How to book a virtual school program

Our virtual school programs bring different aspects of Ontario’s natural and cultural heritage into your classroom through stories of the people and landscapes our provincial parks aim to protect.

Each program engages your students through storytelling, activities, discussion, and personal experiences.

Continue reading How to book a virtual school program

Destination Temagami

Surrounded by shining waters and cloaked in towering pines, Finlayson Point Provincial Park lies just south of the Village of Temagami.

Sharing a shoreline with the Lake Temagami Skyline Preserve, a protected ring of pine forest that surrounds the lake, Finlayson Point provides visitors with access to Temagami — a treasured part of Ontario that many travellers see only a glimpse of as they head north or south along the highway.

Continue reading Destination Temagami

George Bonga: the life of a voyageur

Today’s post comes from our Discovery Specialist (and history buff), Dave Sproule. Header image source: Minnesota Historical Society

Over 200 years ago, George Bonga paddled fur trade routes throughout the Great Lakes region.

He also acted as a canoe guide, a translator, and eventually a trader with his own trading posts.

In honour of Black History Month, let’s take a look at the life of George Bonga.

Continue reading George Bonga: the life of a voyageur

Virtual programs: nature gone digital!

Today’s blog comes from Jessica Stillman, Discovery program project coordinator. (She’s pretty much famous among Ontario’s elementary students tuning in for virtual field trips!)

Virtual field trips are AWESOME!

No forms, school buses, or headcounts! Once you log in, our knowledgeable and engaging Discovery staff do the rest.

Continue reading Virtual programs: nature gone digital!

Where can a paddle take you?

In today’s post, Rondeau Provincial Park‘s Chief Park Naturalist Jess Matthews takes us back in time…

There may be a time when you used your paddle to get through white caps. At other times, it leisurely pulled you over still wetlands.

They are a lifeline. Solid, reliable; something that won’t break down on whatever journey you may be on.

But what if we told you that a paddle can also take you through time to the very beginning of the provincial park system? A time when the only two superintendents in Ontario Parks were 600 km away from each other, and correspondence was mainly though letters.

Just two paddles are the tangible pieces of history that connects Algonquin Provincial Park and Rondeau Provincial Park through a story of beginnings, friendships, and marriage.

Continue reading Where can a paddle take you?

A look back on Ontario Parks’ outhouses

We called on Ontario Parks Architect Matthew Harvey to provide some insight on outhouses…the good, the bad, and the stinky!

In the course of my 30 year architectural career with Ontario Parks, I occasionally get asked what I do for a living. I proudly reply “Why, I design outhouses!”

If that person doesn’t excuse themselves, turn on their heel and beat a hasty retreat, then we might get down to a discussion that goes something like this:

Continue reading A look back on Ontario Parks’ outhouses

The Northern Lights

Seeing the magnificent Northern Lights is a bucket list item for any nature lover.

But did you know that the Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun?

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is the name given to an often-ethereal band or curtain of faint light seen towards the northern horizon. Generally, the light is so faint that the light pollution of even a small town can wash it out.

However, in the dark skies of many of our provincial parks, the Northern Lights can be spectacular.

Continue reading The Northern Lights