Timmins: The Complete Guide to Hiking & Biking Trails

Timmins has a lot to offer the outdoor enthusiast! There are hundreds of kilometres of Northeastern Ontario wilderness trails to explore in and around their city - check out the list below! There are also incredible snowmobile trails and the Porcupine Ski Runners to check out for winter activity.

Archie’s Rock

Archie’s Rock is an interesting geological formation that dates back to the last ice age when a number of huge boulders were deposited on top of one another and in the middle of a dense forest. Scientists have suggested that these rocks, and the rock formation itself, are directly related to melting glaciers. Leave your vehicle on Little Star Lake Road near Highway 101. Hiking or biking, the trip requires a 1-km walk to the rock formation.

• Route: From Little Star Lake Road to Archie’s Rock
• Trail Length: 3 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking but more difficult climbing the rocks at the end
• Seasons: All

Bart Thompson Trail

Walkers can park their cars at Legion Drive and follow the trail as it enters a spruce/pine forest. A short distance off the trail, you will find evidence of early geological forces that shaped the landscape and produced the gold-bearing rock directly beneath your feet. The return trip can be made using residential roadways or connecting to the south loop of the Bart Thompson trail that winds around Porcupine Lake.

• Route: Loop from Legion Drive, South Porcupine to Government Complex in Pottsville
• Trail Length: 10 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

Bridge to Bridge

This trail follows the Mattagami River to the Lafleur Bridge on the west side and returns to Mattagami Park on the east side of the river. Exotic wildlife, such as elk, can be seen in fenced-off paddocks at Cedar Meadows Resort on Norman Street.

• Route: From Mattagami Bridge on Algonquin to Lafleur Bridge
• Trail Length: 6 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

Circle Timmins

This trail will take the walker or cyclist around the periphery of the old town of Timmins.

• Route: Loop starting from Terry Fox Walk on Pine Street South
• Trip Length: 13 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking on established trails
• Seasons: Spring to fall

Gillies Promenade

The Gillies Lake Conservation Area is the location of the most popular walking trail
 in Timmins. It is well-lit at night and access is possible from many points around the lake. There are two available parking lots: off Brunette Road north of Highway 101 and off Highway 655 about 1 km north of Highway 101.

• Route: Around Gillies Lake
• Trail Length: 2.5 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

Grassy River/ High Falls

High Falls is a series of rapids and waterfalls with a total drop of about 40 metres. Grassy River was the site of river runs in the early days of the timber industry. Logs were floated down from Peterlong Lake further upstream to the mills in Timmins. The trail is often used by ATVs in the summer and snowmobiles in the winter.

• Route: From Dalton Road to High Falls
• Trail Length: 12 km one way
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking but a long trip for one day
• Seasons: All (cross-country skiing in the winter)

Hersey Lake Trails

This is an extensive trail system throughout the Hersey Lake Conservation Area with many branches that make every outing a new experience. In the summer there is good swimming at Hersey Lake, the central hub of the trail system. A picnic area and shelter along with washroom facilities can be found there.

• Route: From Highway 655 to Hersey Lake
• Trail Length: 11.5 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking or biking with a few hills
• Seasons: All (cross-country skiing in the winter)

Ivanhoe Lake

Walk over ground that was once the bottom of Ivanhoe Lake and now exposes a quaking bog, viewable from a platform with an interpretive panel. Another trail leads up and over esker ridges, passes beaver lodges and follows the shore of Saw Lake.

• Route: Quaking Bog, Saw Lake and Teck Lake
• Trail length: 4.6 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy to moderate
• Season: spring to fall

Kettle Lakes

The park is located about 37 km east of Timmins. The route is mainly through jack pine forest with stretches of poplar and birch trees. The trail is fairly flat with some gentle hills along the way. Side trips can be made through 
the campground roads. Island Lake Campground is a beautiful region with an excellent swimming beach.

• Route: Loop around Kettle Lakes Provincial Park
• Trail Length: 14 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy biking on park roads
• Seasons: Summer and fall

Nickie’s Trail

Nickie’s Nature Trail is an interpretive trail with podiums along the way describing the flora and fauna, with periodic rest stops, two areas with comfort stations and picnic tables, and a gorgeous viewing platform at Sunset Bay. There are three trail loops of varying lengths to suit everyone’s walking pleasure. This trail was established for all of us to develop and enjoy in memory of the late Nicole Duciaume-Poan – a Timmins-area native. It is hoped that the same love and respect that Nickie had for nature and this trail, which she walked, will grow in each of us.

• Route: Loop around Little Star Lake
• Trip Length: 3 trail loops: 1.6 km, 9 km, and 1 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy to moderate
• Seasons: Spring to winter

Porcupine Lake Trail

Part of the Bart Thompson Trail system. Access is from any point around the lake. Most
 of the trail is along a wooded path near the water although roads are incorporated at the north end through Porcupine and Pottsville. Along the trail is the Whitney Cemetery at Deadman’s Point, a historical point of interest where over 40 people were buried after the famous fire of 1911 wiped out the community.

• Route: Loop around Porcupine Lake
• Trail Length: 8.5 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

Ross Stringer Memorial – Rotary Trail

This is a walking/bicycle trail that connects the two communities of Schumacher and South Porcupine. The trail wanders through a mixture of trees ranging from poplar to white spruce to black spruce and, in the higher elevations, jack pine. It is relatively flat with some hilly sections.

• Route: Loop from South Porcupine to Schumacher
• Trail Length: 8.5 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking/biking with a few hills
• Seasons: Spring to fall

Scout Rock Trail

In the winter, this trail is used by walkers and skiers. In
 the spring, summer and fall, cyclists and walkers travel its pathways. The trail wanders through low-lying areas with marsh marigolds in the spring to higher spots that were once used for farming, and finally through a ravine opening onto College Street across from Denise Park. In the spring the cherry blossoms make for a beautiful display on the trail just east of the hospital.

• Route: From Timmins District Hospital to Denise Park
• Trail Length: 4 km
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

Terry Fox Waterfront Trail

This trail follows an old rail bed that once connected
 the downtown with local sawmills. Popular with walkers and cyclists, the trail ends at the river waterfront, part of the Mountjoy Historical Conservation Area that was set aside following the disastrous flood of 1960.

• Route: From Pine Street South to Mattagami Waterfront
• Trail Length: 2.5 km one way
• Level of Difficulty: Easy walking
• Seasons: All

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