Obonga–Ottertooth Provincial Park
| Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Location | Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 49°53′02″N 89°37′54″W / 49.88389°N 89.63167°W[1] |
| Area | 21,157 ha (81.69 sq mi)[2] |
| Designation | Waterway |
| Established | 2003 |
| Governing body | Ontario Parks |
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The Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park is located about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Thunder Bay, in Ontario, Canada.[1] It protects a 100 kilometres (62 mi) long stretch of lakes and streams between Obonga Lake in the east and Kashishibog Lake in the west, mostly following the Kashishibog River and Ottertooth Creek. The park is notable as an important recreational link between Brightsand River Provincial Park, Kopka River Provincial Park, and the Lake Nipigon basin.[2]
Major lakes in the park include Hawn, Kashishibog, Kershaw, Obonga, Savage, Survey, and Tommyhow Lakes. The height-of-land between Hawn and Tommyhow Lakes divides the Arctic and Atlantic watersheds.[3]
Description
The park is characterized by a rough, hilly landscape with boreal forests, mixed with extensive sand and gravel deposits and low rocky outcrops. Its vegetation is mostly jack pine, with black spruce in swampy areas. The park is a significant habitat for woodland moose, including a calving area just west of Kashishibog Lake.[3]
The park is a non-operating park, meaning that there are no services for visitors and minimal facilities. The park can be used for backcountry camping, canoeing, boating, hunting, and fishing.[2] In particular, it provides remote wilderness canoeing opportunities, although the canoe routes through the park are not regularly maintained. The canoe route through the Ottertooth Creek canyon is especially difficult and seldom travelled, but rewarding for its "unusual and spectacular scenery of rapids, waterfalls, talus boulders and steep canyons."[3]
The park is mostly within the Lake Nipigon watershed, an area designated as the Lake Nipigon Basin Signature Site, known for its remarkable range of natural and recreational values that includes several provincial parks, conservation reserves, and management areas around Lake Nipigon.[4] Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park connects with Kopka River Provincial Park at Kashishibog and Obonga Lakes, forming a huge waterway park loop.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park". Ontario Parks. Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park Management Statement". Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 2001. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ "Lake Nipigon Basin Signature Site Park Management Parent Plan for Lake Nipigon, Kabitotikwia River, Livingstone Point, West Bay and Windigo Bay provincial parks". Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 2003. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ "Kopka River Provincial Park Interim Management Statement" (PDF). ontario.ca. Ministry of Natural Resources Ontario. 1991. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
