We visited Killarney as part of Big Trip #5 in September 2026. 

From Manitoulin Island, it was a three-hour drive to Killarney, and we’d have to repeat a lot of it in two days when we turned west toward Lake Superior. There was a minute when I wondered if it had been a mistake to add Killarney to our itinerary with the backtracking, but we quickly fell in love and were thrilled we had included this stop.

Killarney is a historic village at the end of a desolate 67km highway, surrounded by the white quartzite cliffs and pink granite of Killarney Provincial Park and the turquoise waters of Georgian Bay. The town is adorable, and the park is stunning.

Campground

We stayed at Roucher Rouge, a small no-hookups campground with a mix of wooded and waterfront sites… and we recommend you secure a waterfront site, because the waterfront at Roucher Rouge is absolutely incredible.

We spent so much time hanging out on our rocks (and Tilly spent too much time getting mucky in the shallow water playing with a neighborhood dog). Our site had a water spigot nearby, and getting Starlink was easy. There’s a dump station up the road in the provincial park, easy to hit on the way out of town.

Roucher Rouge is biking distance to town, it’s (mostly) very peaceful (we had some suboptimal neighbors on night #2), and did I mention it’s gorgeous? We highly recommend it for visiting Killarney. Bring cash!

Hiking

Hiking in Killarney is a dream. Be prepared so your dream is a happy one! We were not prepared, and had to get creative: remember how in Bruce Peninsula we didn’t know about the parking pass situation, and our hiking plans were almost thwarted? Here we go again!

Killarney Provincial Park requires parking reservations for the most popular trailheads, and we did not have them, and they were sold out for the entire time we were in Killarney. We were the new owners of an Ontario Parks Annual Day-Use Vehicle Permit, which covers regular daily parking across the provincial parks, but it doesn’t help with the reserved parking situation.

We took three different approaches to the problem: 1) park at the trailhead anyway and hike quickly and cross our fingers; 2) start hiking at zero o’clock and get back to the car before anybody notices we’re not supposed to be there; and 3) hike from a parking lot that didn’t require a reservation.

Our first hike was Chikanishing Trail, a short trail winding across pink granite slabs with views of Georgian Bay. It was crowded in the afternoon but so beautiful. We walked quickly and made it back to our improperly-credentialed car before getting busted.

Our second hike was The Crack, the must-do hike in Killarney, and our favorite in the park. It’s a 5-mile hike, and the last climb to the viewpoint is very steep and scrambly–Tilly needed a boost in spots. Since we weren’t able to get a parking reservation, we were on the trail by 7am and hiked quickly.

Starting so early meant we had the fabulous viewpoint all to ourselves. The rocks–we got close-up views of both the pink granite and the white quartzite–and views and J’s breakfast sandwich were glorious.

Finally, we hiked Granite Ridge Trail, where reserved parking wasn’t a requirement! The 2-mile trail was empty and pretty, winding through the forest and popping out to some overlooks on those pink granite rocks.

Exploring Killarney

Killarney is sized perfectly for a two-day visit. We ate treats, and famous fish, and a fancy meal, and had a waterfront drink, and picked herbs, and visited the world’s largest paddle, in addition to hiking and sitting on our campsite rocks!

Our fancy dinner was at The Ranch House at Killarney Mountain Lodge. We sat on the patio with a water view and ate tasty salads and fish and meat and left stuffed.

Herbert Fisheries has served famous freshly-caught fish and chips for 30 years, so we had to try it! After a long wait (it was crowded) we ate our fish and chips on a bench by the harbor. We don’t typically enjoy fish and chips so this was sort of a check-the-box experience for us. Herbert Fisheries is cash-only.

Sportsman’s Inn is the harborfront sibling of Killarney Mountain Lodge, with an indoor bar and a waterfront bar. We sat at the water for a drink with Tilly and it was super fun.

Killarney Outfitters is a neat outdoor supply store and canoe/kayak renter/trip planner that also sells local ice cream, which we enjoyed on the porch. They also had local apples and their own tomatoes for sale when we stopped by, and they were the most dog-enthusiastic group we’ve encountered thus far. Bonus: they have a little herb garden out front and invite visitors to take a sprig or two, which we did. Thanks!

I’ve been on a beaver tail quest since not getting one in Niagara, so I stopped by Gateway Restaurant and Bakery and had to settle (haha) for butter tarts, a delicious Ontario speciality. Gateway also has coffee drinks, ice cream, and a sandwiches/soups/salads menu.

We stopped into Pittsfield’s Killarney General Store for a couple items, including produce, which pleased us as we were out in the middle of nowhere.

The weirdest thing we did in Killarney was visiting the Big Dipper, the world’s largest paddle. It was built by a long-distance paddler in 2020, is 110.5 feet long, and houses a time capsule to be opened in 2222. Of course we had to make Tilly pose for a picture with it.

From Killarney, we finally left Lake Huron behind and headed west toward Lake Superior. But first we spent a night away from Great Lake at Chutes Provincial Park, two hours away.