FINLAYSON POINT PROVINCIAL PARK – JULY 2011

Finlayson Point Provincial Park was the second park we stayed at during our 2011 holidays. We were here six days. Our site was a nice pull thru. There wasn’t a lot of privacy at this campground, but it was quiet enough. A new mini comfort station had been built just up the road from us which was a nice bonus. The showers and washrooms were always very clean. The laundry room was as well. The campground roads were a little bumpy in some spots, like the one at the bottom of the hill I rode my bike down. I thought my poor old bike was going to fall apart when I hit the bump! We didn’t swim at this park, though Lake Temagami looked very inviting at the docks. Here are some park photos:

One of our first day trips was to the Temagami Fire Tower at Caribou Mountain. We were able to climb to the top of the tower. The view of the surrounding area was beautiful!

After our visit to the fire tower, we headed north out of Temagami on Hwy 11. We tried to find the remains of the Sherman Mine, but there is an aggregate company now occupying the site, so the only thing visible was the old gatehouse. On our way back out to Hwy 11 we stopped at the dump and the friendly attendant let us bear watch. After we tired of that (took a long time), we headed back to Temagami and stopped at the railway station. What an example of beautiful architecture. Here’s some pictures:

One of the coolest trips we made was to the town of Cobalt, Ontario. Once a major mining town, now a great tourist destination for history buffs. The town offers a few variations of the Heritage Silver Mine Trail with a driving tour that visits old mine sites around town, a downtown walking tour that tours quite a few historical sites and a tour of a once operating silver mine adit. Very cool. I could never put all the pictures I’d like in this space, but go to their website and check it out. We drove the Heritage Silver Mine Trail and toured the silver mine adit. Here are some pictures:

We kayaked once on Lake Temagami while camped at Finlayson. Our intention was to kayak more often, but we ended up doing so many other things that we ran out of time. The fishing really wasn’t all that great the one day we were out, but the lake was magnificent and we kayaked in only a very small part of the lake. Here are some photos:

The next day trip we took was to Haileybury to golf. There’s a wonderful nine hole course with simply beautiful views of Lake Temiscaming from almost every hole. The course was very well kept. On the way to Haileybury, we passed through the town of Latchford. The bridge in Latchford suffered structural failure in 2003 due to ice. It’s since been repaired and is a very nice piece of architecture. Also, to make this trip interesting, a bear ran across the road in front of us just before Haileybury (sorry, no pics). Here are some photos from this road trip:

On our way to Haileybury, we decided to detour and follow “Roosevelt Forest Access Road”. A nice lady at the Temagami train station recommended it because we had a 4X4. For the first few km I couldn’t figure why we needed the 4X4, then things changed! Once the road narrowed and traveled deeper into the forest, a bear graced our presence and crossed the road in front of us. Because that wasn’t enough fun, on the way home from Haileybury, we ventured down the Anima Nipissing Lake Access Road. It wasn’t quite as bad as Roosevelt, but it felt pretty isolated. Here are some pics:

We made a couple more trips during our stay here. The first was a trip to the former Kanichee Mine site and the second was to Red Squirrel Lake via the Red Squirrel Lake Access Road. Here are some photos of these trips:

We had such a great time in the Temagami area. When I look back, I can’t believe how much we did in such a short time. Even so, there is still so much left in that area that we didn’t get to do. I would love to go back to Temagami some time in the future. If I did, I would stay at Finlayson Point Provincial Park again. It was clean, quiet, well patrolled and the facilities at the park were excellent! Here are some links to different web sites with info on the area:

http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/finl.html

http://www.thekingshighway.ca/latchford.html
http://www.haileyburygolfclub.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanichee_Mine
http://www.temagami.ca/rolodex/id/104

http://www.cobaltmininglegacy.ca/visitingCobalt.php
http://ontarioabandonedplaces.com/upload/wiki.asp?entry=2308
http://www.temagamistation.com/, https://picasaweb.google.com/116741237613027767021/TemagamiPhotos#

And for the BEST waterproof maps of the area:

http://www.chrismar.com/