Silent Lake Provincial Park: Video Review

John: For the first time this season – no hitch basket, no cartop carrier. Everything fit in. I knew my Tetris skills would come in… Shoot…

Just gotta put the dogs in, and we’re off to Silent Lake. Shhh!

OUR CAMPSITE DRAMA (2:07)

Britt: K, so we’re at the campsite. Now I know we had mentioned in our Camping & Hiking with Dogs Ontario group that we were in site 156. But we made a change. We’re up in 157.

And I’m going to take a moment to explain to you guys why and why I’m not filming this until the next day.

Let’s start with why we’re not up here.

So, we arrived last night. We made the trip up. It wasn’t exactly the ideal conditions to be making the trip in to the campsite, but, you know, you work with what you’ve got.

But as we were coming along here, we quickly realized that this last little stretch of uphill is a bit of a doozy.

In fact, once you get up here, you’ve got all those big rocks to have to navigate around.

Now keep in mind, we’re camping with a 15-year-old with somewhat limited mobility. It just wasn’t safe for Dav.

So, we made the call at like eight o’clock at night when we arrived to switch sites.

We didn’t go far when we switched sites. Here’s 156, that’s the pathway that leads back to the vehicles and the bathrooms, and here’s the site we settled on – 157.

There is still a bit of an uphill climb here. It’s very, very gradual, and it is Dav-friendly. So I wouldn’t be too stressed about it.

It’s just that last stretch after the 156 sign that’s really kinda concerning.

But let’s take a look at the site up here at 157.

Now, why am I filming the next day?

We rolled in at just after 7-something at night, which means, it was dark. Moving our stuff into a walk-in site. And, to add to the trifecta of challenges we were facing, with three dogs, of course, it was pouring rain.

So, when we got here, we had just a few things to think about.

Now, ignore the fact that John is currently in the process of rearranging our tarps here.

We had this set up super low, this blue tarp, just so we had a place to sit under last night, just so we could eat dinner before we went to bed.

And we got our tent set up with a tarp over it. So, we ensured that we had a place to sleep last night that was safe.

The one catch to this site, here at 157 Graphite, Graphite Falls, ya, I can’t remember. I’ll have to look it up for you guys.

Anyway, the catch to this site is that the road is right there.

Now, this isn’t a main park road. It’s just the little stretch of road that leads into the parking spots over here for the walk-in campsites.

So, the only people using this road are going to be the people who are in a walk-in site.

There’s only three of us total at this, you know, this weekend. They’re not hugely populated. Which is great. But you do have that there if your dog is triggered by traffic.

Ours aren’t. Lucifer’s issue is strange men, and he can’t tell who’s driving the car, so he doesn’t care.

Then we’ve got the pups over here. They’re currently just tied to the picnic table because when John finishes with the tarps, we’ll get them all set up.

He’s also making coffee.

And once again, that’s the path back out to the main path back to the vehicles and parking area.

And right by the parking area is the bathrooms, just standard long-drop outhouses and a water tap.

So, that’s where we’re going to be this weekend.

BONNIE’S POND TRAIL (6:02)

John: Alright, so Indy and I are heading onto Bonnie’s Pond Trail. It’s about 3 km, maybe shorter than that, and it looks like it’s going to be a relatively easy trail for Indy and I. Right Indy?

He’s already taking in the smells.

So, one thing to take note, since we’re in fall. There are quite a few acorn trees around here. So, just a heads up, no pun intended, that you might get an acorn or two bopping off the top of your head.

As one just fell three feet away from us. And another one.

So, as you can see, the terrain isn’t so friendly. I mean, it’s alright to navigate through, but if you have an older pup like Dav… I don’t think Dav would be able to do this trail.

I mean, she could prove me wrong. But, odds are, it’s probably best off that we don’t bring her on this trail.

But Indy seems to be doing fine.

One thing to note is since there’s a ton of acorns on the ground, that they are poisonous to dogs. So, you just gotta watch out for your pups. Not to be chewing on any of them. Right Ninny?

And, like I said, the terrain can be a little much there, but Indy seems to be navigating quite well.

The signage seems to be all right. Once you see a little hiking sign, you see one straight ahead, probably on there. But once you get to that one, you should, in theory, see the next marker.

Alright, so, as you can see, the markers at Bonnie Lake, Bonnie Pond, sorry, are like this.

So, as soon as you reach one marker, you should be able to see the next marker. Which, you can see down there, about 30-40 yards from here.

In some cases, it does work out like that, and in other cases, you don’t. So, you kinda get lost a little bit. But when you go back to the last marker that you’ve seen, you can retrace and basically figure out where you’re going.

I don’t know if the camera’s picking that up, but all you hear around here is a little bit of a wind and the little trickle of water right there. Silent Lake – living up to its name.

Alright, so there is a scenic lookout. We’ll be checking that out.

We just got to the scenic view at Silent Lake. Not too shabby!

We’re coming up, right up to the end there, Indy. You did a good job. You’re a good boy! You’re a good boy, Ninny!

LAKESHORE TRAIL (12:23)

Britt: Alright, little man Lucifer here and I, we’re taking the Lakeshore Trail.

This is a 15 km trail. It is the longest trail in the park and it is supposed to rain, so we’re going to make the most of it and let’s see how wet we are by the end.

Let’s go check it out…

So, Lucifer’s become quite the little pro hiking buddy over this last year. Our only challenge along this trail is that he really wants to go swimming and I’m not wanting to. Eh, little mans?

But you’re literally, when they say lakeside trail – as you can see here, the trial literally passes alongside the water.

You’re going all the way around Silent Lake, and it is beautiful!

Don’t worry, if you’re concerned, they let you know how much longer you have to go until you reach the parking lot.

But it’s gorgeous!

Well, it’s starting to rain really lightly. More like a mist. It’s not like full-on rain yet, but check out the view.

The little man here is enjoying himself as well.

We’re just going to take a quick break, grab something to snack on, and then get going again before the rain gets too heavy.

But I think somebody has found his calling as a hiking dog! Eh, Lucifer?

Lucifer’s just checking out this gorgeous lookout made even prettier by the fall colours, fall colours, I can English, coming out. How pretty is that?

Are you having fun? Come on! You’re a good boy, Goose!

The final lookout before we’re done the trail. You can see, it is raining slightly. There’s quite a bit of wind. But the weather’s not as bad as they thought.

OUR REVIEW (16:59)

Britt: Alright, so we are obviously not at Silent Lake anymore. We are back home. We’re at the cabin. It has snowed. Winter is here.

And we are finally getting around to filming our overall review and thoughts of Silent Lake.

John: Ya, it’s been a while.

Britt: Life happens. Adventures happen. Cats go missing and reappear.

John: Ya!

Britt: But no, we wanted to circle around because this was an absolutely fantastic trip. We wanted to make sure to share everything with you.

So, you’ve already seen some of the footage, and now we are going to dig into our notes, and we do take notes so that we make sure to cover everything for you and share our thoughts of Silent Lake Provincial Park.

GETTING TO SILENT LAKE (17:43)

John: Alright, so, getting to Silent Lake. If you don’t know, we’re pretty much in the Owen Sound area. It took us about 3 hours or so.

Basically, from Toronto, it would probably be about the same amount of time. Easy traffic. You go through small towns. You can actually check out some things if you’ve got the time.

Britt: It’s kinda nice in that it’s a destination you can make a bit of a road trip out of it versus some of the ones we go to where you’re driving for forever on backroads and not even see a house.

John: Ya, it’s not like Mississagi where it was like you lose cellphone service for, I don’t know, it was for about an hour or so. So, if you break down, you’re kinda SOL. But not the case for Silent Lake.

CAMPSITES (18:39)

Britt: Now, when you get there, there are a wide variety of different camping options depending on what you’re looking forward to and also depending on the time of year because this is one of the few parks here in Ontario that stay open all year long.

So, they have regular car camping sites, both those that are accessible to pull a large trailer into as well as some smaller and more private tent sites.

They do have a selection of walk-in sites that are technically car camping, but you still have to park and carry your stuff in. So, obviously, tent only.

But they are a very short distance, so it’s kinda like that happy medium between typical car camping and getting into the backcountry. Some of them even have ready access right off the campsite to go onto the trails.

So, depending on what you’re looking for, that might also be a great option.

Now, if you’re looking for roofed accommodations, they have both cabins and yurts. And this gives you something that’s not only a solid, already pre-set up accommodation, but they are heated, so you know, during those colder months, it’s a great option to have.

WATER ACTIVITIES (19:42)

John: For water activities, there are two beaches. They are no dogs, unfortunately. There are canoe and kayak rentals. There’s fishing.

So, there’s lots to do on the water. Except you just can’t really enjoy having a beach water time.

Britt: Now, just because there is no dog beach doesn’t mean there’s not places to take your dog swimming. It’s just like a designated beach. But there are places that you can go off away from the public beach area and have water access.

But there is no beach that you can kinda make a beach day out of.

John: Ya.

HIKING TRAILS (20:19)

Britt: But the one thing Silent Lake has that it really excels at is it’s hiking trails.

Now, of course, you’ve already seen the footage. You’ve checked out what we did. We had a lot of hiking adventures.

There are three trails there, and between the two of us, we did all of them.

John took Indy out to do Bonnie’s Pond Trail, which is a 3 km trail.

I took Lucifer out. We did the little Lakehead Loop, which is a little 1.5 km, just a simple little trail that kind of overlaps with their big trail.

And then we did their big signature trail, the Lakeshore Hiking Trail, which is a 15 km trail. And that day was wet and rainy and cold, but it was fun, and we had a great time.

It pushed him. It was a challenge not only for me but also for him.

As many of you know, if you’ve been following us for a while, we adopted Lucifer, and both his front wrists were broken. He had been through some traumatic things.

And for him to heal and to recover and to get the okay from the vets to be able to go out there and do a 15 km hike. We were…

John: Ya, it’s a huge accomplishment!

Britt: We were celebrating that!

So, the trails are absolutely stunning. The views were gorgeous.

The Lakeshore Hiking Trail, the long trail, actually loops all the way around Silent Lake. So, for a good majority of the trail, you have that water view, which is great. There are multiple lookouts. You’ve already seen some of them in the footage that we shared.

But it is definitely worth it. If you are up for that longer, more challenging trail, I highly recommend it.

Just make sure that you’re ready for it. Pack enough fresh water. Pack some snacks to keep yourself going, offer that nutrition, as well as some snacks for your pet.

Instead of just bringing our normal treats, like we usually would, I had a high-protein kibble as well. So, he got some kibble sometimes and some treats sometimes.

But you just want to keep that nutrition going and keep them, you know, ready to go and ready to take things on.

Organ meats are great out on the trail for treats. So, if you can source something like that, I know beef liver, freeze-dried beef liver, is like the biggest hit with our pets.

Lucifer doesn’t complain when I decide it’s a longer trail, and we should incorporate that into our treat pouch. He readily accepts that without question.

But just make sure that you’re prepared because the way that this trail is… Some of the trails that we show you, if something comes up or something happens, or you need to call it, you can kind of duck out halfway through.

But unless you’re ducking out onto a canoe, the way the loop goes on this trail, once you get going, you’re committed, and you’re finishing 15 km.

So, think ahead. Be prepared. Be ready to kinda face whatever. Keep a hiking first aid kit with you. And go into it being knowledgeable and ready for it.

FIREWOOD (23:17)

John: And my favourite topic, firewood. We didn’t see many places on the way into Silent Lake, so we ended up getting firewood from the park.

Britt: I mean, we went in the off-season, so that’s not saying that during the heavy camping that that isn’t there.

There’s a possibility that there are plenty of places you could get wood if you went in, like, July or August.

We went on Thanksgiving weekend, so a lot of those places may have already shut down for the year.

John: Ya, so we ended up getting park wood and it was actually pretty good. It was pretty good stuff there.

The one day I went there to top up, there was probably like one palette full of wood left, and that was it. So, I don’t know if that was the end-of-season stuff.

But the next day, when we went by, the shed was actually full again. So, they just got a new delivery in.

Britt: I mean, that’s one of the perks of it being a year-round park is that they keep things like that stocked because they know that there’s people coming in and having fires and everything all year long, so they make sure that that wood’s there.

But, ya, it burned well. I mean, we usually… I don’t want to say we hate on park wood, but we’re not huge fans of park wood in most cases because it tends to be wet. It’s hard to get it going.

It’s not seasoned well enough compared to the wood that you can get in other places.

But it worked well.

John: Ya, I mean, it cooked our dinner, so…

Britt: That’s true!

WINTER ACTIVITIES (24:51)

Britt: Now, touching on that whole winter aspect – in addition to sitting around the campfire in the winter, there are a lot of activities you can enjoy at this park.

When I say that they stay open for the winter, I don’t mean that they just kind of do it as like a, “well, we’ll just keep the doors open” side thought.

They are a go-to destination for those who love being out and really embracing the snow and the winter wonderland that we have here in Ontario.

So, you have your choice of cross-country ski trails. There are snowshoeing trails. There is ice fishing available. Like, there’s a lot to do.

And then, as I said, if you want the comfort, then you can make sure that you book a cabin or a yurt and come back and crash there at night.

If you are travelling with pets, which I assume you are if you are following us here, just make sure that you’re checking the rules when you’re making your reservations.

Most Ontario Parks yurts and cabins are not pet-friendly. However, most parks, including Silent Lake, do have a pet-friendly option. You just have to make sure you’re booking the right one.

OUR FINAL RATING (25:54)

John: Yup, so that leads us to our rating.

Britt: Our final rating! So, out of five paws. This is a little different one to look at because I find when I look at parks, I try to look at the big picture. But we didn’t get to do all of the big picture, being it’s off-season.

Like, it’s not like we got to get out and go swimming and all of that.

However, at the same time, that’s what this park gears itself towards, is being available both on-season and off-season.

The hiking was incredible. It definitely gets bonus points for that.

I really did enjoy our site. We went on one of the walk-in sites, as you saw. Well, we booked one, we ended up on another one, that was a whole adventure… in the dark… in the rain.

But the site was really nice once we got settled.

I’m going to have to give it, probably, a 4 star.

John: Ya, I might give it a little bit lower, but I’ll give it a 4.

Britt: So, there we go, 4 out of 5 paws.

And I believe that is it for our current trips that we’ve done.

But you don’t want to miss out, we are going to bring you guys some tips, and tricks, and information about winter adventuring with your pets, including a planned winter tenting where we are going to chronicle John’s first time ever cold-tenting.

So, make sure to like this video and comment on it, that helps the algorithm to put our videos out and share it with others that might be interested in this.

And hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out because it is going to be funny!

John: We’re going to bring a heater, right?

Britt: We’ll talk about that.

John: Alright, well, I’m gonna stay toasty for now!

Britt: Stay toasty!