The Snowshoe Trails at Nakkertok Nordic South- A 5.3 km Hike

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Nakkertok Nordic has been on my list of places to visit for a little while, so I decided to visit on a beautiful day in January. It’s worth mentioning that the club seems like a cross-country skiers dream, with over 70 kilometres of ski trails. It almost makes me want to take up cross country skiing!

The snowshoe trails were fantastic. Not too tough, but long enough that we were out for a few hours. The trail marking was exceptional, which made it easy to just enjoy being out in the woods, instead of wondering which direction to head in.

The trails at Nakkertok are nice and easy!

The ski club is only twenty minutes from downtown Ottawa, so it’s super easy to get to. Trails are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. making it a great spot to head to after work. Dogs are not allowed, except for on the “pooch loop,” for people who want to cross-country ski with their pups.

Nakkertok actually has a south section and a north section, so don’t mix the two up! When we were visiting, we snowshoed the trails in the south section.

The trails pass through (and over) various wetlands. So visitors should definitely wait until late enough in the season that they’ve had a chance to freeze up a bit!

The official Nakkertok trail map.

Getting There

Just a short drive from Ottawa, Nakkertok Nordic is really easy to get to. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.533463, -75.720300.

A big sign by the side of the road welcomed us, and we drove a few kilometres further to get to the parking lot (where the road ended). Near the parking lot there was a big building being used as a chalet, with tons of picnic tables inside, and a wood burning stove to warm up by.

The baby’s favorite feature was a massive tunnel near the chalet. Beside the tunnel was trail info and a place to pay. Trail fees for non-members (like me) were seven dollars a day. You can either bring exact change or pay online. I decided I would pay online later, since I didn’t have the $7.00 for a snowshoeing day pass. Writing this post reminded me I still hadn’t paid (oops!) so I went online to do so. The system is really easy, but they only have the option to buy ski passes, which are more expensive. So I guess bringing exact change is really the best option.

Look for this sign, and then keep going!

The Trailhead, and Our Route

To reach the trailhead, we needed to walk through the tunnel and look for the big trail marker in the trees. By starting here, we intended to hike the longest route clockwise and take the “outside” snowshoe trails for the whole length of our hike. Having looked at the map ahead of time, I knew this meant we would be heading to our left at every single trail split along the way- easy!

The tunnel, where we started and ended our hike.

Right away, we started to head uphill, but it wasn’t too tough. We noticed little yellow trail markers immediately, letting us know right away that we were on the right track.

At the top of the hill, we crossed over our first ski trail. It was really easy to see where we needed to re-enter the forest, because there was a trail marker right across from us on the ski trail.

We reached the first split in the trail after hiking less than 200 metres. Here I noticed that the trail markers corresponded to the map, because there were blue trail markers heading off to our right. Of course, we headed to the left.

Not long after, I spotted signs for a mica mine, but decided to skip it. I figured it would be covered in snow and not all that cool.

Etiquette for snowshoers crossing the ski tracks (and the yellow trail markers I was following).

Stefi’s Cabin

We passed the next blue trail split at .5 km. Here, there was a sign indicating “Stefi’s cabin” was in that direction. Sticking to the left, we continued to meander through the trees before coming to a big “intersection” of ski trails at the 1 km mark. Once again, the trail markers made it really easy to tell how to get back onto the snowshoe trail.

We passed by the third blue trail on our right hand side having hiked about 1.3 km. Not long after, we found ourselves passing through an open field filled with short, scrubby brush. We walked straight through the middle of the brush, noticing trail markers attached to the tiniest little trees along the way. Looking at the map, I think this might actually be wetlands during warmer months.

Just before we re-entered the forest at 1.5 km. I noticed another blue trail on my right hand side (the fourth so far, if anyone’s counting). Again, we crossed a ski trail, then carried on.

The Blue Trees

Not long after, the forest spit us out into another open field. This one was a bit trickier to navigate as I couldn’t see any trail markers. Tracks in the snow headed off to my left, so I decided to head that way. Turns out that was the correct direction, and I immediately came upon the “Blue Trees.”

There was a huge beaver pond in front of me, and some of the dead trees had been painted a beautiful blue color. You guys know I’m normally one to Leave No Trace, but there was something really lovely about these blue trees and I actually wished more had been painted.

In order to stay on track, I kept the blue trees on my right hand side and headed across the beaver pond. Trail markers on the opposite side of the pond directed me to my right, so that I could hike along with the pond on my right hand side.

One of the “blue trees.”

Owl Cabin

At the 1.9 km. mark, another blue trail headed off to my right. I could spot the Owl Cabin off in that direction as well, but stayed to the left to take the longer route there. The trail veered away from the beaver pond for a bit, and brought us back towards the Owl Cabin after I had hiked a total of 3 km.

The baby was still sleeping so I couldn’t explore the cabin fully, but I poked my head inside because I was curious! During the day, the cabin is available to Nakkertok members as a rest spot. It had a handful of picnic tables on the main floor, with a wood burning stove. Above, there was a loft. The cabin is available for rent at night, and Nakkertok staff said that you have to bring your own sleeping equipment, but I think you could just lay your sleeping pad out in the loft if you wanted to! The cabin is DEFINITELY rustic, which is probably why it only costs $80.00 to rent for the night.

Cute little sign at the Owl Cabin.

After nosing around, I headed back behind the cabin to hop back on the snowshoe trail. There was also a blue trail that we could have taken, and it rejoined us at the 3.7 km. mark. Then, we hit another ski trail and turned to the right. We followed the ski trail for a few steps before a trail marker let us know to turn to the left and hike through the field ahead of us. We had to cross over a little creek, and I did so VERY carefully because some parts of it hadn’t frozen yet. Then I wandered around in the field for a while, because there were no trail markers to be seen.

Heading Back

Looking at the map, I knew I had to cross over the ski trail that I had just left. I hiked alongside it for a bit (with the ski trail on my right). This section of trail was actually super annoying. It was through another section of wetlands, and in a lot of spots I couldn’t avoid stepping on the plants growing there. That made for really deep steps, and I felt horrible tromping on the vegetation!

After crossing the ski trail, I spotted a trail marker at the treeline and headed in that direction.

At the 4.3 km. mark I arrived at “Haycock Mine Road,” and passed over a little bridge built into the logging road. Soon after, I came to a split in the trail where a really well-groomed trail branched off to my left. Here, I needed to turn to the right, but it took me a little while to figure it out. If you’re looking at the map below you can see a little offshoot where I meandered off in the wrong direction for a bit.

Tree Canada Trail

At the 4.8 km. mark, I arrived at a sign (and the trail offshoot) for the “Tree Canada Trail.” I decided not to add it on to our hike because my shoulder was starting to give me a bit of trouble. And my baby is heavy!

It was a tough call, but I decided to skip this section of the trail.

I turned off to the right to head back to the trailhead. I had to cross over another small creek, but managed to do so easily. One more small hill, and I could spot the buildings behind the chalet, where we had started. We crossed under a set of power lines, and came up behind the tunnel where we had originally started our journey.

Trail Thoughts

By the time we arrived back at the chalet, we had hiked a total of 5.3 km. I was able to cover most of that distance in two hours. Then, about 20 metres from the chalet I took the baby out and let her “hike” the rest of the way and it took us an additional 20 minutes!

The trails at Nakkertok Nordic were perfect for a low key day in the woods. With a few gentle hills here and there, they were the perfect length so that I felt pleasantly tired, but not totally exhausted. It’s my guess that adding on the Tree Canada Trail would have added about .75 kilometres to the hike. So that’s definitely an option for anyone who wants a bit of a longer trip. And with so many blue trails that can be used as shortcuts, Nakkertok is perfect for anybody looking for a quicker hike too.

A sleepy baby on the trails at Nakkertok.

I’m already looking at the map for the northern section of Nakkertok Nordic and thinking about when I can head back to check out those trails!

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Map and Elevation Gain

My GPS tracked route at Nakkertok Nordic South.

Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.

Elevation gain along the trail- practically none!

Gear I Brought

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