Killbear Provincial Park is a
provincial park located on
Georgian Bay in the
Parry Sound District of
Ontario, near the town of
Nobel
Nobel often refers to:
*Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel
Nobel may also refer to:
Companies
*AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994
*Branobel, or ...
. Killbear combines sandy beaches typical of the
Great Lakes with the rock ridges and
pines 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 park boundaries lie within the
Georgian Bay Littoral
The Georgian Bay Littoral (also called the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in Ontario, Canada. The biosphere was the thirteenth in Canada, and covers the Thirty Thousand Islands area of eastern Georgian Bay ...
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Nature and ecology
The park is ecologically significant for its large and varied types of shoreline. As water levels in the Great Lakes fluctuate over a time span of decades, different wetland, meadow and shoreline vegetation types are created. High levels of human activity can damage natural shoreline ecosystems; currently only small areas of natural beach remain intact in this park.
The wetlands of the park also support significant animal species including
spotted turtles,
Blanding's turtles and
eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. Uplands support both the
hognose snake
Hognose snake is a common name for several unrelated species of snake with upturned snouts, classified in 2 colubrid snake genera and 1 pseudoxyrhophiid snake genus.
They include the following genera:
*''Heterodon'', which occur mainly in ...
and
five-lined skink, both of which are considered species of special concern. There is also a population of
fox snakes, which use offshore islands extensively, and overwinter in hibernacula in the area.
The southeastern portion of the park protects a typical area of bedrock barrens; these barrens represent a distinctive shallow soil habitat type found in eastern Georgian Bay. The park is one area within a larger significant landscape, the 30,000 islands along the eastern coast of Georgian Bay, which comprise the world's largest freshwater archipelago.
''The Killbear Tree''
Killbear Provincial Park features a "" windswept isolated
white pine growing on a
rock outcrop.
In 2019, after a major limb died over two years, the tree began showing signs of damage.
Following a major ice storm, the tree had two support rods installed in 2022.
History
The area that is now Killbear Provincial Park was extensively logged for about 20 years, starting in 1900. The land was expropriated by the Ontario Government and designated a provincial park in 1960.
Facilities and activities
Activities in the park include camping, swimming, boating, cycling and fishing. The park's proximity to southern Ontario make it very popular, especially in peak season, and reservations are often necessary despite its large number of campsites. The campgrounds are divided into campsites which are often focused on a feature such as a beach. They include: Beaver Dams, Blind Bay, Georgian, Granite Saddle, Harold Point, Kilcoursie Bay, and Lighthouse.
Map of Killbear campgrounds
Retrieved 3 December 2011
References
External links
*
*
Friends of KillbearGeorgian Bay Biosphere ReserveFlickr group
{{Authority control
Provincial parks of Ontario
Parks in Parry Sound District
Year of establishment missing
Campsites in Canada
Georgian Bay