Achray is an

unincorporated place An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and former railway point in

geographic Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

Stratton Township in the Unorganized South Part of

Nipissing District Nipissing District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is North Bay. In 2021, the population was 84,716. The land area is ; the population density was , making it o ...

northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timisk ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

It lies in northern

Algonquin Provincial Park Algonquin Provincial Park is an Ontario Ontario Parks, provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, mostly within the Nipissing, Unorganized, South Part, Ontario, Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established i ...

on the northern shore of Grand Lake, part of the Barron River system, and functions today as a

campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

site. It was originally a station with a passing track on the main line of the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

, between

Hydro Hydro (from ) may refer to: Energy technologies * Water-derived power or energy: ** Hydropower, derived from water ** Hydroelectricity, in electrical form * "Hydro", AC mains electricity in parts of Canada * Micro hydro, a type of hydroelect ...

to the west and Kathmore to the east, later taken over by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

as the

CN Beachburg Subdivision The Canadian National Railway's Beachburg Subdivision, or "Beachburg Sub" for short, was part of the former Transcontinental Mainline. The Beachburg Sub connected Ottawa to Brent, Ontario. The line began operating in 1915 as part of Canadian Nort ...

and now abandoned in the park. Once a major centre for park administration, only a small complement of backcountry rangers still operates out of Achray. The old park operations centre is now a cinema/interpretive centre and the bunk house is now a tourist lodge at the canoe rental place on the Achray Road.

Tom Thomson Thomas John Thomson (August 5, 1877July 8, 1917) was a Canadian artist active in the early 20th century. During his short career, he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and approximately 50 larger works on canvas. His wo ...

's painting, ''

The Jack Pine ''The Jack Pine'' is a well-known oil painting by Canadian artist Tom Thomson. A representation of the most broadly distributed pine species in Canada, it is considered an iconic image of the country's landscape,Silcox, p. 193 and is one of t ...

'', was inspired by the scenery in this area. Thomson worked as a fire ranger at Achray in 1916. The cabin in which Thomson is reputed to have lived in now has some exhibits on the park history and Tom Thomson. The campground has 45 campsites without electricity. Facilities are considered to be primitive compared to other campgrounds located in the park. The central park store is the former Deputy Chief Ranger Headquarters that was built in the 1930s by park rangers, Claude McFarland, an expert stonemason, and William Mooney, a skilled carpenter. It was built with stone quarried on the opposite shore of Grand Lake. Achray has two hiking trails, including the small interpretive Berm Lake Trail, and the longer Eastern Pines Backpacking Trail that leads to a waterfall on the Barron River as it exits Stratton Lake. The campground is a common starting point for multiday canoe trips on the Barren River to the Barron Canyon.

References

Other map sources: * * * Communities in Nipissing District {{NorthernOntario-geo-stub

See also

References