2020 Autumn Foliage is Here! Amidst Covid-19, Awaken Your Senses With Day Trip to Beautiful Algonquin Park

DISTANCES: Algonquin Park from Toronto, 276 km; from Ottawa, 245 km.

Its been a tough summer for everyone. While we are still partially locked down due to Covid-19, do something safe and extraordinary this autumn by yourself, with your partner or your family with children who have a day off due to rotating classes. Yes, escape to Ontario’s Algonquin Park for a day, and let the magic of autumn foliage bring happiness to your hearts and soothe your eyes. Pick a weekday to visit the Park and drive through its 56 km Highway 60 corridor from the West to the East Entrances (or vice versa). The Park is only 2.5 to 3 hour drive from Ottawa or Toronto.

Aga Khan Park foliage
A tree by a pond at the Aga Khan Park on Wynford Drive in Toronto exhibiting its fall colours on September 24, 2020. Photo: Malik Merchant / Simerg.
Aga Khan Park Fall Colours waxing moon Wynford Drive Toronto
Trees at Aga Khan Park exhibiting fall colours on the night of September 24, 2020 under a waxing moon seen in the sky above the dome of the Ismaili Jamatkhana on Wynford Drive in Toronto. Photo: Malik Merchant / Simerg.

Fall colours are already visible at various locations in Toronto and Ottawa (see two photos, above). So what is it like in Algonquin Park, as of this final week in September of the Covid-19 year? According to the official website of The Friends of Algonquin Park, “Sugar and Red Maples are off to a quick start with their fall colour change in Algonquin Park as a result of shortening daylight length, recent frost, and below freezing conditions….the maple canopy (tops) and forest edges are showing the best fall colour in Algonquin Park.”

The colours are expected to brighten in the coming days, and the 2020 foliage promises to be as fabulous as it was when Nurin and Malik Merchant spent a full day in October 2019 at the Park! Click on the link to see their report, photos and guide of how you can spend a beautiful day at the Park in 2020. And what about the impact of Covid-19? The guide has links to that information, and they tell you what is closed in 2020, based on their fabulous visit a year ago! Really, other than the Algonquin Art Centre every other place along the 56 kms corridor they drove through is OPEN, but do pick up a weekday as Nurin and Malik did!

Click HERE or on Photo for Day Trip Suggestion to Algonquin Park

2020 Algonquin Park Foliage Simerg

Date posted: September 25, 2020 (photos of foliage at Aga Khan Park on Wynford Drive in Toronto added).

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Photos: A Beautiful Autumn Day in Algonquin Park

Its beyond fall colours! This park has so much of the natural world to offer, and should be in everyone’s bucket list. My daughter and I had limited time and made the most effective use of the 15 hours we had which included around 6 hours of driving time from and back to Ottawa. With time management, and inspiration from youth anything is possible! If you are in Ontario and close to the Park, make it this week — even for a day!

ALGONQUIN PARK: Our Photos and Suggestions

Algonquin Park
Please click on image for photos.

Date posted: October 13, 2019.

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