Despite having lived in Ottawa for over a decade, I hadn’t heard of the Carp Barrens Trail until last summer. Finally, we got out for a hike on the trail last weekend and LOVED it.
The Carp Barrens Trail is only 3 km long, but the trail itself is so varied and rugged feeling that it felt like the first “real” trail we had been on in months (lockdowns, am I right?), and it was an amazing feeling to spend time out there.
The trail is also popular with mountain bikers and is actually maintained by the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association.
Dogs are not allowed on the trail because the ecosystem is incredibly sensitive. And, the trail is closed every year from right after the May long weekend until August 15th. There are some species at risk who nest here and not visiting the trail during this time gives these birds and turtles a better chance at surviving and procreating.
I’ve heard that a lot of people have seen ticks there but we didn’t see any.
Gorgeous scenery along the Carp Barrens Trail.
Getting There
There is very little signage anywhere along the trail. This include at the trailheads. The trail starts off of Thomas A Dolan Parkway, and there are two trailheads quite close to one another.
When we went in the winter people had accessed the forest from a variety of points so we weren’t ever able to figure out if we were on the trail or not. Don’t worry, it’s much easier after the snow melts!
The coordinates for the northeast trailhead are: 45.386728, -76.073758
The coordinates for the southwest trailhead are: 45.385733, -76.075299
If you use these coordinates they will take you to the exact spot the trail starts.
Parking at the trailhead is just along the shoulder of the Thomas A Dolan Parkway. There are no facilities at the trailheads.
We loved all this open rock face.
The Trail
The Carp Barrens Trail is essentially a loop, where the road closes the loop for a short distance between the two trailheads. We started the trail at the southwest trailhead, and this is definitely the route I’d recommend, as it brings you through the trail in such a way that there are more opportunities to rest and relax on the northern side of the loop. Hiking counter clockwise in this way allows you to enjoy these spots near the end of your hike.
The trail is consistently varied along the length of it, which was really fun. There was a ton of open rock face, some sections where the trail was worn down to the dirt, and some where the trail was super rocky. It was awesome!
There were absolutely no trail markers along the trail. That’s why, in the winter, we had no idea whether we were on the right path or not.
Despite this, the trail was so well worn that it was easy to follow. Even on the open rock face there was so much lichen and moss along the sides of the trail that the path was easy to spot and stick to. It’s always important to do your best to stay on the trail to reduce damage to the undergrowth, but even more so in Carp Barrens where the ecosystem is sensitive. Even on the rocks it’s important to stay on trail so the moss has a fair chance to grow!
You can see how the trail is easy to pick out along the way.
Heading Back
After about 2 km of hiking we came to the only spot on the trail where we felt even remotely confused about where to go. The trail branched off to our left and right. We knew to get back to the road we had to head in a northwest direction, and our handy compass let us know that to do so we should turn left, so off we went.
On the way back there were a handful of spots where massive open rock faces were right along huge beaver ponds. The views from these spots were lovely, and they made, in my opinion, the best spots to sit and relax, have a snack, etc.
Along the way, it felt like there were quite a few bikers on the trail. This is probably just because the trail length itself is short, so there’s less room to disperse. But it was still only a minor inconvenience, and all users were respectful of one another. And I could totally see the appeal of biking this trail as well!
Gorgeous views over the beaver ponds.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we returned to the trailhead we had hiked about 3.5 km. It took us just over an hour and a half, but that was with a toddler in tow. Official reports from the Friends of Carp Hills report that the trail is only 3 km long.
The Carp Barrens Trail is one of the best I’ve hiked in a long time. Maybe it’s the lockdown talking but it felt so nice to be out on a trail that could be described as “rugged.” That being said, don’t be intimidated by it! Our toddler hiked the first 2 km herself no problem.
If a toddler can do it you can definitely do it!
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
Our GPS tracked route of the Carp Barrens Trail.
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.
It’s really important to include the following for yiur readers. This is a protected conservation area. It is closed from the May long weekend to August 15 to protect vulnerable wildlife during their breeeding season. Dogs are not allowed. Stay off the lichen. Parking is limited. You will be ticketed.
I am worried that you are posting this and suspect that with increase in traffic, they will have to close this area to protect the wildlife. Please consider removing this entry. It is currently overwhelmed with people as it is due to the pandemic.
Calm down.
Agree … relax.
I believe we’ve talked about this before through different channels. 🙂 As you know, all the info you mentioned above was already mentioned in the blog post… Except for the ticketing thing because I didn’t see any of that happening.
Hi! I tried to hike this trail over the weekend, but could not find a trailhead. The entire length of roadway around the coordinates was lined with “no parking signs”, and instead of a trailhead I only saw a snowmobile trail that had signs indicating against using it for hiking. Can anyone update me on how to access this trail? I realize this post is a few years old at this point, has access changed?