Park it for summer in Ontario PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL PARKS IN THE BOONIES OFFER TRULY DIFFERENT ADVENTURE By Katharine Fletcher
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hether backcountry multi-day canoe or hiking trips are your thing, or camping in one of Parks Canada’s oTENTiks (think cabin-tent crossover with beds in a campsite for six) our national and provincial parks systems offer diversity – and fun. Where to go? Here are some destinations we believe are truly special. Find out why for yourself, starting with Ontario Provincial Parks …
view as much as us, because his painting of Pic is famous. Go here for camping that looks out over the greatest of the Great Lakes, hiking amid subArctic vegetation, paddling (remember, winds can generate rough waves and wind across this immense lake), and wonderful swimming.
Lake Superior: 130 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, 15 south of Wawa on the lake’s eastern shore ontarioparks.com/park/lakesuperior There’s world-class paddling under vaulting cliffs, through almost Caribbean-turquoise waters, forested islands and beaches. For us, these natural elements generated feelings of awe. Being interested in First Nations culture, we hiked the Agawa Rock Trail to see the redochre symbolic pictographs painted on the
cliffs by Ojibwe peoples. One shows Misshepezhieu, the Great Lynx, spirit of the water. He could work for or against humans – calm the waters, or bring wind and storms by thrashing his tail. Misshepezhieu (spelled many different ways) was later immortalized in a painting by Ojibwa artist Norval Morrisseau. Go here to fish for trout in a spectacular setting.
Quetico: about 200 kilometres west of Thunder Bay to Atikokan, then south into the park ontarioparks.com/park/quetico Up for canoeing and wildlife watching amid 460,000 hectares of wilderness with 2,000 lakes? Quetico enables you to paddle to remote backcountry sites where waterfalls and loons are likely neighbours. We set off in Windigo and pitched our
Neys: just over 1,200 kilometres from Ottawa on the north shore of Lake Superior, near Marathon. ontarioparks.com/park/neys German prisoners of war were held in Canada during the Second World War, and Neys Provincial Park is on the land that housed them. The visitors centre has a model of Camp 100. Renowned for its fabulous stretch of sand beach, we discovered Neys while driving across Canada with our homemade cedarstrip canoe, Windigo strapped to the roof, seeking watery adventure. We lingered here, feasting on immense blueberries, and gazing at Pic Island. Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris seems to have enjoyed the
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