Manitoulin Island

Swing Bridge on only road to Manitoulin Island at Little Current

This post may sound like a geography lesson but then, I always loved geography at school. We spent last week on Manitoulin Island, a large island at the top of Lake Huron, a seven hour drive from home. Driving north from Toronto, one passes fertile farmland, the Holland Marsh at Bradford and then the lakes and rocks of the Canadian Shield change the landscape beyond Orillia and Parry Sound on Georgian Bay. We drove on to Sudbury, the mining city and historical Nickel Capital and to Espanola where native Canadians sold wild blueberries along the roadway.

The road turns south and is cut through metamorphic rock as it descends to the first islands of the North Channel of Lake Huron. There is only one road from the mainland to Manitoulin Island and it is shared with boats. Every hour the bridge swings to allow marine traffic to pass through from Little Current. The only other access is by the ferry which travels to and from Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula and South Baymouth.

Manitoulin Island is part of the Niagara Escarpment (marked in red)

Manitoulin is part of the Niagara Escarpment so in spite of its latitude, belongs geologically to southern Ontario. Towering limestone cliffs rise above Lake Huron and over one hundred smaller lakes are found on the island. The vegetation is different than what is found on the rocks of the Sudbury area. There are farms on the island, many abandoned, but the soil is productive enough for crops and cattle. There are miles of meadows, creek beds, marshland, shoreline, cliffs and mixed forest making a haven for many, many birds and animals. If you miss the warbler migration in the spring, you can get a warbler fix all summer up here! Groomed trails pass through level terrain or the challenging rocky heights of the Cup and Saucer Trail. There are caves and fossil remains in the cliffs of the escarpment.

Cup and Saucer Trail

There are six Anishinaabe First Nation reserves on the island and aboriginal settlements have been present here for thousands of years. The name Manitoulin means "Den of the Great Spirit Manitou". There is also interesting history involving Jesuit missionaries, mariners and fur traders over the last few hundred years. Each tiny community has its own stories and legends with old buildings and tiny museums to explore as one imagines life in this remote area in the past.

Lighthouse and Anglican Church at Manitowaning

We stayed at Bass Creek Resort, a fishing camp on the shores of the largest inland lake, Lake Manitou. The word "resort" is used very loosely, but we did have running water, a shower and electricity in our tiny cabin. My husband was happy because he could fish, I was happy because there were miles of easy exploring in the vicinity, and we were both happy because there were very few biting insects around. In the afternoons we drove to some new trail or community on the island.

Bass Creek Resort

Without television, internet, fast food restaurants (not even a Tim Hortons), or any city life, it was easy to settle into a slow island pace. The days were longer by at least an hour with a spectacular sunset at about 9:30 each evening. Night time allowed for clear star-gazing, if you could stay awake after a day of fresh air.

The context for a few more posts has been set.

Bridal Veil Falls at Kagowan- an escarpment waterfall