Last updated: October 28, 2026
5:00 AM. Alarm. Coffee. Gone by 5:20.
The plan was simple: Highway 60, the Lookout Trail, back before dark. Peak fall colours. A Saturday in October. In Algonquin.
I knew better. I’ve done this drive maybe thirty times. I knew exactly what a Saturday in October looks like on Highway 60. I went anyway.
The Line Started Past Huntsville
Traffic started past Huntsville. Not bad — just a steady line of SUVs with kayaks on top, which in October is hilarious. Where are you taking that kayak, buddy, eh. The leaves, though. I’ll give them that. The maples were full red, the birches yellow, and every hill looked like it was on fire in the best way. Even stuck behind a minivan doing 80, it was a beauty.
The Lookout Trail, 8:40 AM
Got to the Lookout Trailhead at 8:40. Parking lot: full. The overflow lot: full. I parked on the shoulder half a kilometre down, which is technically not allowed, which everyone was doing.
The trail itself is short. 2.1 km loop. Easy. I passed maybe forty people going up. Forty. Dogs, kids, a guy carrying a full DSLR rig like he was shooting a documentary. At the top, the lookout was packed shoulder to shoulder, everyone holding phones up at the same valley.
Forty Strangers, Two Minutes of Silence
And the valley was unreal. I hate saying that word, but there it is. Layers of red and orange rolling out to the horizon, the lakes down below like mirrors, this cold clean air that smelled like pine and wet leaves. I stood there with forty strangers and nobody talked. Just cameras clicking. For about two minutes it was completely quiet, and I forgot about the parking situation entirely.
Then my stomach growled loud enough that a kid laughed. I’d forgotten lunch. Classic.
Chili on the Tailgate
Drove back down to the Lake of Two Rivers café — line out the door, obviously — and got a chili in a bread bowl that I ate on the hood of my truck in the parking lot. Best chili I’ve had in years. Or maybe I was just starving. Both can be true.
Here’s what I’ll say about peak colours on a Saturday: go anyway. Leave stupid early. Bring food — don’t be me. And when you’re standing at that lookout with forty strangers, put the phone down for sixty seconds. The photo won’t capture it. The photo never captures it. Your brain will, though, if you let it.
Maybe a Tuesday
Drove home in the dark. 9:40 PM. Tired. Happy. Already thinking about next year. Maybe a Tuesday.
Here’s the deal if you’re thinking of doing it: check the Ontario Parks fall colour report before you commit to a date — 60% change or better is your window, and peak-weekend parking fills by 9 AM sharp. I rolled in at 8:40 and still ended up on the shoulder. The whole Highway 60 corridor is strung together in the Ontario road trip itinerary, and if fall colour is the whole point of the trip, these are the best places to visit in Ontario for it.
— James
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