Kettle Lakes Provincial Park is a

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...

in northeastern Ontario, about east of

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

. It is administered by

Ontario Parks Ontario Parks is a branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Ontario, Canada, that protects significant natural and cultural resources in a system of parks and protected areas that is sustainable and provides opportuniti ...

, which classifies it as a recreation park. The landscape of the park is the legacy of the retreat of an enormous glacier at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 12,000 years ago. After the glacier retreated, half-buried icebergs melted to form small, deep lakes referred to by earth scientists as

kettle lake A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating g ...

s. Twenty of the 22 lakes in Kettle Lakes Provincial Park are kettles. The retreating glacier also left

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ame ...

s and erratics. The lakes are surrounded by forests made up primarily of jack pine interspersed with balsam fir, red and white pine, and white and black spruce. Stands of deciduous trees such as trembling aspen and white birch may also be found in the park. There are 139 campsites in the park in two campgrounds. The park is also a popular destination for canoeing, swimming at one of several sandy beaches, hiking and fishing.

External links

* {{Authority control Provincial parks of Ontario Protected areas of Cochrane District Year of establishment missing