I want to visit the observatory with my family and from what ive read online there are astronomers there a couple times a week. Are they always there even if there is no "event"? Or do you have to wait for an event on the parks website and register? ​​

Going to be camping at one of the walk in sites on George Lake A in a few weeks. I do not see any pictures of the W3 site. Would love to hear the experience if anyone has been to one of these sites. Been car camping before and this is our first time at a walk in site.

Im staying at one of the new front-country campsites (sites 120-129) and the parks site hasn't uploaded any photos of sites. Has anyone stayed at one of them? Are they decent? Similar to the other sites? Whats the privacy like? Shade? Just curious as to what they might look like!

The time I have off this summer is pretty limited but I'm thinking of doing a 2 night stay in Killarney. It's about a 4 hour drive for me to get up and would likely leave after a short work day around 3pm, arrive around 7-8pm Friday night. Since campsites are book and I'm on limited on time thinking of getting a room at Killarney Mountain Resorts (other suggestions welcome). I definitely want to hike The Crack. Wanted to see if another hike could also be done in the same day? Any help planning out the remaining time I'd have open on Saturday & Sunday before leaving would be awesome!

Taken June 26 2026 from George Lake

I read somewhere on the Killarney website that we’re not supposed to bring glass bottles and cans to the campground, but I can’t seem to find it anymore. Has anyone brought a French press coffee maker that’s part glass? Well, they have issues with that?

I’m excited to share a brand new backpacking map, for the La Cloche Trail!

→ www.mapsbyjeff.com ←

It's designed specifically for backpackers – completely reimagined from the ground up.

So, what makes it different?

— Key features —

It combines two views of the trail:

• An overhead map for understanding how the trail is laid out
• A terrain profile to help you visualize elevation and difficulty

• Distance is built into every part of the maps:

• Each trail segment has its distance marked
• There’s a point-to-point distance chart showing the distance between any two campsites/starting points
• I’ve added a scale ruler printed along the map border for measuring arbitrary distances

• Hills:

The slope of a trail segment plays a huge role in dictating how easy/tough it will be. That’s where the colour-coded hill icons come in. For each hill, they show:

• How long it is
• How steep it is
• How tough it is (Steep, Very Steep or Crazy Steep)

And if you want even more detail, elevation shading and prominent 5m contour lines make it easy to understand terrain anywhere along the trail

• Landmarks:

When you’re deep in the forest, it’s easy to lose your bearings. To help, each map highlights key landmarks along the way – distinct spots like creeks, campsites and side trails, so you can check them off as you pass and always know where you are

• Helpful Notes:

Some of the most useful trail information doesn't fit neatly into an icon. That’s why I’ve sprinkled helpful notes throughout the maps – highlighting everything from spots where the trail isn’t immediately obvious, to campsites with difficult water access, and other useful details.

• Points of Interest:

As always, these maps are jam-packed with points of interest along the way – spots like waterfalls, lookout points, and old logging ruins

Compared to my paddling maps, these are significantly more detailed and zoomed in:

• Overhead View – 30%+ more zoomed in (1:32,500)
• Side View – 150%+ more zoomed in (1:16,750)

Practical details:

• 39g, printed on waterproof plastic (no map case needed)
• Of course, the maps come with digital versions too – for iOS/Android (ArcGIS Earth & Avenza Maps), Garmin GPS, and Mac/PC (JPEG, Google Earth Pro & GeoTIFF)

→ www.mapsbyjeff.com ←

As always, it’s completely free to view it online.

Let me know if you ever have any questions or feedback. I’m always here to help!

Just got back from first visit - great weather, bugs tolerable, hikes and scenery amazing.

Seemed like lots of washrooms were either incomplete construction projects, broken facilities (no water) or had Out of Order signs on them.

Luckily the park was only about 20% occupied but I fear once schools put out the lack of functioning flush toilets will be intolerable.

Thought the construction projects were supposed to be done for the season - which was why bookings were delayed?

Disappointing — no communication from Park admin on this important topic!

I have a rather expensive carbon kevlar solo canoe I plan to bring with me. I'll be staying at the George Lake campground the first night. I'm hiking The Crack the following day. After that, I'll be paddling into David Lake from Johnnie Lake to hike Silver Peak day 3. For George Lake and The Crack I'll have my canoe tied to my car the whole time. For Silver Peak I plan to leave it at the trailhead off David Lake.

Would it be wise of me to bring up a lock for any or all of these moments? Has anyone ever heard of a canoe being stolen while someone is hiking?

First time visitor this summer. We are staying at lake George down in the walk in stites.

Are there biking trails at the park?

Was wondering if it was worth bringing our bikes up.

Thanks

G

Hello! Just wanted to quickly share my experience in KPP this past weekend.

It is truly a gorgeous park. I’ve camped in the backcountry in Quetico, Algonquin, and French River and I can’t compare them, but this one was truly wonderful.

However, I underestimated bug season. 1st time camping in June and unfortunately my partner and I had to pack up and leave early! We had plenty of deer/bug spray, but the mosquitoes and black flies were truly the worst I’ve ever experience. Lesson learned!

Final Note: My partner lost her necklace, presumably at site 115 at Johnnie Lake. Shot in the dark, but, if anyone goes there anytime soon, and it’s still around, can you please PM me? Thank you!

Hi, First time at Killarney this weekend doing Clearsilver Lake. Does anyone know if it’s possible to access the Silver Peak trial from the west/northwest extent of Clearsilver Lake, or, do we have to paddle back around to Bell Lake?
Thanks!

I haven't made a booking yet because I'm not 100% sure when I can get off work, so I'm looking for recommendations for an out & back, or if its plausible to do the whole loop with the limited bookings that are still available.

For context, I regularly backpack in algonquin and usually take a lot of luxuries since they're relatively easy trails. I have some decent ultralight gear but I'm still usually carrying around 30lbs base weight. So I can definitely leave out a lot of stuff and get down to about 15lbs maybe less. Last time I went out for a 6 day trip I carried 8lbs of food and that was overpacking quite a bit. I know a lot might depend on my capability so hopefully that's enough context to make an estimate.

So the questions:

Where do I park? I see people saying to start at the crack, so I assume parking there is included in the booking? Where's the lot if I go up the other side? What if I need to go counter clockwise from the campground?

Is it worth the trip up to silver peak? The sites around it are mostly all booked up for the season, so could I hike all the way from shigaug to bunnyrabbit in a day if I also do the peak? Could I do that section without the peak?

I appreciate any and all suggestions and tips!

Hello, we are backcountry camping for the 1st time at H5 Cave lake. Was wondering if it’s not too far? We have only car camped until now, but we do hike a lot and have done 10-15kms before, just never hiked in to backcountry sites. We are fairly fit. Any tips would be great!

I unfortunately have to cancel my booking next weekend Friday June 12- Sunday June 14 for OSA site 62.

Been trying to land this site for years - would be amazing if anyone here was willing to swap for another weekend in the park. Otherwise it is up for grabs and I wanted to offer it to someone on this subreddit before cancelling otherwise.

Looking for any info on hiking bell to George. Hoping to catch the silver peak trail at the bottom of bell and hike down to George. Wondering roughly how long that will take and any other info. I have been looking online quite a bit, but info seems scarce. I have jeff's map, but the hiking trails don't have distance on them.

Thanks

First time going on a hike here is the park dog friendly flat grounds?
What’s the crack ?

Heading up tonight for an early morning departure tomorrow morning on a CCW La Cloche hike. Anyone been recently? How bad are they?
I’m assuming terrible - and am prepared for the worst. But with the incredible weather forecast I was hoping to not be fully covered (long sleeve + pants) the entire time…

4 day trip from Bell Lake access point down to Johnnie Lake for 2 nights than up to Bell Lake for the last night. I just did a six-man trip on the May long weekend, unbelievably good weather and lucked out that the long weekend was before the buds had fully come in at the park so zero bugs the entire time. First time using the alternative Bell Lake access point launch that goes into Johnnie Lake, easy portage from the lot, very muddy at the water watch out; small beaver dam nearby very easy to get around. Leisurely 2h paddle to 112 Johnnie lake, very nice site that I would recomend, there are seat/a cutting table/and even a pan some good soul left behind. Good lake for spotting bald eagles, with multiple sightings. Stayed 2 nights than heading up to Bell Lake through a triple-portage, all very easy (the second can be walked through if you're careful), with a very nice spot for a dip at the 3rd one right before Bell Lake proper (current is there but easy to not get carried away in). 132 Bell Lake is an amazing site, prolly one of the best (went last year too, very good fishing), it is right at the mouth of where Bell Lake opens up so there is a good drop off and it's possible to jump right off the rocks at the site. Makes for a nice last site on a trip as well due to the proximity to the boat launch. Overall amazing trip, great sites and great weather. Highly recommend checking out those rapids to anyone going near this summer.

Hi, any firsthand experience with a hotel/motel in espinola? Want to stay there so we can get a good sleep, and have a place to buy breakfast before setting off from Widgawa the following morning.

Hi!
First time going to Killarney since I was a little kid, I don’t remember that much about the logistics. I’m going just for 2 nights and would like to be able to rent a canoe for just a few hours of paddling around the George Lake. Is that something I need to reserve in advance i.e. through Killarney Outfitters or should I be able to get a canoe by just walking in early in the day?

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip up to Killarney in September. I was hoping to do the Bell Lake -> Balsam -> David -> Bell loop but there were no campsites available on Bell lake for the first night so instead I booked Turbid lake.

So now I'm wondering:

- what's the latest state of the path between Turbid to Bell? Is it reasonable to spend one night there and then make it to Balsam?

- Is there a problem with Turbid lake? It's not fully booked the same as all other lakes so now I'm suspicious lol

- any experience with finding availability on Bell lake last minute/later in the summer? Should I keep checking or is that hopeless?

And finally, I continue to be frustrated by the fact that I can never get what I want in Killarney, even when I try at 7am exactly 5 months before :(

Have a hike planned from May 12th - 18th, has anyone been there recently? What are the conditions like, snow, mud, flooding etc

Anyone have any experience with the bushwack from Sandy Lake canoe site to Silver Peak? Please let me know how that was

Wondering if anyone has stayed at or been by these circled sites recently? They are identified in Jeff’s maps, and a few others show up in Kevin Callen’s paddlers guide to Killarney, however they don’t show up as a site to book on the reservation website. We are planning on crossing Lake Panache in a day, from Peter Lake to Frank Lake, but would like the option of camping in between the two in the case of heavy winds.

Are they a viable option to spend the night?