One pulls off the north side of Highway 60 at kilometer 15.4, onto the Arowhon Road. Access to the trail's parking lot is immediately on the right. The trail is 11 kilometers long, typically takes 6 hours to complete and contains many good areas for wildlife viewing. It is for this reason that dogs are not allowed on this trail.

Beaver damming activities affect water levels in many creeks, ponds and lakes. This open area was once a small beaver pond. Over many decades it filled with growth, becoming more of a meadow than a pond.

Mizzy Lake is a long body of water, held back by a beaver dam at its south end. Its water levels, maintained over time, have allowed the lake's mid-section to fill in with a mat of vegetation.

It is across this narrow section, which now resembles a meandering creek, that a boardwalk takes the trail from the west to east shore.

The trail heads north under the forest cover, close along the east shore. Low beaver dams cross the in-filled vegetation mat, raising the lake level so that it sometimes impacts on the trail. Further north, one looks across the open water to the extensive vegetation mat with its transforming tree growth.

The north end of Mizzy Lake narrows down to a bay which is also a "meadow-in-the-making". Here a long boardwalk carries hikers to firmer ground through an area frequented by much wildlife.

After a couple of kilometers the trail coincides with the roadbed of the long-abandonned Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, all the way to the trail's halfway point at Wolf Howl Pond. Halfway along this section is West Rose Lake.

The roadbed bisects the lake, producing a unique sheltered bay on its west side. Here in "Turtle Bay" upward to a hundred Painted Turtles reside. This is a natural science study area, as is indicated by the small numbered brass plates rivited on some of the older turtles' shells and the larger pink numbers painted on younger turtles' shells.

After Wolf Howl Pond, the trail leaves the old roadbed and returns to the natural topography. Another pond is held back by a beaver dam. Those parts of a dam located in full sunlight are eventually grown over by grass, bushes and even trees.

When beavers deplete the deciduous softwood from around their pond's or lake's shoreline, they forage far away from the water and drag cut branches considerable distances to their lodges by the water. However, at some point the labour proves too much. Then the beavers move on.

Dams that have fallen into disrepair eventually give way, allowing water to return to earlier levels. Decades later, when a new crop of desireable trees have grown, other beavers claim the area, rebuild dams and repeat the cycle. During the interval, other trees have grown up in the dried out meadow areas. Increased water levels drown these trees and produce stands of stark dead trunks. It's in clearings like this that frogs, snakes and hawks comprise the food chain.

Tamarack and Black Spruce are common in the mossy bog perimeter of Dizzy Lake. Don't step off the boardwalk. Small animal trails criss-cross the vegetation mat and produce the impression that it's solid. However, it cannot be safely depended on to support a person's weight.

The bog's vegetative mat is a delicate environment which we will best preserve by staying on the boardwalk. From the safety of the boardwalk, clumps of Pitcher-plants are visible. This plant supplements the meager food it gets from the vegetative mat's soil with the mineral content of insects which it traps in its pitcher and dissolves in its own liquid enzymes.

Wildlife is best viewed during the early morning and evening hours. Hazy or overcast conditions are best since the lighting has less contrast, without dark shadows where wildlife is hard to see. An early hike means getting up before sunrise for an early drive to the trailhead. If you decide on a hike later in the day, you might consider returning the same way from the midway point. This provides a safer return hike along more level and familiar trail in the lower light of evening. A flashlight in your pack is always a good safety measure, in case you fall behind schedule.