Algonquin Provincial Park - Ontario, Canada - State/Provincial Parks on Waymarking.com

Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Central Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. It is the first provincial park in Canada having been established in 1893. It covers about 7,653 square kilometres. Its size, combined with its proximity to the major urban centres of Toronto and Ottawa make it one of the most popular Provincial parks in the province and the entire country. Highway 60 runs through the south of the park, while the Trans-Canada Highway bypasses it to the north. Over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers are located within the park, including Canoe Lake and the Petawawa, Nipissing, Amable du Fond, Madawaska, and Tim rivers. These were formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age. The park is considered part of the "border" between Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario.

Algonquin Park was named a national historic site in 1992 in recognition of several heritage values, including: its role in the development of park management; pioneering visitor interpretation programs later adopted by national and provincial parks across the country; its role in inspiring artists, which in turn gave Canadians a greater sense of their country; and historic structures such as lodges, hotels, cottages, camps, entrance gates, a railroad station, and administration and museum buildings.

The park is in an area of transition between northern coniferous forest and southern deciduous forest. This unique mixture of forest types, and the wide variety of environments in the park, allows the park to support an uncommonly wide variety of plant and animal species. It is also an important site for wildlife research. As well, Algonquin Park is the only designated park within the province of Ontario to allow industrial logging to take place within its borders.

When travelling to Algonquin along Highway 60 from the west side, the West Gate Information Centre is your first opportunity to stop for Park information and permits. The West Gate is located 45 kilometres east of the town of Huntsville (which is located at the junction of Highway 60 and Highway 11).

When travelling to Algonquin along Highway 60 from the east side, the East Gate Information Centre is your first opportunity to stop for information and permits. The East Gate is located 5 kilometres west of the town of Whitney (which is located 3 kilometres west of the junction of Highway 60 and Highway 127).

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Park Type: Day use and overnight Activities: Algonquin is popular for year-round outdoor activities. There are over 1,200 campsites in eight designated campgrounds along Highway 60 in the south end of the park, with almost 100 others in three other campgrounds across the northern and eastern edges. There is also the Whitefish Lake group campground with 18 sites of various sizes to accommodate groups of 20, 30, or 40 people. So called "interior camping" is possible further inside the park at sites accessible only by canoe or on foot. Other activities include fishing, mountain biking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, and day hiking. The park has nineteen interpretive trails, ranging in length from 0.8 km to 13 km. Each trail comes with a trail guide and is meant to introduce visitors to a different aspect of the park's ecology or history. Algonquin is home to a Natural Heritage Education program. The most most popular aspect of the program are the weekly wolf howls. These are held (weather and wolves permitting) on Thursdays in the month of August, and sometimes in the first week of September if there is a Thursday before Labour Day. Park staff attempt to locate a pack Wednesday evening and, if successful, they announce a public wolf howl the next day Background: Algonquin was established in 1893, not to stop logging but to establish a wildlife sanctuary, and by excluding agriculture,9 to protect the headwaters of the five major rivers which flow from the Park. Soon it was "discovered", at first by adventurous fishermen, then by Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven, and a host of other visitors who came by train and stayed at one of Algonquin's several hotels. Over the years the Park has earned unconditional devotion and worldwide fame. Hundreds of letters of inquiry arrive at the Park every month, more than 40 books have been inspired by the Park, and the list keeps growing. There is an Algonquin Symphony, paintings of Park landscapes hang in the National Gallery and hundreds of studies done on its protected flora and fauna have established Algonquin as the most important place in Canada for biological and environmental research. Clearly, Algonquin Provincial Park is a very important place for all those who cherish our natural and cultural heritage. Date Established?: 1893 Link to Park: [Web Link] Park Fees: Not listed Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed

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