Arowhon Pines Resort

Arowhon Pines Resort is a 50-room seasonal lodge in the woods on Little Joe Lake, reached by an eight-kilometre side road north of Highway 60. Guests stay in lakeside log cabins with private bathrooms. This is a quiet all-inclusive base for a few days in Algonquin, not a quick roadside attraction: come for the lake, cabins and meals, and give yourself time to settle in.

Three meals are included with overnight stays in the log dining room overlooking the lake. Coffee and baker's treats, afternoon tea with scones and packed lunches make it easy to spend the day outside. Dining is part of the overnight stay; public walk-in meals aren't confirmed, so don't plan on dropping in for lunch without arranging it first.

Canoes and kayaks, swimming, sailing and stand-up paddleboards take center stage. The lodge also has tennis, a sauna and trails, with guided paddling trips and park nature programs adding more to do. Little Joe Lake has no motorboats or highway traffic, so the draw here is quiet water. Nearby walks can turn up moose, deer or fox, though sightings are never guaranteed.

Lillian “Granny” Kates started the lodge in 1938 to give parents visiting her nearby Camp Arowhon a place to stay. She commissioned Cleveland architect Charles Coleman for the dining room; an early brown-paper sketch is said to resemble the room that still stands on the shore. That heritage building gives the resort its center, with the cabins tucked along the water nearby.

The turn is at Highway 60's km 15.4, then it's eight kilometres north on Arowhon Road. The resort operates seasonally, and overnight guests receive a vehicle pass for the rest of the park. Treat this as a stay to book and build a few days around, rather than assuming the dining room or recreation facilities are open to day visitors.