Thunder, Art, and Bonnechere Park

Another beautiful morning! We are headed to Arrowhead Park . But along the way we are making a slight detour to Bonnechere Park for lunch. We were all packed up and ready to go by 11 a.m. 

Since we had a provincial park permit from Lake St. Peter it was still valid until 10 p.m. at any provincial park to get in as a "day use" pass. So when we got to Bonnechere we headed into the office to present our pass. We were completely surprised to find out at that time that Bonnechere Park was not just a Day Use park as we had originally thought. It is actually an overnight campground. So we clearly had read the website wrong and could have been staying here for the past couple nights. But that was OK, at least we were going to be able to have lunch here. 

Right from the get go we were impressed with this park. The roads were wide and well maintained. the parking lot down by the beach was centrally located and had plenty of shady spots as well as a section in the middle for vehicles with trailers.

As you head over towards the park store you find a huge structure. It looks like a tree with a canoe for a roof.

To our delight we realized that this structure was a book tree! All around the trunk of the tree were little cabinets with glass doors at various heights. Inside each cabinet were all different kinds of books. There were kids books in the lower cabinets and books for older people in the higher cabinets. You could take a book and borrow it for a time, or you could take the book with you and replace it with one of your own that you no longer want. We loved this idea! 

Up inside the canoe portion of the book tree we saw a little nest. I guess the birds think this tree is a great idea too! 

On the other side of the book tree was a very long building called the Davenport Center. It is the park store and the Visitor Center all rolled into one. 

Outside the door was a large sign announcing that days kids event and where it is located. 

When you first enter the building there is a little museum like area. There is an old wood stove display on one side with information about early settlers.  

On the other side of the room is a section with information on "Friends Of Bonnechere Park".

To the left there was an entrance to another large room. Inside were various displays about nature including bones of animals and information kiosks. 

​ And right in the middle of the floor was a big ole snapping turtle walking around the room! We happened to come in at just the right time. The turtle's name is Thunder and he is on loan from a reptile zoo for the summer. This was his first foray out of his tank. They had let him walk around to get some exercise because there was no one in the building except the staff at the moment. And then we walked in. We gave him plenty of room and tried not to scare him. We watched him for a bit and then headed over to the other side of the building where the store is. 

The store had plenty of interesting things and the prices were half decent. 

They had a neat looking wall hanging that looked like giant scrabble pieces. We bought a couple of drinks and some souvenirs and headed out towards the beach. 

As we left the building we noticed an odd looking chair sitting in the corner. We had never seen one before and we were curious about what it was for. 

Then we read the sign and realized that it was a wheel chair that could go into the water. Now we were really impressed with this park! 

They even had a blue carpet made specifically for the water wheelchairs to roll on so that they wouldn't get stuck in the sand.

And the blue carpet rolls all the way out into the water. 

It was like this park has thought of every little detail. There was a volley ball net. 

And a boardwalk with benches along the waterfront, as well as a little kids jungle gym area just beyond that.

They even had a place where you could get free doggie doo bags for those people who had dogs. 

There were plenty of people at the beach but it was still easy to get a picnic table. We sat and ate lunch and enjoyed the scenery. 

After lunch I walked over to the other side of the beach where the boat launch was. It was a pretty little area with a little dock that jutted into the river. 

From the dock you can see sunfish swimming around in the river. 

They had canoes that you could rent. These canoes were a little different in that they had backs on their seats. 

They also had kayaks and a paddle board for rent too,

Before leaving the park we went over to the comfort station which was just at the other end of the parking lot.

At the far end of the comfort station they had an outdoor laundry facility. We had never seen a park that had their laundry facilities outside before. There was a bench near by where you could sit and wait for your laundry and there was an electrical outlet where  you could charge your phone if you needed to. 

We stayed at Bonnechere for about 2 hours. We liked the park so much that we decided that we would definitely have to come back in the future to stay the night and see how the campsites were.

​We left at about 2:30 and since we were travelling through Algonquin Park to get to Arrowhead Park, we decided to make a stop at the Algonquin Art Center. 

I had been here before with my sister Heather and my mom so I was excited to show this place to my brother and to Penny. I just love the metal work. 

All of the art work here is amazing and I recommend anyone in the area to stop in and see it for themselves. You won't be disappointed. 

We didn't stay long because it was close to closing time when we arrived. But we were anxious to get to our next destination anyways.....Arrowhead Park.