Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park is a remote wilderness park in

northeastern Ontario Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior. Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiskami ...

, Canada, north of

Lake Temagami Lake Temagami, formerly spelled as Lake Timagami, is a lake in Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada, situated approximately 80 km north of North Bay. The lake's name comes from ''dimii-agamiing'' "tih-MEE-uh-guh-MEENG", which m ...

. It is one of five provincial parks located in 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 c ...

area. This park encompasses Smoothwater Lake, Makobe Lake, the

Ishpatina Ridge Ishpatina Ridge is the highest point of land in the Canadian province of Ontario, at an estimated above sea level. Ishpatina Ridge rises approximately above the immediate area. It was only truly recognized as Ontario's highest point after topog ...

(highest point in Ontario), Maple Mountain (highest vertical rise in Ontario), and most of the

Lady Evelyn River The Lady Evelyn River is a river in Nipissing, Sudbury and Timiskaming Districts, Ontario, Canada. The river begins at the confluence of the North and South Lady Evelyn Rivers and flows to its mouth at the Montreal River. It lies mostly in L ...

. The park also includes many

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

s, such as

Helen Falls Helen Falls is a waterfall on the Lady Evelyn River within Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The falls are the highest and most impressive on the Lady Evelyn River with a height more than . See also *List of ...

, the highest waterfall on the

. Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater lies within the

Eastern forest-boreal transition Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. It offers protection to some of the last remaining stands of

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 feature ...

in Ontario, and is home to the endangered

Aurora trout The aurora trout, ''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis'', is a variant or subspecies of the brook trout native to two lakes in the Temagami District of Ontario, Canada. The existence of the fish was brought to the attention of the angling world ...

. As a wilderness park, few services are offered to visitors but it is ideal for backcountry canoeing, nature exploration, and wildlife viewing. The park hosts

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

s on top of Ishpatina Ridge and Maple Mountain, accessible by hiking trails. The canoe routes through the park are part of Temagami's long network of portages and waterways. Many of these portages are traditional indigenous routes called "nastawgan", which link this park with adjacent parks, conservation reserves, and Crown land. The park is at the heart of a network of provincial parks and conservation reserves in the

area. It borders on the

Makobe-Grays River Provincial Park The Makobe River is a river in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin, and is a left tributary of the Montreal River. Course The river begins at Makobe Lake in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park in ...

to the north, Sturgeon River Provincial Park to the southwest,

Solace Provincial Park Solace Provincial Park is a remote provincial park in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1985 and protects a series of lakes that provide backcountry canoeing opportunities. It is characterized by boreal forest, mostly jack ...

to the south, and

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 ...

to the south and east. Furthermore, Smith Lake (to the west), North Yorston (to the south), and Jim Edwards Lake (to the south) Conservation Reserves are adjacent to Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater, while another 5 conservation reserves are within a few kilometres from the park.

History

Lady Evelyn River was established as a park in 1973. In 1983, the park was expanded to its present area of 72,000 hectares. The region has been home 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 ...

for thousands of years; within the park, Maple Mountain (''Chee-bay-jing'') is traditional sacred site. Throughout the park are remnants of logging activities from the early and mid-1900s.

References

External links

*
Friends of Temagami
{{Ontario parks Provincial parks of Ontario Parks in Timiskaming District Protected areas established in 1983 1983 establishments in Ontario Geography of Temagami