Why Ontario’s Bon Echo is a prime destination for hardcore anglers (and families, too)

I’ve written before about my affection for Eastern Ontario’s Bon Echo Provincial Park which is only a few hours from both Toronto and Ottawa, but sits on a dramatic outcropping of the Canadian Shield. Most of the campsites are on Mazinaw Lake, across from the stunning bluffs of Mazinaw Rock— a 100-metre-high bluff (above), that also features several hundred ancient indigenous pictographs (below).

Bon Echo is beloved by generations of family campers for its natural environment, wildlife, beaches, trails and interpretive nature programs. The park has RV, car and backcountry camping sites, plus a variety of recently built roofed accommodations (more on those later). But what you may not know, is that’s there’s also some outstanding fishing provided, as park superintendent Clark Richards put it, you’re willing to invest a little “sweat equity.” And take it from a guy who hates to portage when he could be fishing, we didn’t invest all that much sweat. Here’s the deal…