kawartha lakes

Kawartha Lakes is home to many beautiful trails, including the Victoria Rail Trail, which spans 85 km from Lindsay to Haliburton. I’ve added a couple maps of the trail here and h ere if you want to know where exactly you can find it. My family loves to go biking on this trail, and I love that we can enjoy a ride without having to worry about traffic.

We often like to start our bike ride at the opening in the trail near Cedar Valley Trailer Park in Lindsay. This is where the trail switches from a dirt path to a paved path. This time, we decided to drive to the Lindsay locks and have lunch at Tastee Shack, which is right across the street from the locks. We’ve been wanting to eat here for a while now, and it did not disappoint! My husband is from Nova Scotia, so of course we had to try their donair poutine. We also had their Tastee Shack Burger. This was probably the best burger that I have ever eaten. It is made with their ‘special sauce’ and it is topped with an onion ring. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it! This is definitely one of those unassuming treasures that we always hope to discover. We will definitely be making more “pit stops” here.

The trail continues on here by the water, and just near the entrance is the Rock Snake that Lauren mentioned in her post about our visit to the beach. See that post here. The boys wanted to add to the snake with the rocks that they painted and collected at the beach. We couldn’t believe how big the snake had grown since our last visit. It is so long, it has actually started to wrap back around!

The trail from here to the recently opened Logie Street Park is a great length for young kids to bike. It’s about 2.5km and took us about 10 minutes. It is beautiful by the water, and the kids love running across the small bridge that we pass along the way, and wave to the boats as they pass under us.

Once we arrived at Logie Street Park, the kids wanted to cool off in the splash pad. If you haven’t had a chance to check out this park yet, it truly has something for kids of all ages! There are several play structures with rubber turf, a sandpit area with a wooden ship, zipline, lots of structures to twirl in and climb on, and fun slides that go from the top of the hill down to the main play area. Logie Street Park is on Sturgeon River, and there is a dock here. So whether you get here by car, bike, or boat, you really can have an amazing day here with your family!

Bobcaygeon is a popular tourist spot for cottagers on the Trent Severn Waterway in Kawartha Lakes situated between two of our beautiful lakes – Sturgeon Lake and Pigeon Lake. Bobcaygeon, a popular tourist destination, has so much to offer, but arguably some of the things it is most well known for is being home to Kawartha Dairy ice cream, Bigley’s Shoes and Clothing store, and the song “Bobcaygeon” by the Canadian band, The Tragically Hip.

Our day in Bobcaygeon began at the Kawartha Settlers’ Village, followed by a Story Walk, visit to the splash pad, and we ended the day at Kawartha Dairy for an ice cream. This was our first time visiting the Settlers’ Village, which is right under the water tower- you can’t miss it.

To be honest, we never know how trips like this will go over with our 2-6-year-old crew, but they absolutely LOVED it! I think it helped a lot that when we arrived, they were each given a scavenger hunt with different artifacts to find around the village. The kids especially loved the Honey Shack- watching the hundreds of bees, and trying to find the Queen bee. Did Lauren and I get to fully appreciate all of the history here with 5 littles running around? No. Did the kids have fun and maybe learn a little? Absolutely. So, it’s a win in our books. Before heading to our next stop, we decided to take a break and have some snacks that we packed. There is a large covered area at the back of the Village with picnic tables for a nice break out of the sun.

Some things to know if you plan to check it out. Tickets for this season need to be ordered online in advance, but if you don’t have a printer, no worries you can show proof of purchase on your phone upon entry. When we went, adults were $7, children 5-12 years old were $3, and there was no charge for children under 5. You could also purchase a family package for $20 if that works out better for you. The Village was clean and all other visitors we encountered wore masks.

Kawartha Lakes Public Library has set up Story Walks all over the City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL). For a list of all locations, click here. Conveniently, at the back of the parking lot at Settler’s Village, there is a short and well-maintained trail that features a Story Walk on The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. If you have never heard of a Story Walk before, you are not alone- neither had I! Basically, each page of the story is enlarged and posted along the trail. This was a nice 10-15 minute walk that the kids really enjoyed!

Luckily, the day that we decided to go to Bobcaygeon, it was beautiful and hot! After a few hours out in the heat, we decided that it was time to head just across the street to Tommy Anderson Centennial Park to cool down in the splash pad. There is a small playground and skateboarding park here too. We met a friendly bulldog there named Izzy who loved the splash pad just as much as the kids!

A trip to Bobcaygeon is not complete without a visit to Kawartha Dairy. Though you can find shops that sell @kawartha_dairy ice cream all over the Kawarthas, it was founded in Bobcaygeon over 80 years ago, and this is where the headquarters has remained. It only took us a couple minutes to drive there from the park. This ice cream is SO delicious and a favourite of our entire family. Portion sizes are very generous! Here is a complete list of all the flavours just in case you are like me and get overwhelmed by all the choices! We definitely recommend trying out this fun-filled, inexpensive day out with the special kids in your life!

Tag: kawartha lakes

Family Fun in Lindsay

Back in Time in Bobcaygeon