Kettle Lakes: a land shaped by icebergs

The deep green boreal forest of Kettle Lakes Provincial Park contains 22 beautiful little lakes. Of these lakes, 20 are actually called “kettle lakes” by geographers.

So what is a “kettle lake?”

To answer that question, we first must look at how kettles are formed.

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5 reasons to visit Grundy Lake Provincial Park

Grundy Lake Provincial Park is one of those places you have to experience in person.

It sounds nice on paper — scenic lakes, sandy beaches, tall pine forests, and lots of great campsites.

But when you start to explore, those features come to life. This is a park that’s more than the sum of its parts.

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Shortcuts? More like shore cuts!

Today’s post comes from Mikhaila Lafleur-Weidhaas, a park warden at Pancake Bay Provincial Park.

Two beach trails diverged at a dune, one well-travelled and clear — the other a shortcut. Do you take “the road most travelled?”

The coastal shores of Lake Superior, with its sand beaches and Caribbean blue water, have been a popular attraction to thousands, from nomadic voyagers to people looking for paradise close to home.

However, as people run to Ontario’s beaches looking for a staycation, more pressure is being placed on our sandy shores.

This increased pressure can cause a decline of these dynamic and rare freshwater coastal dune ecosystems.

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The splendor of Terra Firma meets the majesty of the heavens: Geology and planetary science in action

Today’s post comes from Dr. Gordon (Oz) Osinski, Professor of Planetary Geology/Earth and Planetary Materials Western University [1] and Bruce Waters, former educator at the McLaughlin Planetarium and founder of the Killarney Provincial Park Observatory. [2]

Have you ever come to a beautiful beach and marveled at the spectacular pebbles scattered before you?

They seem to be of every colour, shape, and size imaginable.

And if you look up close with a magnifying loop, you may even see additional details like fossils and crystals!

Those pebbles can tell the trained eye an incredible story of how they formed, what has happened to them since, and how they ended up in front of you. It’s a story that can be billions of years in the making and involve incredible forces of nature.

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Mattawa River: sculpted by time

Today’s post comes from Mat St-Jules, a park interpreter at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park.

The sights of the Mattawa River keep drawing me back.

I find incredible beauty in a scraggly cedar clinging to sheer rock or in the gleaming coat of a river otter standing on a sandbar. But, of course, these marvels don’t stand on their own.

Below the wildlife and past the trees is the foundation of this land: the geology it all rests on.

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Georgian Bay Biosphere Region: biodiversity on the Bay

The eastern shore of Georgian Bay is a pink necklace of islands scattered on a turquoise sea. A freshwater sea, that is.

Georgian Bay is part of Lake Huron, and Huron is one of the Great Lakes, the largest expanse of freshwater in the world.

Eastern Georgian Bay is world class. In 2004, the area was designated as a world biosphere region by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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Forever protected: why Petawawa Terrace belongs

Our “Forever protected” series shares why each and every one belongs in Ontario Parks. Our great system of protected areas is based upon a model of representation. In today’s post, Biologist Lauren Trute tells us Petawawa Terrace’s story.

For many families in the area, Petawawa Terrace Provincial Park is literally a park in their backyard.

Unlike many provincial parks in Ontario, Petawawa Terrace is not pristine wilderness. Locally known as the “fish hatchery park,” the 215 ha park is located in the heart of the Town of Petawawa.

This little parcel of protected land belongs in the Ontario Parks system because it gives us a glimpse into Ontario’s history, and represents provincially significant ecosystems and species.

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