The La Cloche Mountains are white quartzite that was once a range taller than the Rockies. The lakes below them are clear to eight metres. It is 400 km each way, which is why most people in Toronto have never been. So we put it on a bus and sent a guide with it.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue in Toronto and picks up again at the Major Mackenzie park and ride. The guide and your park entry are both in the price.
Sold out
There are no seats left on any date we have up for Killarney Guided Day Trip. Leave your email and we will tell you the day new dates go up, while there is still a choice of them.
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
A Parkbus guide leads the group all day, so you do not need to know the trail.
A few hours on real trail with roots, rocks and some climbing, so wear proper shoes.
A full-size coach: reclining seats, air conditioning, large windows, a washroom on board and room for daypacks and gear.
The La Cloche Mountains run through the park like a white spine. They are quartzite, and they were once a range taller than the Rocky Mountains before a few ice ages had their way with them. They still glow white in the sun.
The interior lakes sit so clear you can see eight metres down, and the pink granite shores of Georgian Bay look like somebody spilled the sunset on them. You walk through red oak, white pine and birch, and cross boardwalks where pitcher plants and sundew grow alongside cranberry.
The Granite Ridge Trail climbs to lookouts where the view splits in half: the La Cloche peaks to the north, the Georgian Bay islands rolling away south. It looks exactly like a Group of Seven painting, for the obvious reason.
And there is George Lake, where the painters worked from canoes, and where you can wade in and float for as long as you feel like.
It looks like a Group of Seven painting because it is one.
One stop, at George Lake, which is where everything in this park starts.
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.
This route runs a full-size coach, with a washroom on board.
We pick you up
The MTO carpool lot at Major Mackenzie Drive and Highway 400. The bus pulls in right beside the bus stop in the parking lot. Useful if you are north of the city.
George Lake is the heart of Killarney. The main trails start here, the beach is here, and this is where the guided hike goes from. You get about six hours, and how you spend them is genuinely up to you.
Good to know:
Facilities: Beach and canoe launch, Park store for small items only, so bring your food
Note: Which hike the group does depends on conditions and on the pace of the people in it. Both Granite Ridge and Cranberry Bog are moderate.
We drop you back
The bus calls at both pickup points on the way back, so you get off where you got on.
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.
Six hours on granite, and a very long bus ride either side of it.
Four and a half hours up, six hours in the park, four and a half hours back, with a stop in Parry Sound at each end. The bus does not get back to the city until half past eleven at night.
We are not going to pretend otherwise. It is the price of reaching a park this far out and sleeping in your own bed. Most people fall asleep on the way home with sand in their shoes.
ActiveDays is built so that solo travel does not feel like solo travel. There is something about arriving somewhere remote together, by bus, without the buffer of your own car, that shortens the usual stranger script.
Hike with the group or sit on a rock and read. Take the longer trail or stay near the shore. Everybody has their own relationship with the outdoors and nobody is checking yours.
There is an ActiveDays Facebook group where people connect ahead of a trip: gear questions, who else is coming, a feel for your guide.
It is a quiet, useful little community, and it means the day starts before you board.
This one runs a handful of times a season. The October date catches the fall colours, which is when the ridges are at their best.
This season has sold out
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 lunch and good shoes. We handle everything else.
Somebody who knows the trees, the rocks and which lookout has the best light at three in the afternoon. Not just a trail map with legs.
Nothing to sort out at the gate. The permits are ours to deal with, not yours.
Killarney was not reachable by road at all until 1962. Doing it and back in a day with a rental car is the sort of plan you keep meaning to make. Sleep on the way up instead.
Join the guided hike, do your own thing, or do both. The only fixed point in the day is being back at the bus.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
Came with my friend in April, our guide Mike did a great job! Nice tour, small group, everything was great! Will go again!Natalia N. · Tripadvisor · Jul 2025
I just recently went on my first guided tour with a friend of mine from work. And man, was it amazing! Speaking from someone who doesn't drive. This is a must!!Linda Ann · Facebook · Jun 2024
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
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 lunch and good shoes. We handle the route, the park entry, the guide and 800 kilometres of driving.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
