Hiking Murphy's Point Provincial Park

One of my favourite things about Instagram is the hiking ideas it gives me.  When I realized that Murphy's Point, a provincial park I discovered thanks to Narcity, near(ish) to Ottawa would make a great break on along driving day I was set.

When we go on road trips we try to find something fun and active to do every two to three hours (particularly on long driving days) and Murphy's Point was perfect.

Murphy's Point used to be an old mining community.  For $15.50 we bought a day pass for our family to the park (and because it was the weekend in the summer) our entry included actors in period clothes 'working' in the mine along our 2.5 km hike to explain about the area when it was a mine.  All of the ground along the hiking path is sparkled thanks to the Mica mined in the area.

 Taking the path to past entry points of the mine (Our handy hard hats were provided for us to borrow from Murphy's Point for our journey)

Heading into the depths of the mines.  This was the most challenging part of the hike.

Exploring the depths of the cave can be slippery and cool.  I'd recommend wearing running shoes even though we saw a number of people in sandals.

Learning how rocks were drilled, broken down, and removed from the mine for processing.  Kids started working in the mine as young as 14.  Before a 15 horsepower machine was used in this mine, a single horse would need to help miners haul giant tubs of rock out of the mine.

Back at the bunkhouse Molly rings the bell to let the miners know that it's time to go in for lunch. 

Murphy's Point Provincial Park participates in a program to help protect, tag, and track local wildlife, including snakes.  This gray rat snake was about a metre long and was found at the park.  He was brought in to be tagged so the next time they see him they can scan him and track his growth.  He should grow up to be about 2 metres long.

The park was a perfect break where we spent about an hour and a half of the day.  I'd recommend calling or emailing in advance to schedule your trip for when the actors are working and the mine is running because we learned so much.  People who want to stay longer and explore other trails can camp at the park in the summer.  There are grassy spots to picnic all over the park.  They also sell rocks which can make a perfect souvenir.  Jack bought a piece of Mica for $1 and Molly bought a quartz crystal for $3.  The park is just over an hour away from Ottawa city Centre and just over three hours east of Toronto depending on the traffic.  

If you have any hiking recommendations please share!  We'd love to try them out.

Road To Nowhere - 10 Tips For A Great Road Trip

We just got back from our first ever road trip as a family.  In just 11 days we travelled through four provinces and covered over 3200 KMs (not including day trips).  We weren't sure how the kids would cope with spending so much time in a car, the most they'd ever spent in a row in the past was four hours, and we knew we'd have a handful of days with upwards of nine hours in the car.

While we made a concerted effort to make the trip about the journey as well as the destination there was no getting around the amount of time we were going to be in a car.  It's still fresh in my mind, so before I share more about our trip (which was amazing), I thought I'd share some tips and tricks that totally helped us get through with minimal 'Are We There Yet?' questions.

Exploring Botanical Gardens Together

Here Are 10 Road Trip Tips For Families Travelling With Kids

1. Figure out the time of the day when you'll be able to log the most mileage with limited complaints and hassle (this goes for drivers and navigators as well) and take advantage of those "Power Hours".  For us it's always morning.
2. Make sure you have a full tank of gas each night before you park, that way when it's time to go in the AM there won't be a delay.
3. Multiple "surprise" treats on days with a lot of driving give the kids something to look forward to on the road (for us the dollar store for colouring books, mini dolls, figurines, and Amazon for cheap mini figurines was some of the best money we could have ever spent).
   
   
   
   

   

   Our First Stop On The Trip Was At The Big Apple In Cramhae Ontario

   
   
4. Research Road side attractions for fun stops that aren't too out of the way to help make the trip about the journey as well as the destination.  Things like museums, botanical gardens, hikes, or giant novelty statues can make for really fun breaks from endless hours on the road.
5. Fill up water bottles every night and put them in a cooler/fridge so you have them handy on the road.  This will save you money, keep you well hydrated and force everyone to take much needed bathroom breaks to stretch their legs.
6. Pack healthy portable foods for snacks.  Our favourites include baby carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, squeezable Apple sauce tubes, yogurt drinks, and cut carrots and celery.
7. Plan some games for the road.  We had an ongoing license plate game looking to find as many states and provinces we could for the entire trip (you can get printable ones online). We also played a game where we looked for all the letters in the alphabet and numbers (from A-Z with no repeats on the same license plate) until we were done. We spent six hours looking for the letter U one day, but everyone was excited when we found it.
8. Never underestimate the power of a pool.  Promises of accommodations with pools at the end of particularly long driving days let everyone blow off a little steam, and energy.
9. Understand that your kids sleeping hours are going to be wonky since they'll nap so much in the car.  Some nights the minions were up to 11PM because they'd gotten so much rest on the road, and that was okay.
10. Know your driving limits and that plans will need to change sometimes.  Our "down days" when we stayed two nights somewhere were always our best ones cause we could really relax with less of a clock to punch.

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