Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park

Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park
Map showing the location of Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park
Map showing the location of Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park
LocationThunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates49°53′02″N 89°37′54″W / 49.88389°N 89.63167°W / 49.88389; -89.63167[1]
Area21,157 ha (81.69 sq mi)[2]
DesignationWaterway
Established2003
Governing bodyOntario Parks
www.ontarioparks.ca/park/obongaottertooth

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]

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 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 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[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park". www.ontarioparks.com. Ontario Parks. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park Management Statement". Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 2001. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  4. ^ "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 1 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Kopka River Provincial Park Interim Management Statement" (PDF). ontario.ca. Ministry of Natural Resources Ontario. 1991. Retrieved 12 October 2022.