Along the Trail in Algonquin Park: With Ralph Bice

by Ralph Bice

Along the Trail in Algonquin Park has delighted thousands of readers across Canada and the United States from the time of its first publication in the summer of 1980. This is the fourth reprint of the classic work by the late legendary outdoorsman, Ralph Bice of Kearney, Ontario. The writing is vintage Ralph Bice; a combination of unequalled park knowledge, remarkable outdoor adventures and delightful rustic humour.

Along the Trail was originally to have been titled "Forty Years in Algonquin Park," but by the time the book appeared, the author's lifelong love affair with the park had exceeded eighty. In 1993, the time of Algonquin Park's centennial, the "Grand Old Man of Algonquin" had entered his 94th year. He was to continue to live nearby his beloved park until his passing in 1997. Remembered not only for his writings, Ralph Bice is honoured by a fitting memorial to "Mister Algonquin" as Algonquin Park visitors will now discover when they enter the west side of the park. For here the lake he favoured over all others, Butt Lake, has been renamed Ralph Bice Lake.

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2001

Reviews

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ralph Bice grew up in Algonquin Park and was a guide there his entire life. This is one of the only firsthand accounts of Algonquin Provincial Parks (and provincial/state parks in general), which makes it invaluable as a source for a park historian. I particularly appreciate that Ralph has no reason to whitewash the changes that have happened in the park. He talks bluntly about the effects that the lumber industry and overfishing/hunting have had on the park. It is also a good teaching resource for demonstrating that park lands and human civilization are interconnected, not intrinsically separate.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history -- gives you an amazing sense of the abundance that existed in the park at the turn of the 20C and the complete gutting of the ecosystems through trapping, clearcutting and overfishing. Made me realize how that shifting baselines theories applies to me -- I never thought of all the abundance in wildlife I never experienced (maybe just the giant White Pine trees). The main problems I had with the book were: 1) he would talk about natives, including those he called one of his "bf" but then didn't even list their names -- some serious racism there; 2) he had some serious cognitive dissonance about the cause of the loss in biological diversity (umm... Human activities, not natural cycles...). Otherwise, a fascinating window into the past in Algonquin park.