The Barron River (''French: rivière Barron'') is a river in the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
in
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 2016, the population was 83,150. The land area is ; the population density was , making it o ...
and
Renfrew County
Renfrew County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stands on the west bank of the Ottawa River. There are 17 municipalities in the county.
History Bathurst District
When Carleton County was withdrawn from Bathurst District in 183 ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. It flows from Clemow Lake in northern
Algonquin Provincial Park
Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Cana ...
and joins the
Petawawa River
The Petawawa River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Nipissing District and Renfrew County in eastern and northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows from Algonquin Provincial Park to the Ottawa River at the town of Petawa ...
, whose southern branch it forms, in the municipality of
Laurentian Hills
Laurentian Hills is a municipality in Eastern Ontario, Canada, on the Ottawa River in Renfrew County. It surrounds (by land) Deep River on the Ontario side of the river. The town is home to the Nuclear Power Demonstration nuclear power plant. The ...
, near the municipality of
Petawawa
Petawawa is a town located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 18,160 (2021 Census), Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County.
Geography
The town lies on the west b ...
.
[ Shows the river course.]
The river is named after Barron Township through which it flows, which in turn was named in honour of
John Augustus Barron
John Augustus Barron (July 11, 1850 in Toronto (Ontario), Canada West, Canada – January 8, 1936 in Stratford, Ontario) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1887 as Member of the Liberal Pa ...
.
A popular canoe route passes through and a hiking trail leads to the edge of the Barron Canyon.
Geography
The river begins at Clemow Lake in the geographic township of Barron in the
Unorganized South Nipissing District
Unorganized South Nipissing District is an unorganized area in north-central Ontario, in the District of Nipissing. It is almost entirely within and includes most of Algonquin Provincial Park.
Localities
Localities located within the unorganized ...
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 2016, the population was 83,150. 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, Timiska ...
.
It flows southeast through
Grand Lake where it is crossed by the former
Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic 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 Edmonton.
Mani ...
later
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
main line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
, now abandoned, and where the
Achray campground, formerly a station on the railway, is located on the north shore.
It passes into Stratton Township, takes in the right tributary Carcajou Creek, then flows out over the Grand Lake Dam and again under the railway to enter Stratton Lake. The river turns northeast, passes over High Falls to High Falls Lake, then heads east over Brigham Chute. It takes in the right tributary Mulock Creek, enters Master Township, passes over the Cache Rapids, and reaches the Squirrel Depot picnic area and the Squirrel Rapids.
The river heads out of Algonquin Park and Nipissing District into
McKay Township, part of the municipality of Laurentian Hills in Renfrew County,
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It sh ...
. At this point the river becomes part of Barron River Provincial Park on the south side while the north shore is part of
CFB Petawawa
Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army.
Garrison facts
The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottawa ...
. The river passes over First Chute and reaches its mouth at Lac du Bois Dur on the Petawawa River, which flows to the Ottawa River, about west of the community of
Black Bay and just before the border with the municipality of Petawawa.
The Petawawa Rivers flows via the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
to the Saint Lawrence River.
Tributaries
''in upstream order''
*Spug Creek (left)
*Biggar Creek (left)
*Number One Creek (right)
*Ignace Creek (left)
*Mulock Creek (right)
*Hardwood Creek (left)
*Forbes Creek (left)
*Marie Creek (right)
*Grand Lake
**Carcajou Creek (right)
**Johnston Creek (left)
**Rowan Creek (left)
**Borutski Creek (left)
**
Depot Creek (left)
Geology
Approximately 10,000 years ago, the river was a main outlet for glacial meltwater in this region. It is believed to have carried for a short time the outflow from the
Lake Agassiz
Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined.
First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, it ...
. The deep Barron Canyon was formed during that time. The rocks exposed in the Canyon are part of the
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
. The canyon itself still shows activity in the form of rockfalls and landslides.
The Barron River lies inside a
fault associated with the
Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben (also known as the Ottawa Graben) is a geological structure that coincides with a wide topographic depression extending from near Montréal through Ottawa. It is part of the Saint Lawrence rift system that also includ ...
.
History
The river was an important highway during the last part of the 19th century and early 20th century when its water levels were carefully manipulated to facilitate the transport of timber to the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
and onwards. The Barron Canyon was the scene of noisy
log drives every spring. The name the loggers used for the towering cliffs was the "Capes". Moving timber in this way was a dangerous task and evidence can be found by the graves still found on the edge of the Petawawa and Barron Rivers.
Barron River Provincial Park
The Barron River Provincial Park includes a wide strip of land along the river's southern bank, from the eastern boundary of Algonquin Park to Black Bay in Petawawa Township. It was established in 2006 and protects an outstanding water route that provides recreational and educational opportunities.
A notable feature in the park is the eastern part of the Barron Canyon, that provide a
microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...
in its cracks and crevices for plants that are more at home in the
subarctic
The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...
. On top of the cliffs are red and white pine forests.
It is a non-operating park without any facilities or services. Permitted activities include boating, canoeing, fishing, and hunting.
See also
*
Achray, Ontario
Achray is an unincorporated place and former railway point in geographic Stratton Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies in northern Algonquin Provincial Park on the northern shore ...
*
Agawa Canyon
The Agawa Canyon is a shallow canyon located deep in the sparsely populated Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It was created 1.2 billion years ago by faulting along the Canadian Shield and then enlarged by the erosive action of the ...
*
Ouimet Canyon
Ouimet Canyon is a large gorge in the municipality of Dorion, Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, about northeast of the city of Thunder Bay. The gorge is deep, wide and long, protected as part of Ouimet Canyon Provincial Pa ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
{{Commons category-inline
Rivers of Nipissing District
Rivers of Renfrew County
Canyons and gorges of Ontario
Tributaries of the Ottawa River