One-Tank Trip
for Aug. 31/19
(c) By Jim Fox
Some Ontario
provincial parks want to squeeze more out of the fleeting days of summer as
they extend fall camping.
There’s no holding
back fall after a fast-moving summer and that certain nip in the air.
Ontario Parks is
announcing that six parks will extend their camping season, said spokesman Jeff
Brown.
 |
| The hills will soon be a kaleidoscope of colours at Bass Lake Provincial Park near Orillia. (Jim Fox photo) |
Visitors to Bass
Lake, Mikisew and Rushing River provincial parks will find the gates open until
Oct. 15.
“Those looking to
stay at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Balsam Lake and Sandbanks provincial parks
will be able to do so until Oct. 21,” he said.
They join several
other parks that are open late into October or beyond. Check out the list of
park dates at ontarioparks.com/operatingdates/2019
Another harbinger
of the changing season is the return of fall colour reports coming soon.
 |
| Algonquin park will
soon display its vibrant colours with the fall leaf spectacle. (Barbara Fox
photo) |
“The fall season is
a special time at Ontario Parks as the colours emerge, the cooler weather sets
in and the bugs disappear,” Brown said.
Traditionally, the
fall colours are on display from mid-September until mid-October but the timing
differs year to year, starting in the north and moving southwards.
Algonquin
Provincial Park puts on a spectacular show of colours and is the busiest park
at that time of year.
The park’s sugar
and red maples reach their peak followed by a second colour wave from beech
trees, yellow and white birch, trembling and large tooth aspen, red oak and
tamarack.
One of the best
spots to view the spectacle is the Highway 60 corridor through the park and on
trails such as Hardwood Lookout, Track and Tower, Centennial Ridges and Lookout,
and Booth’s Rock.
The highway’s west
gate is near Dwight while the east gate is just west of Whitney.
When things start
to happen, latest images and live webcam views can be seen at algonquinpark.on.ca
To help visitors
find the best times to view the colours, Ontario Parks publishes fall
colour updates for all the parks at ontarioparks.com/fallcolour
Indigenous stargazing
A special event
takes place on Sept. 27 and 28 at Killarney Provincial Park to celebrate Indigenous
astronomy.
 |
| Killarney Provincial Park visitors will be stargazing to highlight Indigenous astronomy. (Ontario Parks) |
The park on
Georgian Bay holds Stars over Killarney that will mark “our connection to the
land and the night sky.”
Killarney, along
with Lake Superior, are the two Ontario Parks officially designated Dark Sky
preserves by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
“Ontario Parks is
committed to the protection and preservation of Ontario’s biodiversity and the
night skies are an important part of that protection,” Brown said.
“Alongside our
Wiikwemkoong partners at Point Grondine Park, Killarney will amaze visitors
with the incredible views of the Milky Way, Jupiter and Saturn through its
research-grade telescope,” he added.
 |
| View the Milky Way, Jupiter and Saturn at Stars over Killarney. (Ontario Parks) |
Science North will
run an astronomy bus tour on Sept. 28from its museum in Sudbury.
It includes
admission, a park visit, tour of Polaris Boulevard with solar viewing and a planetarium
show ($60). ontarioparks.com/parksblog/stars-over-killarney-2019
Smile for the camera
Ontario Parks’
visitors have recorded more than 100,000 wildlife observations using iNaturalist,
a free app that allows users to take and share photos of the flora and fauna
they find in nature.
Users have
identified almost 6,000 different species at Ontario Parks including one
visitor to Algonquin who managed to snap a photo of a Canada lynx.
 |
| “Here kitty” – a rare sighting was made of a Canada lynx in Algonquin Provincial Park. (Ontario Parks) |
It turned out to be
one of the first confirmed records of the critter in Algonquin in recent years.
Visitors are encouraged
to help track and protect Ontario’s biodiversity by using the app and follow
the project for up-to-date wildlife sightings. inaturalist.ca/projects/ontario-parks
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Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com
For more One-Tank Trips: http://1tanktrips.blogspot.ca
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