battery for my phone so that it wouldn’t die on me.

All that being said, for the next 2 km we were easily able to follow the foot path as there were no annoying offshoots to trip us up. There were some rocks and roots scattered about but nothing too demanding, and some small hills thrown in here and there to keep things interesting.

At the 4 km mark there was a trail that branched off to our left, that would have taken us out to a little pond, but we decided to bypass it. 500 metres later we reached another split, where an ATV trail headed off to the right and some OFTR signage began to show up. We checked the Alltrails app here and headed off to our left. Then another 500 metres along the same thing- an ATV trail off to the right, but we checked Alltrails and kept on the trail straight ahead of us.

At the 5.4 km mark, another trail split that required an Alltrails check-in. We headed straight ahead but these two trails actually reconverged so either one would work. At the bottom of the hill here we found ourselves back on ATV trail. It seemed the “hiking trail” portion of our hike would be coming to an end soon (which was fine because it had been a bit boring so far).

Goodbye to the only section of our hike that felt like it was on a hiking trail.

Back on ATV Trails

Soon, starting around the 6.4 km mark there were a handful of offshoots that required us to check in with AllTrails and then keep straight. The trail had also begun to widen up and we were now 100% on an ATV trail.

At the 8 km mark we reached the trail split noted on Alltrails that looks like you could shorten the route, stay in the forest, and get to the junction of Hydro Dam Road and Wabun Lake Road. But if you took this route you’d miss Limestone Lake- and that would make for a REALLY boring hike!

Back on Logging Roads!

A kilometre later the ATV trail we were on ended and spat us out onto the logging road that’s an extension of Limestone Lake Road. To get back to where we started, we needed to turn left, but first we headed off to our right to check out Limestone Lake. This out and back (plus one steep hill!) added an additional 1.5 km to our hike but was very much worth it. Limestone Lake was so peaceful and the view over the lake was gorgeous!

After sitting and eating lunch there we headed back out in the direction of Limestone Lake Road. At this point all we had left to “hike” was road, so it made for easy walking, but there was still a lot of road to cover!

At 10.7 km the road we were on ended. To our right was the official, established Limestone Lake Road. We headed to our left and found ourselves skirting some giant mud puddles. So, I’m guessing these roads would be really yucky in spring! Don’t be fooled by the “easy” hiking and make sure you wear your boots!

Logging roads make for really easy “hiking.”

Hydro Dam Road

A few kilometres later we actually saw evidence of logging for the first time. We passed a few huge piles of logs, and not long after we found ourselves hiking parallel to Hydro Dam Road, and then turning left to actually get onto the road. We passed through a big gate across the road before this, but even if the gate were closed you would be able to walk around either side.

Hydro Dam Road proved to be a bit busy, and we made sure to walk safely on the shoulder at the side of the road. At the 14.1 km mark we passed a logging road on our left-hand side- this is likely where the connector trail would have brought us, so I can’t confidently say it would be worth taking. Not only would you miss Limestone Lake, but you would still have to walk a lot of road to get back to where you started. There was a small grassy patch here with space for one car. Almost right after, we had to turn left onto Wabun Lake Road. Here, there was a green street sign up that let us confidently know where we were.

Proof that Wabun Lake Road is in amazing shape!

By the time we got back to Wabun Lake where we had parked, we had hiked a total of 17.25 km and our legs were feeling tired! We were able to cover that distance in 4 hours and 20 minutes, which included a short lunch break. Would I recommend completing the whole loop? Probably not, unless you were just looking to get some miles in for the day.

Otherwise, I think hiking to the lookout and back would be the most fun, and perhaps you could add on:

Option #3: Drive out to Limestone Lake.

It seemed to us that the roads were in good enough shape the whole way out to Limestone Lake that you could easily drive out there. You would be heading out to (roughly) this location: 45.250623, -76.845502.

There’s a big open area where the well-maintained road ends just before Limestone Lake that could easily fit a few cars. Then a quick walk up the logging road towards the lake would have you there in just minutes.

It might make for the best day if you hiked out to the lookout and then finished off with lunch at Limestone Lake!

Actually, we saw somebody who had brought an inflatable dingy in and was fishing… An inflatable dinghy would DEFINITELY make for the best day! Especially if you went in the summer because it also looked awesome for swimming. 🙂

Looking out over Limestone Lake.

Map and Elevation Gain

Our GPS tracked route along the 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.

Gear We Brought

Since this was such a long, unmarked route and we didn’t know exactly what we were getting into, we did our best to make sure we were carrying what we needed to keep us safe.

Links in this section are affiliate links- they’ll bring you to the exact items I own, and if you buy anything from MEC we receive a commission that goes towards our work with the Camp Kit Program (we loan out camping gear for free and you can find out more about it here).

Yeah!

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