View from the top of the Sleeping Giant Trail

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, established in 1944 as Sibley Provincial Park and renamed in 1988, is a park located on the

Sibley Peninsula The Sibley Peninsula is a long and wide peninsula in Ontario, Canada, on Lake Superior. It projects into the lake from Superior's north shore, and separates Thunder Bay to the west from Black Bay to the east.''Sleeping Giant Background Informat ...

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

, east of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

. The nearest communities are Pass Lake, in the township of Sibley, located at the northern entrance to the park, and Dorion, located northwest, in the township of

Shuniah Shuniah () is a municipal township bordering the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada on the east. Shuniah was incorporated by an act of the Ontario legislature in 1873, and at that time included much of present-day Thunder Bay and its predecesso ...

. The seasonal community of

Silver Islet Silver Islet refers to both a small rocky island and a small community located at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula in northwestern Ontario, Canada. A rich vein of pure silver was discovered on this small island in 1868 by the Montreal Mining ...

is located on the southern tip of the peninsula. The primary feature of the park is the Sleeping Giant, which is most visible from the city of Thunder Bay. The park occupies most of the lower portion of the peninsula excluding the area around the seasonal community of Silver Islet, and a portion of Thunder Cape which is designated as the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory. The eastern portion of the park is lowlands, while the western half is composed of cliffs, valleys, and the

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

–

cuesta A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer ...

s which make up the Sleeping Giant formation. At its eastern edge, the park borders the

Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area (french: Aire marine nationale de conservation du Lac-Supérieur) is a National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) on the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, and is a unit of the national park sys ...

Geography

The Sibley Peninsula is long and wide. It projects into Lake Superior from the north shore, separating

to the west and Black Bay to the east. The peninsula can be separated into two physiographic areas—

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

and

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

s. The highlands dominate the western half of the peninsula, and rise to above the surface of Lake Superior. The lowlands of the eastern portion of the peninsula rise to only , over an area wide. With the exception of

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...

dikes Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes, ...

and the large diabase sill that forms the upper portion of the Sleeping Giant, the peninsula is underlain by

sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles t ...

, which strike northeast and slope towards the southwest, forming a

Ecology

The varied terrain and the effect of Lake Superior on the peninsula's microclimates provide

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s for a wide variety of plants and animals. Plants found in the park include 23 species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s including small round-leaved orchid (''Galearis rotundifolia''), one of Ontario's rarest species, as well as 22 species of alpine arctic disjuncts. Wildlife found in the park includes a wide variety of mammals. The most dominant species are

white tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

and

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

s. Close to 200 species of birds have been recorded at the park, and about 75 species are known to nest in the park. The park is also home to a few species of amphibians and reptiles, and many species of fish.

Activities

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park offers numerous recreational activities. The park has more than of trails, the longest being the Kabeyun Trail. Summer programs include guided nature walks and group

campfire A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires ...

s, and films at the park

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. Other activities include boating,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, and

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. The park grooms of

cross-country ski Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

trails in the winter.

Facilities

The park has several

camp ground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...

s more than 240 camp sites. The main camp ground is at Marie Louise Lake, which has 200 camp sites, 85 of which are electric. An additional 40 camp sites are located through the park along its interior trails. The park has a

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

area and

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

, and boat ramps, as well as indoor washroom and shower facilities and a

laundromat A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...

Canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

paddleboard Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneel ...

s, and

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

s can be rented from the park store.

Natural Heritage Education

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is part of the

Natural Heritage Education {{Unreferenced, date=January 2008 Natural Heritage Education is an educational program offered by Ontario Parks in some provincial parks in Ontario, Canada. It is designed to provide education focusing on the natural and cultural heritage of the ...

program. Primary interpretive themes include the Sleeping Giant formation; the geology of the park and surrounding areas; the

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

about the Sleeping Giant; the transitional forest; botanical disjuncts and rarities; the history of

; Paleo-Indian occupation of the area and subsequent pre-historic cultures; and wildlife viewing. The program is administered from the visitors centre at the Marie Louise Lake campground.''Sleeping Giant Background Information'', 4.0 Inventory and Evaluation of Cultural Resources, interpretive Assessment and Themes, pp. 27.

References

*Ontario Parks
Sleeping Giant Background Information
' (2003) Queen's Printer for Ontario. . Retrieved on 26 September 2007.

External links

*
The Friends of the Sleeping Giant
{{Ontario parks Provincial parks of Ontario Parks in Thunder Bay District Protected areas established in 1944 1944 establishments in Ontario