Egg Rock
A Faulty Perspective
The Bonnechere River Valley is known for its faults, and you walk right over one on this hike. Here, two such parallel fault lines (cracks in the bedrock) form the sides of a colossal trench which once carried massive volumes of glacial meltwater down from the north.
After crossing the undulating valley bottom, climb up the steep granite ridge. When you get to the top, the panoramic vista from the Whispering Winds Lookout awaits. A million years ago you would have seen a much deeper valley, but today the area is filled with sediment, glacial deposits, water and vegetation.
This barren, breezy lookout has likely provided a welcome respite from biting insects for as long as humans have traveled through the valley. Watch for red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures from this excellent vantage point.
Fruitless Surveys
In 1857 and again in 1874, the Little Bonnechere River valley was considered a potential railway route. In 1874 Mr. S. Hazelwood walked through the area and made a positive recommendation on behalf of the proposed transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway. He often based his reports on what he could see of the countryside from elevations such as this, and it was his opinion that there would be no difficulty in building a railway here. But steep grades upstream foiled attempts to establish a route up this valley and instead Canadian Pacific Railway built to the north, along the Ottawa River.
It was also thought that the soils of the Little Bonnechere River Valley would be good for agriculture and suitable to sustain pioneer families who depended on the land for growing food. But as surveyors began to divide this area into farm lots, they soon discovered otherwise. During the 1874 survey of Burns Township, only twenty-five percent of the land was deemed suitable for settlement. Similar reports indicated the townships to the west – as far as your eye can see – were too poor for farming.
As a result, in 1893 the Ontario government created Algonquin Provincial Park with a mandate to protect the headwaters of several major watersheds including the Bonnechere River. As one looks across this scenic river valley, is it not fortunate that the plans for a railway or mass settlement proved to be unsuccessful?
Highlights
- spectacular panoramic vista
- Bonnechere Valley
- Stringers Lake
- Madawaska Highlands
- granite ridge
Rating: Challenging. Steep rise as trail follows sharp contours up to lookout.
Type: Out and back
Distance: .5 km
Time: 30 to 40 minutes
Surface: Natural forest floor; rock/gravel; flat rock plateau at top.
UTM: 18T 287268 E 5064040 N