By Dorothy Mitchell — Most local people I have spoken to have not even heard of Puzzle Lake Provincial Park, let alone actually visit it. My husband and I decided it was time to explore!
To get to the park you drive as far as the road goes on Norway Lake Road, just north-east of Tamworth. There is no defined parking lot. Puzzle Lake is a non-operating provincial park, meaning there are no signs, no toilets and no trail maps, so you are on your own.
The bush on either side of the trail is very dense so it is hard to know what lies just over the crest or through the bush. My husband is an explorer so of course on several spots he decided he would see what was over the hill. He found some great photo ops as I waited on the trail. Small lakes, beaver houses, osprey nests, a robin’s nest and a few chipmunks were found along the way. If you are going to venture off the trail be very careful of poison ivy and of course wear proper footwear.
We came across an abandoned old farm and of course we had to take a peek inside. My husband figured it had to be well over 100 years old as the nails were square. They don’t make them that way anymore.
Back on the trail we continued in a northerly direction. We saw signs posted by the L&A snowmobile club but there were no distances listed. However, Arden was somewhere along the trail.
Finally after just over 2.5 kilometres on the trail we actually came to the park boundary. Here we thought we were already in it. Since we had to go back and it was getting later in the day we turned around a bit farther down the trail. We ran into a family in a “side by side” with their canoe on top so Puzzle Lake had to be somewhere! There are many lakes in this area. One of the bigger ones in Norway Lake.
We will return again in the fall to explore further and try to find Puzzle Lake. Even though it is a bit of a puzzle to get there, but it is worth the drive just to walk with nature and listen to the birds singing and discover some cool things along the way. I recommend checking it out!
