Mount Cheminis (also known as Mont Chaudron, and Sugar-Loaf Mountain) is an inselberg/monadnock located in

Quebec, Canada Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

, near the Ontario border. It is one of the highest peaks in the

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 146,717 peo ...

region, a tourist attraction and a place that has spiritual significance for Indigenous peoples.

Nomenclature

Mount Cheminis is also known as Mont Chaudron, and Sugar-Loaf Mountain. According to Gloria MacKenzie and Marcia Brown of

Beaverhouse First Nation Beaverhouse First Nation is an Indigenous first nation located on the banks Kirkland Lake in the Misema River system. After initially being excluded from the Treaty 9 agreement between Indigenous nations and Canada, the government of Canada offici ...

band office, the name is derived from the ''Chamminis'', which translates into English as the "place of healing or healers."

Geology and location

Mount Cheminis is an isolated hill of hard resistant caprock that rises abruptly from the surrounding relatively flat land which has been eroded away. It was created in the most recent ice age. It is situated at the point of V-sharped lines of geological ridges, which are understood to have diverted the retreating ice sheet east and west. The features were formed as part of the same glaciological movements that create the ''Collines kékéko'' (English: Kékéko Hills), although the physical appearance between the two features is notably different.AUDET, Sonia, BLAIS Normand, LAVOIE Michelle, L'HEUREUX Stéphane, MORIN Rémi, and PRÉVOST Louise
SITES GÉOLOGIQUES TOURISTIQUES EN ABITIBI-TÉMISCAMINGUE
September 1984, l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue College, Department of History and Geography (in French) p32 It is one of the highest peaks in the

region. Mount Cheminis is located in Quebec between

Lake Temiskaming Lake Timiskaming or Lake Temiskaming (french: Lac Témiscamingue) is a large freshwater lake on the provincial boundary between Ontario and Quebec, Canada. The lake, which forms part of the Ottawa River, is in length and covers an area of a ...

and

Lake Abitibi Lake Abitibi (french: Lac Abitibi, oj, Aabitibiiwi-zaaga’igan) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, ma ...

close to the border of Ontario. It is close to Kearns, Ontario (also known as McGarry),

Kap-Kig-Iwan Provincial Park Kap-Kig-Iwan Provincial Park is a protected area in the incorporated townships of Charlton and Dack and Evanturel in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Established in 1957, the park is located along the Englehart River, off O ...

, and also the

Timiskaming District Timiskaming is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district was created in 1912 from parts of Algoma, Nipissing, and Sudbury districts. In 1921, Cochrane District was created from par ...

near

Ontario Highway 66 King's Highway 66, commonly referred to as Highway 66, is a provincially-maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Located in the Timiskaming District, the highway begins at Matachewan near a junction with Highway 65. It ext ...

and

Quebec Route 117 Route 117, the Trans Canada Highway Northern Route, is a provincial highway within the Canadian province of Quebec, running between Montreal and the Quebec/Ontario border where it continues as Highway 66 east of McGarry, Ontario. It is an impor ...

. It was described in 2019 as "one of the most striking landscape features in all of Northern Ontario".

Significance to Indigenous peoples

Mount Cheminis is used by

Indigenous peoples of Canada In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

for

ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

. Dr. Jonathan Pitt of Nipissing University's Schulich School of Education Aboriginal Education Programs said in 2021 that "Rock formations like Mount Cheminis are important to Indigenous spirituality."

Significance in tourism

Mount Cheminis provides panoramic views that attract tourists, although a 1984 report from Collège de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue noted rotting stairs and a lack of maintenance on and around the hill.

In human history

Canadian geologist Robert Bell wrote about Mount Cheminis after he surveyed

in 1887. From 1925 to 1927, Mount Cheminis marked the end of the

Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing area ...

due to the refusal of the Quebec government to allow expansion into their territory. From 1926 until 1946 it was the location of a post office. A mutilated human body was found at the top of Mount Cheminis in 1955. In 2019, 17-year-old hiker Brennan Goulding, died as he fell while climbing Mount Cheminis.

References

{{reflist Tourist attractions in Quebec Hills of Canada Inselbergs of North America Landforms of Abitibi-Témiscamingue Geologic formations of Canada