The best-selling book of Ontario wildlands now features 15 additional destinations. This reader-friendly guide explores the remarkable splendour and diversity of the province, from its soaring clifftops, subterranean caves and thundering cataracts to the province’s tallest white pine, the oldest rocks on Earth and the warbler capital of North America.
The guide is organized by region, and each destination includes a descriptive profile illustrated with colour photographs and at-a-glance information about special features and contact details. Regional maps showcase locations. Some of these hot spots are surprisingly close to towns and cities, some are hidden urban treasures, and many are ideal for a day trip.
The new hot spots include:
Southwestern Ontario: A quiet haven for naturalists, botanists and bird lovers, the Kopegaron Woods is a 1.3-kilometre loop buffered by farm fields; the SC Johnson Rail Trail offers a beautiful vista of a large oxbow on the Grand River; the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail follows the Grand River and is studded with river overlooks; Rock Point Provincial Park features a limestone shelf embedded with 350-million-year-old fossils.
Central Ontario North: Barnum Creek Nature Reserve near Haliburton is mosaic of habitats from hardwood, mixed wood, grassland, marsh and swamp that attracts wildlife and birds; an exploration of the legendary French River’s islands, inlets and bays; Redbridge Mountain View Trail guides hikers to a gorgeous vantage point of the wilderness surrounding North Bay.
Eastern Ontario: Parrott’s Bay Conservation Area features excellent bird and wildlife opportunities; Point Petre provides an impressive glimpse into the geological history of this part of the Lake Ontario shoreline; a picturesque portion of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail through Kingston offers a peek into the city’s history; Gould Lake Conservation Area is 589 hectares of Canadian Shield wilderness; Charleston Lake Provincial Park has excellent trails with good wildlife viewing and a vantage point from the highest peak in the county.
These family-friendly destinations will appeal to naturalists, budding botanists and biologists, photographers, hikers, campers and paddlers.
