Windy Lake Provincial Park is located northwest of Sudbury and was established in 1959. The park is open for most, by not all of the year – their winter camping season is only from January to March.

The park only has one trail, The Transition Trail, and it is approximately 3 kilometres long. The trail can be steep, in parts, as it winds up and down a hill.

The trail isn’t especially wide but was easy to follow. There were ferns, shrubs and various wildflowers along the edges of the trail. The day that we hiked, it was fairly warm with scattered showers and I can’t remember seeing more than a couple of people along the way.

Looking around during the hike there were a number of birds that we could hear but didn’t actually identify any of them. The park says there are Yellow Warblers, Ruffed Grouse and Pileated Woodpecker throughout the park though.

These are Jack pine cones, which is a native tree species in Canada. You can usually identify this tree by looking at their cones, which come in a variety of shapes and sizes but are usually skinny and curved, this the one above. These tightly closed cones will only open up under extreme temperatures, like those in forest fires.  Jack pines thrive after forest fires, which help to release their seeds from their cones while killing off competition in the forest.

Fragile White Carpet Moth (Hydrelia albifera)

Sitting on one of the numerous ferns along the edge of the trail we spotted this small, white moth. Fragile White Carpet moths live in deciduous and mixed forests and, like many moths, are attracted to light. You can find this species throughout Canada, not including the arctic, and down south to the Mississipi.

Sitting on top of a dead ash tree were the remnants of a squirrel’s lunch. You will spot these piles throughout your hikes. This was a spot where a squirrel sat and pulled a pine cones apart to feed on its seeds. Chipmunks will also enjoy such a meal.

As we reached the top of one of the inclines the forest opened up and we could see railroad tracks off in the distance.

The trail was easy enough, with sections that were somewhat steep, but the tree roots actually helped us traverse such sections. There would probably not be as helpful if they were soaking wet. At the top of the hill you can see the yellow trail marker that kept us on the right path.

Maya and Chitra thoroughly enjoyed the morning hike at Windy Lake park.

Part of the trail went through a wet area and a boardwalk, that was in decent shape, kept us off the muddy ground. This section of the trail has a lot of fern allies along the trail. From the picture above you can see the ground is covered in horsetails.

We always find that a park with only one trail can be quite limiting. The Transition Trail also partially goes through campgrounds, which makes it even less appealing to us. Luckily the pet exercise and beach area of the park was absolutely amazing and there was also the trail at the Onaping Falls areas that was excellent.