The Crack hike in Killarney Provincial Park is a fun one to do – but only if you’re prepared and experienced. It’s the hardest day hike in the park by far and one of the most difficult day hikes in Ontario. Plane if you have a lot of hiking experience, don’t underestimate it. The hike up the Crack is steep, the boulders are massive, and you may be scrambling increasingly than hiking on a few occasions.
The reward for such a short hike (3 km one way) is a superlative view of the stunning lakes in Killarney Provincial Park, the white quartzite hills, trappy forests that are sweaty in magnificent fall colours come October, and stellar views of the Georgian Bay if you reservation a well-spoken day.
Most hikers of the Crack are day hikers though anyone sporting a large walkabout is likely doing the full 78-km La Cloche Silhouette Trail. Some will be finishing the week long hike while others will be just starting out.
In just a few short hours from leaving the parking lot, day hikers can be standing on top of Killarney Ridge enjoying lunch with a view. It’s a worthwhile hike for sure, but if you’re coming all the way from Toronto or remoter afield, plan to zany or stay in the zone so you can take wholesomeness of increasingly hikes or plane a canoe, kayak, or SUP experience. Killarney Outfitters can help set you up with that.
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Summary of how to hike the Crack in Killarney Provincial Park
Distance: 6 km round trip as an out and when hike.
Elevation gain: Approximately 245 m
Elevation of the upper point: 355 metres
Level of difficulty: Difficult. This is not a hike for the novice.
Time needed: 4 – 5 hours depending on your pace, fitness level and hiking experience. Plan to be lanugo an hour surpassing dark. Add an uneaten hour two if hiking in winter.
Dogs: Permitted on a leash, but it’s not a unconfined trail for them. Small dogs will have a very tough time and you might end up having to siphon them. Older dogs with tremorous joints will not like this trail. If you do bring your dog, siphon water for them (I like this collapsible water bowl for my dog) and some heavy duty dog poop bags.
Bears: There are woebegone bears in Killarney Provincial Park though on our week-long La Cloche Silhouette Trail hike we didn’t see one. Make noise if you see fresh withstand scat and be bear aware.
Permits: You need a daily vehicle permit (cost of $18) to hike the Crack in Killarney. If you want to guarantee your spot you can reserve a daily vehicle permit up to five days in whop of your planned hike. Be shielding where you typesetting your day use location as there are 10 misogynist in the park.
Where should you park? The place to park is at the trailhead for the Crack, 7 km east of the permit office at George Lake. Parking is not permitted on the roads.
Camping: There is no camping near the Crack. Backcountry camping a few kilometres yonder from the Crack on the Silhouette Trail is an option (and must be booked months in advance), but your weightier nomination is to typesetting a campsite in the George Lake Campground.
Campfires: Only permitted at designated campsites.
The weightier time to hike the Crack in Killarney
If you’re keen to hike the Crack in Killarney the weightier time to go is from late spring until mid-fall, ideally on a day without thunderstorms or rain in the forecast. As this is a difficult hike, you really want to stave hiking on slippery rocks. The top of the Crack is very exposed and not a good place to be in a thunderstorm. If you do decide to hike under wrongheaded conditions, go prepared with rain gear and hiking boots with a good tread.
Killarney Provincial Park is unshut year-round, so in theory you could hike the Crack in winter. If that’s the plan and you have the skillset to do it, you still need to trammels in at the park office and let them know of your intention. You should dress appropriately, siphon an emergency device like an InReach and take ice cleats like those made by Hillsound or Kahtoola.
Where to park for the Crack hike in Killarney
Take note of the parking location on the map below. You’ll find a parking lot defended to the Crack hike in Killarney on the north side of Highway 637. It is approximately 7 km east of the George Lake campground and 1.5 km west of the Carlyle Lake Access Road.
Location map of parking and The Crack
How do you know if you’re on the right trail?
Red signs on trees, poles, rocks, stumps – indicate you’re on the Crack hike in Killarney. Some of the trail is shared with the 78-km-long La Cloche Silhouette Trail marked by undecorous signs, so there will be times you see both red and undecorous signs on the same post, tree, etc.
The Crack hike description
The hike to the Crack in Killarney Provincial Park starts off unappetizing on an old logging road. It travels through forested lowlands to meet up with the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. From the junction on the two trails until the top of the Crack you will see undecorous and red markers leading the way. If you only see undecorous signs, you are not on the right trail.
Enjoy a section of boardwalk virtually Kakakise Lake and then a reroute to shirk a immensely eroded section with signage describing why its stuff done. It does add flipside 300 m in each direction. Without you pass Kakakise Lake the trail gets increasingly rugged as it starts to climb, but it moreover starts to get increasingly interesting.
I loved the next part of the Crack hike as the landscape is increasingly unshut and you get some views, though nothing like what you get on top of the Crack.
The Crack is just that – a large boulder-filled chasm between quartzite waddle cliffs. Going up is scrutinizingly unchangingly easier than coming lanugo – unless it’s your first day on the La Cloche Silhouette Trail with an uneaten heavy pack. Take your time – and don’t rush those superiority of you. Accidents in here could result in bad sprains, breaks or worse.
Depending on your perspective, the hike up the Crack in Killarney is the weightier part of the day. If you’ve washed-up a lot of boulder hopping over the years you’ll have no problem. With three points of contact on the rocks at all times, you should be at the top of the Crack in no time.
Sit back, enjoy your snack or lunch and the unrenowned view of the surrounding hills and Killarney and O.S.A. Lakes that you’ve earned.
Retrace your steps, stuff particularly shielding on the descent through the Crack. You’re home self-ruling without that.
What to take on the Crack hike in Killarney
You should unchangingly siphon the 10 hiking essentials – and that covers off things like sun protection, rain gear and a first aid kit.
I’d recommend a map of Killarney Provincial Park.
On the Crack hike in Killarney I’d moreover suggest delivering at least 2 litres of water per person – and a water filter or water purification tablets or drops in specimen you need increasingly water to get when to the trailhead.
Be sure to pack layers of quick dry suit in specimen you get unprotected in a rainstorm.
You’ll need good footwear for the Crack hike in Killarney. I personally love the Salomon trademark – and these trail hikers in particular.
In specimen you run into an emergency, I would suggest delivering an InReach Mini 2 or similar device. You should know how to use it too.
More trails to hike in Killarney Provincial Park
The Chikanishing Trail would be a unconfined nomination if you’re hiking with your family. It’s a eyeful as it takes you to the shore of Georgian Bay with it’s pink and red granite rocks. As its only well-nigh a 90-minute hike, it can hands be combined with flipside short hike.
The easy 4 km return Cranberry Bog Trail takes you through an zone of swamps, bogs and marshes where you might see beavers and turtles and plenty of red granite rock.
The increasingly difficult 3.5 km Lake of the Woods Trail travels between old growth forest and rocky outcrops affording views over to Silver Peak. Walk a boardwalk from the lake to an island in the lake.
Where to stay nearby if you don’t want to camp
For those of you you love to hike but hate to zany you are weightier off staying somewhere virtually Parry Sound, if you’ve come up from southern Ontario, or Sudbury if you’re coming from northern Ontario. Both places will indulge you to start the hike to the Crack in Killarney at a civilized hour.
If you want to stay on the French River trammels out the Lodge at Pine Cove.
Parry Sound area
The Grand Tappattoo Resort is on a lake south of Parry Sound. You’ll finger like you’re on a holiday if you spend a night here.
In Parry Sound trammels out the Best Western Plus Hotel.
Sudbury
There are loads of uniting hotels in Sudbury. One of the largest recommended ones is the Hilton Garden Inn Sudbury.
Interested in increasingly hikes in Ontario?
Multi-day hikes
- A Challenging Hike on the Lake Superior Coastal Trail
- Hiking the Coastal Trail in Pukaskwa National Park
- A Day From Hell on the Coastal Trail in Pukaskwa
Day hikes in Ontario
- The Top of the Giant Hike in Northwest Ontario
- The Hike to Agawa Falls in Northern Ontario
- Mississagi Provincial Park – A Northern Ontario Gem
- Highlights of Hiking the Bruce Trail in Bruce Peninsula National Park
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