Obabika old-growth forest is an

Eastern White Pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes ...

and

Red Pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

dominated

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

at the north end of Obabika Lake, just west of the

Temagami Temagami, formerly spelled as Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart. The Temagami region is known as ''n'Daki Menan'', the homeland of the area's First Nations commu ...

region of

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. At in size, it is commonly considered to be the largest remaining white pine dominated old-growth forest in the world. It is also sometimes called Chee-Skon Lake old-growth forest, or Wakimika Triangle old-growth forest. This area was slated for logging in 1989 and was protected largely as a result of a blockade on

Red Squirrel Road Red Squirrel Road, also called the Red Squirrel logging road and formerly called the Johns-Manville Road, is a logging road located within the Municipality of Temagami, Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It runs from Whitefish Bay ...

in which 344 protestors were arrested, including future Ontario premier

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

. The oldest trees in the Obabika old-growth forest are confirmed to be at least 375 years old, but a diversity of age classes occur in this forest. Another important feature of the area is the spirit rock, a column of rock on the shore of Chee-Skon Lake that is of spiritual significance to the

Teme-Augama Anishnabai The Teme-Augama Anishnabai (from the Anishinaabe ''Dimii'aagamaa Anishinaabe'', "the deep water people") is the Indigenous Anishinaabe community of the Temagami First Nation. The Teme-Augama Anishnabai have trapped and hunted animals in the Temag ...

people. The Obabika old-growth forest is protected within the

Obabika River Provincial Park The Obabika River Provincial Park is a provincial park in Ontario, Canada, straddling across the boundaries of the Sudbury, Nipissing, and Timiskaming Districts. While it is named after and includes the Obabika River, the bulk of the park exte ...

. The forest is accessed by more than 6 km of trails, but the trail-head can only be reached by canoe.

References

External links

Online trail guide

Friends of Temagami
{{coord, 47, 08, 30, N, 80, 17, 00, W, display=title, region:CA-ON_type:landmark Forests of Ontario Geography of Sudbury District