Killarney Lodge, an Algonquin Park, Ontario, resort, is an ideal destination for nature lovers.  Not only is it nestled in a secluded and untouched corner of Canadian wilderness, it is also designed with the utmost care to preserve its surroundings.

Good environmental stewardship is key to the design and management of Killarney Lodge.  Unlike the typical Algonquin Park resort, Killarney Lodge has virtually no impact whatsoever on the surrounding ecosystem.  While other resorts' wastewater often negatively affects the water quality of rivers and lakes in Algonquin Park, Killarney Lodge's does not.  This is due to an award-winning wastewater management system that rivals many municipalities.  Killarney Lodge's wastewater management ensures that the water quality and wildlife of their slice of paradise remains completely unaffected by human activity.

Killarney Lodge has also applied this principle to other facets of their resort.  In every aspect of the resort, harm to the environment is kept to an absolute minimum.  Food waste is taken by local farmers for use as animal fodder.  Most other solid waste is composted for use on the Lodge's grounds.  Food is typically local, organic, free trade, and often vegetarian.  Instead of wasting fuel, Killarney Lodge staff carpools to and from work each day.  Instead of throwing out gently used furniture, towels and linens, the Lodge donates them to local charity.  Charities supported by visits to Killarney Lodge include a local women's shelter, an animal shelter, and a local conservationist foundation.

All activities at the Lodge are environmentally friendly.  With no marina or quad trails, the resort offers a uniquely quiet destination at peace with local wild animals.  Moose, deer, and beavers have grown accustomed to the quiet human presence.  All hiking and cycling trails have been established for generations, so that local animals see them as a normal and natural presence.  Animals can be seen near the resort and hiking trails daily.  Killarney Lodge sends the message that, while nature and modern technology can often be at odds, nature and humans can live in harmony.

Killarney Lodge only operates six months of the year, from May to September.  The other six months, the Lodge is closed and its grounds are left open to the wild.  With no fences or dangers, when closed the Lodge's grounds become the feeding grounds of animals.  Killarney Lodge's managers like to see their presence at the Lodge not as ownership, but as a semi-annual loan from the area's real owners: the local wildlife.

Much of Killarney Lodge's environmental stewardship is the result not of innovation, but of preservation.  The Lodge was established over seventy years ago, and the principles have remained the same.  It began as a Lodge dedicated to appreciating, not intruding on, nature in the 1930s, and remains a Lodge dedicated to appreciating instead of intruding on nature today.  The same techniques that have allowed the Lodge's surroundings to be as pristine today as in the 1930s will also allow the Lodge's surrounding to remain pristine throughout the 21st century and beyond.