A meteorite once crashed in Ontario and now there’s a trail into the crater

It’s time to plan a trip to Ontario’s first provincial park. With over a hundred kilometres of hiking trails past unique and abandoned vistas, Algonquin Provincial Park is not one to miss this spring. But if you need a reason to visit, let it be the Brent Crater – a crater formed from a meteorite with a trail to explore. Here’s what to know.

Exploring the park

Located about three and a half hours northeast of Toronto is Algonquin Provincial Park. It’s one of the most notable parks in the province.

Known for its camping, fishing, boating, canoeing and wildlife spotting opportunities, Algonquin is a must-visit if you have not yet explored it.

Not only is it the first provincial park in Ontario, but it is also one of the largest in the province.

It’s an all-season park that stands out due to all the activities it offers year-round. According to Ontario Parks, the ”essence of Algonquin is in its vast interior of maple hills, rocky ridges, and thousands of lakes – 7,635 square kilometres of forests, bogs, lakes and rivers.”

It has eight campgrounds, over 20 trails, a Logging Museum and Art Centre, among many more things to do.

If you want to explore it to the fullest, the only way to do so is by paddle or on foot. But we’re going to focus on hiking trails for now – at least one in particular.

As we’ve previously mentioned, within Algonquin Park is where you’ll find the Brent Crater trail.

Exploring the crater

Per Ontario Parks, this trail is considered strenuous and is about 2 km long. “The Brent Crater was formed when a meteorite crashed to Earth thousands of years ago,” shares the site.

For a better view of the impact, make your way to its observation tower, which overlooks the crater. According to the Papineau-Cameron Township, the crater is 3 km wide and the views are immaculate.

But if you want to get up close and personal, you can. The trail descends to the crater floor before looping back to the starting point.

If you’d like to learn more about the crater as you embark along the trail, you can grab a guide at the park office and the trailhead.

We don’t know about you, but that’s enough of a reason to plan a trip to Algonquin Park.

It sounds like a long weekend adventure is in order!

Algonquin Provincial Park

Where: Hwy 60, P.O. Box 219 – Whitney, Ont.

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