Grundy Lake sits on bare Canadian Shield granite with four lakes and six real beaches between them. No motorboats are allowed anywhere in the park, so the water stays flat enough for a first paddle. It is a long way up the highway and you are home the same night.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue, just north of Yonge and Bloor. Park admission is part of your ticket, so there is nothing to sort out at the gate.
Dates not open yet
We put seats on sale one season at a time, and this one is not up yet. Nothing is hidden and there is no list to pay to join. Leave your email and you hear the day the dates open.
Leaving Toronto in the meantime
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
Nobody leads the day. The bus drops you off, you do what you like with the time, and you meet it again where it left you.
Flat and short, on even ground, with no climbing and no rush. This is a walk rather than a hike, and you set the pace.
Grundy Lake sits on exposed Canadian Shield granite, with nine campgrounds fanned out around four lakes: Grundy, Clear, Gurd and Gut. Between them there are six real beaches, some sand and some smooth rock you can lie on.
No motorised boats are allowed anywhere in the park. That is the single fact that makes this place what it is. The water stays calm, it stays quiet, and Clear and Gut Lakes in particular are about as forgiving as a first canoe trip gets.
There are three trails and they are all different lengths. Swan Lake is short and easy with good lookouts. Pakeshkag Lake is 2.6 km one way, flat, and passes the Beaver Lake wetland, which is where the birding is. Gut Lake is the longest and the rockiest.
Days like this pull a mixed crowd. Families splitting off to a beach, a couple sharing one canoe, somebody on their own with a paperback and no plan beyond a swim. All of it works, and you sort out which one you are once you are there.
Far enough to feel like you left. Close enough to be home tonight.
One stop, in the park. Everything below is reachable from it.
We pick you up
Just north of Yonge and Bloor subway station. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the coach. There may be more than one bus, so check the sign in the window before you get on.
The bus drops you in the park and collects you from the same place in the evening. Between those two points the day is yours: four lakes, six beaches, three trails and a park office that rents canoes.
Good to know:
Facilities: Park office, which handles canoe and kayak rentals, No food or drink for sale, so bring your own
Note: Canoe and kayak rentals are separate from your bus ticket and can be booked ahead through the Grundy Lake Supply Post.
We drop you back
The bus returns to the same place it left from, so you go home the way you came.
This is our estimated return time, not a guarantee. Traffic can change it and some trips do run late, so please leave yourself some room afterwards rather than booking something tight against it.
A long day at four lakes, with nothing to buy once you are there.
Canoes and kayaks are rented at the park office and are not part of your bus ticket. You can book them online with the Grundy Lake Supply Post ahead of the day.
Bring a card or some cash if you would rather sort it out when you arrive.
The only exceptions are an active Environment Canada weather warning or a cancellation request from the park. If either happens and we cancel, you get a full refund.
Otherwise, pack a rain jacket and come anyway. A quiet lake in the rain is not the worst day out.
Grundy runs on a handful of dates a season, because it is a long way up and a long way back. When one goes, it goes.
Placeholder dates · the real ones come from our booking system
We're Canada's outdoor bus service. Since 2010 we've taken more than 300,000 people to parks and trails without a car. You bring a swimsuit. We handle everything else.
Across Grundy, Clear and Gurd Lakes, on sand and on smooth granite shoreline. Enough of them that finding a quiet one is a matter of walking a bit further.
Not on any of the four lakes. That is why the water stays flat, and it is why Clear and Gut are good places to get in a canoe for the first time.
Nothing to pay at the gate and nothing to book ahead. Get off the bus and go.
Reclining seats, air conditioning, big windows and a washroom on board. It is three and a half hours each way, so the bus is the kind you can actually sit in.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
All stops enable guests ample time to explore the destination. This is a highly a good idea trip for those that appreciate spending time in nature minus distractions.OnAir48444 · Tripadvisor · Oct 2025
This is a great service if you don't have a vehicle or just don't want to drive. I'm so happy to have discovered this. There will definitely be more Parkbus trips in my future!James Taylor Wilson · Happy Parkbus customer
This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won't be the last.Brenda H. · Google
Factor in the cost of gas, parking and renting a car, it's a lot cheaper than taking a personal vehicle.Toronto Star
Parkbus is a great option for nature lovers, whether it's a day trip or overnight camping getaway.The Globe and Mail
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and you get a 90% refund, with 10% withheld for payment processing. Inside 14 days refunds are not available, except for a medical emergency in the 48 hours before departure, which needs a signed doctor’s note within 14 days of the missed trip and returns 50%. Tickets are transferable: you can change the passenger name up to 48 hours before departure.
If Parkbus cancels a trip, you get a full refund. We decide no later than 48 hours before departure and only on confirmed conditions: the park closed or the park authority asking us to stand down, an evacuation order or alert, an area restriction order, the highway closed, or the trip judged unsafe to run. A forecast is not one of those things, and trips run rain or shine.
Bring a swimsuit, a lunch and a book. We handle the three hundred kilometres in each direction.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
