Township of Chapleau
Ivanhoe Park
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Natural Features: A long, curving lip of sandy beach beckons visitors to this lake edged with spruce and jack pine forests between Chapleau and Timmins. Park naturalists will show you a bog, fragile plant communities, wild rice, orchids, edible berries and a favourite spot for moose. The park is situated in the heart of the boreal forest of northern Ontario. Among the most notable natural features in the park
are the eskers - long, winding ridges of gravel or
sand deposited by melt waters surging under retreating glaciers.
Several small lakes in the park are kettle lakes, formed when great blocks of glacial ice broke
off and left deep impressions in the earth that soon filled with water. A special feature of
the park is an unusual "quaking bog" -- old kettle lakes overgrown with vegetation.
Over centuries, the plant cover on the water has become sort of a floating mat. Visible from
one of the nature trails, this unusual bog shimmies and shakes when disturbed. Hikers are
encouraged to keep off the bog so that the fragile vegetation is not disturbed. Unusual plants
in and near the park include wild rice, and at least six varieties of orchids. The park
provides good opportunities for wildlife viewing. Moose can be spotted feeding in the Ivanhoe
River at dusk, and osprey can be seen soaring over the lake and plummeting downward in search
of fish. |
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