The La Cloche Mountains, also called the La Cloche Range, are a range of mountains in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

, Canada, along the northern shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

near

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

. The mountains are located in 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 ...

, and are composed primarily of white

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

. They extend roughly from

La Cloche Provincial Park La Cloche Provincial Park is a provincial park at the boundary of Algoma and Sudbury Districts in Ontario, Canada. The park consists of an unspoiled section of the La Cloche Mountains that stretch along the North Channel of Georgian Bay, as wel ...

, south of

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

, to

Killarney Provincial Park Killarney Provincial Park is a provincial park in central Ontario, Canada. The park contains just one campground at the George Lake entrance as it is primarily a wilderness park. There are few facilities to allow visitors a chance to experience ...

, southwest of Sudbury. The communities of

West River West River may refer to: Rivers Canada *West River (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia * West River (Pictou, Nova Scotia) in Pictou County, Nova Scotia * West River (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia * West ...

, Willisville and

Whitefish Falls Rainbow Country is a local services board in the Canadian province of Ontario. It encompasses and provides services to the communities of Whitefish Falls and Willisville in the Unorganized North Sudbury District and Birch Island and McGregor Bay ...

are located directly within the range; the town of Espanola and the municipality of

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

are located nearby, however they can be seen (from some vantage points) as far away as

Ontario Highway 6 King's Highway 6, commonly referred to as Highway 6, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It crosses a distance of between Port Dover, on the northern shore of Lake Erie, and Espanola, on the northern shore ...

is the principal transportation route through the range.

is located in the range and is very popular among tourists. Another feature includes the "Heaven's Gate Trail" which traverses the length of the range from Willisville in the east to Massey in the west. Thought to be an old aboriginal trade route, it traverses the plateau of the range with the

North Channel North Channel may refer to: *North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland) *North Channel (Ontario), body of water along the north shore of Lake Huron, Canada *North Channel, Hong Kong *Canal du Nord, France {{geodis ...

of Lake Huron visible to the south. The trail is particularly grueling and is rarely traversed mostly due to its length and remoteness from major cities.

Geology

With an estimated age of 1.88 billion years, the La Cloche Mountains consist of metamorphosed

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

sandstone, which accumulated and was deposited in the

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

region of Ontario 2.5 billion years ago. The mountains themselves were formed during the

Penokean Orogeny The Penokean orogeny was a mountain-building episode that occurred in the early Proterozoic about 1.86 to 1.83 billion years ago, in the area of Lake Superior, North America. The core of this orogeny, the Churchill Craton, is composed of terranes ...

, a mountain-building stage in the

's geological history. During this time, the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

that had accumulated was compressed and heated to form the white

Quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

which dominates the landscape today. The hills comprising the La Cloche Mountains are believed to have once been higher than today's

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, and were eroded down to their current altitude of 539 meters at its peak. They remain among the highest altitudes in Ontario. A southern extension of the La Cloche Mountains, the ''South La Cloche Mountains'', extends to the south and juts into

along Badgeley Point, north of Killarney and Secondary Highway 637.

History

According to legend, the hills were warning bells, or ''tocsins'', used by local

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

for signaling. These "Bell Rocks" could be heard for a considerable distance when struck, and accordingly when ''

voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

s'' explored the area they named it with the French word for "bell" — La Cloche.

Camps

Charlton Lake Camp Charlton Lake Camp is a housekeeping cottage resort located in the La Cloche Mountains of northern Ontario, Canada. Dan McGuire and Lisa McGuire are the current owners. History The following is a brief history of Charlton Lake Camp as cited by Peg ...

Images

Image:Ontario_Hwy_6.jpg, Highway 6 through the La Cloche Mountains near

. Image:La Cloche Silhouette Mountain View 2010.png, View from the

La Cloche Silhouette Trail The La Cloche Silhouette Trail is a backpacking (wilderness), backpacking loop across the white quartzite peaks of the La Cloche Mountains, La Cloche mountain range. The trail is situated in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. The trail i ...

in Killarney Provincial Park. Image:La Cloche Mtns.JPG, Alternative view of the range.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Mountain ranges of Ontario Landforms of Sudbury District Landforms of Algoma District