Highview Ranger Cabin

There are about a dozen ranger cabins available for rent in Algonquin Park. Half of these cabins are on or near access points and can be reached by vehicle, the other half are in the backcountry and were former outposts for Park Rangers. The Highview cabin is one of those backcountry cabins. Built in the 1920s as a shelter hut for Rangers making their way through the park, Highview is a log cabin built using the dovetail technique. This means that there are no nails or spikes holding the cabin together, just the weight of the beams.

Highview is a single room cabin. It has two double bunk beds set against the back wall, a large table and shelving unit and, most importantly of all, a wood stove. The cabin is in relatively good condition given its age, however when we were there I did notice a couple of broken windows and small holes in the roof. Not that you should be expecting the Fairmont when you’re travelling through the backcountry, but be aware that the cabin isn’t as airtight as you might want it to be. That’s important if you’re using it in the early or late season and counting on it to keep you warm. While the wood stove certainly heats the cabin up, that heat escapes into the tall roof and out the cracks fairly quickly. You’ll still want your warm sleeping bag, even though you’ve got a roof and a stove.

Highview is located in the middle of a P875 along the Nipissing River. It was built on the site of a old lumber camp, and you can see the grassed over foundations of the camp buildings in a nearby meadow. It’s pretty cool. The cabin sits right by the river, with a very nice view back upstream. There’s easy access to the water here for filtering and cleaning purposes, but I don’t know that it would be an ideal spot for a swim. The Nip is pretty shallow here.

One thing I loved about the cabin was its character. There’s a massive moose skull wired to the front of the cabin because, why not? The windows are all covered by rusty old saw blades, likely to keep bears from breaking in but may also to add just a touch of horror movie vibe to the whole experience? Inside the cabin, you can see the signatures of hundreds of people who have passed through before, which is pretty cool. 

All in all, Highview is well worth the stay if you’re heading along the Nipissing.