All UNESCO Sites in Ontario

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Ontario is Canada’s most populous and prosperous province, with over 1/3 of the population. Both the country’s capital, Ottawa, and its largest city, Toronto, are here. 1/2 the residents of Toronto were born abroad, making it one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Ontario borders Great Lakes Erie, Huron, Ontario, and Superior, plus Hudson Bay to the North.

Ontario has a World Heritage Site that is fascinating to explore. The Rideau Canal is the oldest continuously operating canal system in North America, and its quaint villages along the route connecting Lake Ontario to Ottawa are delightful, with treat shops, friendly restaurants and charming historic hotels.

Four UNESCO Biospheres protect the unique ecosystems defined by the Great Lakes ice age landscape.

  • Frontenac Arch is the geologic bridge to the Adirondacks that holds back Lake Ontario, best seen where the St Lawrence River cuts through the Thousand Islands area. Bitterns, Eagles, Heron, Loons and Osprey live here.
  • Georgian Bay, off Lake Huron, is almost as big as Lake Ontario, and it protects many rare birds, reptiles, butterflies and other species amidst First Nations land.
  • Long Point is on the north shore of Lake Erie, and it has birding, boating, hiking and more to enjoy.
  • Niagara Escarpment is a massive geologic formation that forms the northeast shore of Lake Huron, stretching from Buffalo NY on Lake Erie to Green Bay WI on Lake Michigan. Its forests and coastlines contain more species than any other Biosphere in Canada.

Red Bay

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500 years ago Basque whalers set up whaling operations here in Labrador for 600 whalers on 15 ships per year for about 100 years. They rendered the blubber of right and bowhead whales into oil, barreled it and returned it to ports in what is now France and Spain. Be sure to take a small boat out to Saddle Island to see where the whalers worked. Over 100 Basque whalers are buried on the island, and several shipwrecks have revealed the sophisticated marine designs they employed. The visitor center has a chalupa, a small whaling boat they used.

After some grim weather in Newfoundland, the sun came out in Labrador. On a pretty day, this UNESCO world heritage site is a particularly beautiful spot with lingonberries or partridge berries growing on the rocky island. On a bad day, I imagine it is inhospitable, as the crew of the pictured 1965 wreck knew too well. While walking around, I spotted a minke whale feeding in the harbor, splashing and putting on a show. I’m glad whaling is almost entirely a thing of the past.

National Parks to Visit in March

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First Saturday of the month, so here are the three National Parks best visited in March. See January and February for more.

March is a tricky month for parks, as many parks are still in winter or are too cold and wet to enjoy. But in the west at higher elevation, spring comes earlier and a few parks are fairly dry year round. Arches, Joshua Tree and Pinnacles are my March park picks.

Let’s be honest, an enjoyable experience at Arches is all about parking. Ideally, you want to stop at each arch spot, hike a bit, take photos and then move on to the next. If it’s overly crowded, that can be difficult, even with timed entry or arriving at sunrise. Since it’s too hot in summer, the shoulder seasons are crowded. Winter is too cold, and slick rock trails are dangerous when there’s ice. The solution is March. Snow is rare, but it makes a better photo if you see any on or through an arch. Temperatures are fine, with most daytime highs in the 70° F range. There will still be plenty of people, but not nearly as many as Spring Break. Sure, fall is fine too, but you could say that about most of the parks.

Joshua Tree is a great spot for hiking and camping, but the campgrounds are mostly at ~4,000 feet. So winter is uncomfortable, and as the park is in the Colorado and Mojave deserts, summer is uncomfortable too. I prefer March, when you can see wildflowers. The trees and rocks are great, but it’s even better to find a pretty little flower unexpectedly blooming off some rough trail. Like Arches, the park is popular and crowded at Spring Break.

Pinnacles similarly is high, relatively dry, and has limited trail side parking, so I like March there before Spring Break. But there’s a special reason to go in March (or maybe October), as the entire Bear Gulch cave is open. My favorite part of Pinnacles are the caves, but due to bats raising their young, many underground areas are off limits for months of the year. The weather is fine for hiking too, and you can see wildflowers.

Hope this series helps you plan your next national park adventure!

Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve

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Georgian Bay is almost as big as Lake Ontario, but it’s still just considered a bay of Lake Huron. The Niagara Escarpment separates the bay in the form of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. Above are the Recollet Falls on the French River at the north end of the biosphere. Most of the famous explorers of Canada passed this way: Brûlé who lived with the Huron as a teen around 1610, Champlain and Mackenzie, among others. Radisson and his brother-in-law may have been the most consequential, as they realized the economic potential of Ojibwa fur trading canoe routes. Unlike the licensed voyageurs, the pair were outlaw traders, known as coureur des bois, ‘runners of the woods’. When the French declined to support their venture, they turned to the English and formed the Hudson Bay Company.

The south end of the biosphere is at the Severn River, where there’s an impressive canal/ boat-railway system for transiting small craft between Lakes Huron and Ontario. Much of the biosphere belongs to the Anishinaabek people, who call it the Mnidoo-gamii, the ‘spirit of the lake’. The lakeshore is well protected, remote and home to a great many species. As ages ago, boat is still the best way to explore this ‘30,000 islands’ area. Still, I managed to spot two black bears just outside the park where I hiked to the falls above. Fortunately I didn’t see any of their rare local rattlesnakes. Northwest of Georgian Bay, on Manitoulin Island, I saw a bald eagle, six sand hill cranes, and a variety of smaller birds. Georgian Bay is a lovely area, and I’m glad it’s protected.

L’Anse aux Meadows

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If you visit Fort Raleigh, you’ll see a monument to the first English child born in America, but there’s no monument at Castillo de San Marco about the first African American child born 50 years earlier in Florida. In any case, some 600 years before those colonies began, the Norse established this base camp on the north coast of Newfoundland, and here they recorded the birth of Snorri Thorrfinnsson around 1000 CE. And of course the first people here were Native Americans whose ancestors left their mark on the land thousands of years ago, long before history began in the Americas.

The fine film in the visitor center explains the even greater significance of this Norse settlement. Here the circle of humanity’s exploration of the world completed the circle. Modern humans began in Africa roughly 1/4 of a million years ago, populating Eurasia next, the Polynesians spread humanity into the Pacific, and humans crossed the ice to North America some 25,000 years ago. The Vikings, meaning the seafaring raiders of the Norse people, explored the North Atlantic a thousand years ago. Although they did not settle permanently, the Norse left their foundations here. They traded cloth and milk with natives for furs, and they explored at least as far as New Brunswick on the border of what is now the US. That meeting reintroduced two distant branches of humanity for the first time since our common ancestors left Africa 100,000 years ago.

Apparently the meeting did not go well enough for the Norse to remain. The expeditionary camp was established primarily to provide wood for the colony in Greenland, but it was a long way away from Scandinavia. Outnumbered and without significantly superior weaponry, the Norse eventually packed up the sporadically used camp after a single generation. Then they mostly forgot about Vinland, leaving it for scholars to speculate without evidence about the Norse having visited North America centuries before Columbus. Until a Norwegian researcher started digging around some square foundations here with his family in the summer in the 1960s. And they found proof.

L’Anse aux Meadows, or Meadows Cove, is now a UNESCO world heritage site with living history interpreters, and the reconstructed longhouse village is an excellent place to visit, photograph and ask questions. There is a statue of Leif Ericsson at the small harbor and various Viking themed tourist attractions nearby.

I dropped off the Tesla supercharger network in Nova Scotia, and PlugShare has poor coverage up here. So I switched to ChargeHub to find CCS chargers and made good use of my CCS adapter in Newfoundland. Some road construction unfortunately had cut off power for most of the day both to the park and to a crucial fast charger on the way, but since I often plan to skip a charger if needed, I made it anyway. By the time I arrived at the visitor center, the power had been restored, and while chatting with docents in the wood framed peat-sod house above, I charged at the free Tesla destination chargers (at the second entrance). Canada has a reliable EV charging network coast to coast, including helpful chargers at sites like these, and they’re stretching it northwards too.

Long Point Biosphere Reserve

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The Canadian side of Lake Erie is prettier. The spit of sand above goes 25 miles eastward into the lake, and around behind to the left are wetlands with many birds. I wasn’t really paying attention, but I saw doves, ducks, geese, grackle, gulls, a Harrier, a Great Blue Heron, sparrow, swallow, and several other species I couldn’t identify. I should have popped into the Bird Observatory, which is the oldest continuously operating one in North America, but the birders there looked much more serious than I. There are also wetland trails, campgrounds, unhealthy snack shacks, and many ‘cuts’ for small boats to runabout, go fishing and explore. The dunes are quite healthy, and there are a surprising number of different types of trees all mixed together. Unlike the US, Canada seems to do a better job of protecting, developing and promoting its Biospheres, so that regular people can learn and enjoy too.

Gros Morne

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Gros Morne, a world heritage site in Newfoundland, has three must sees: Gros Morne Mountain, the Tablelands, and Western Brook Pond. The first can be seen easily from many viewpoints, and the approach trail is reasonably flat. The whole park is famous for its geology, with rocky coves, pond marked plateaus, deep fjords, dark, magnesium rich cliffs and the lonely mountain of Gros Morne itself, with pinkish quartzite on top. The views from the top are supposedly stunning, but it’s an all day steep hike.

The second must see above is unique and has an easy guided hike. The Tablelands is one of maybe three places in the world where you can walk on the earth’s mantle. Left over from a temporary overlap and receding of the North American and Asian tectonic plates, this mountain of mantle cooled, dried and had its crust removed by glaciers and erosion. The Table Mountains are studied by geologists—including those who developed the theory of plate tectonics—, and it is easy to see soapstone, serpentine, and other interesting rocks here. But most of the rock above is peridotite, an iron rich igneous rock from the mantle.

I took the ‘easy’ Tablelands hike with a guide who explained about the tough creatures who live up here, including the local humans. The forecast was clear all morning, so naturally it hailed and rained for much of the hike. Still, the clouds occasionally parted and revealed some of the muted yet dramatic scenery.

And the third must see also has an easy hike, but then you need to take a boat to see the rest. Western Brook Pond is actually a deep lake in the middle of a landlocked fjord, with high thin waterfalls cascading down massive cliffs. Glaciers carved many fjords, arms and valleys in the park, and this spot offers a great view of the ancient Appalachian landscape. On a good day, it is spectacular, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate.

I would recommend scheduling more time than usual for Newfoundland, as the pace is slow, weather is changeable, and delays are common. I will have to return to see a couple places that I missed due to a ferry cancelation. On the other hand, I’ve been forced to slow down my typical hectic schedule, which is good.

Yes, Carbon Emissions Are Dangerous Air Pollution

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At Drakes Well, I had a long discussion with a guy there who was very much in denial that carbon emissions were a problem. He claimed that Rockefeller invented the term ‘fossil fuel’ (false), arguing that oil still forms at a rate that it will never run out (false). He said that vehicle emissions today are so much cleaner than when he was young that they’re no longer dangerous (false). When I asked him whether it was safe now to stay in a garage with the engine running, he switched tactics.

Since February is national indoor air quality month, now is a good time to consider the consequences of carbon emissions on breathing at home. First, if you have a gas stove, then you’re releasing both fuel and combustion fumes indoors. Next, if you burn wood for heat, you’re doing the same. Smoking obviously worsens air quality. If you idle your car to warm it up, then you’re generating carbon emissions near your home, some of which will enter.

Outdoor air pollution impacts indoor air quality. Droughts and wildfires increase dust and smoke that enter buildings. Heat, smoke and vehicle emissions also increase smog, which exacerbates asthma. Changing our environment this way also increases bacteria, dust mites, fungal infections like Valley Fever, mildew, and mold.

Partly in response to the climate crisis, more homes are insulated and have air conditioning. The more insulation, the more indoor air is recirculated. When properly installed and well maintained, they can help air quality, but when not maintained, they can hurt it. In any case, installing HVAC and air filters gets expensive and consumes more energy, burning more fossil fuel.

Rising carbon in the atmosphere causes huge derechos, dust storms and haboobs to form more frequently and become more intense. Heat pulls moisture into the air, exacerbating droughts and increasing wildfires. Smoke causes lung and heart problems. (February is also American Heart Month.) Loss of forests degrades air quality. Storm surges often release industrial pollutants into the air. All of these effects can combine, health issues can accumulate, and rising carbon emissions will increase all these problems.

We may be able to maintain our indoor air quality by spending more on it, but outdoor air quality matters too, especially for wildlife. We also like to go outdoors for fresh air occasionally, but smog and smoke obscure our views and make it difficult to exercise. My kids spent far more time inside than I did growing up, and we lose something important when we can’t go outside to play. By changing the global environment with our carbon emissions, we are responsible for the impact that has on all the creatures that live outdoors.

Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve

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Between Algonquin Park in Canada and the Adirondack Mountains in New York, there’s a rocky high ground that sets the level of Lake Ontario. The St Lawrence River and glacier melt long ago scrubbed a path through the 1,000 Islands, but the Frontenac Arch is the connecting rock. Above at Halsteads Bay, near Gananoque Ontario, is a bit of the arch that’s above water, looking upstream before the seaway narrows. Several of the busiest international bridges cross these scenic islands, and there are boat trips from both sides to gawk at the views and fancy private island residences.

The Biosphere is a much larger area that extends northwest from the arch itself. The Rideau Canal and its charming villages are included, as are many parks with lakes, forests and rocky hills for recreation. Driving through and stopping frequently, I saw an otter, heron, many geese and other wildlife.

The name Frontenac is used widely, from the hotel in Québec to a provincial park lake in the Biosphere. Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, was Governor General of New France in the late 17th century, and he fought with the Iroquois and built various forts. The natives hunted and traded along the arch for 20,000 years or so, and there are still native lands along the border and on some of the 1,000 islands.

Manicouagan Uapishka

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This UNESCO Biosphere’s most remarkable feature can be seen from space, and you may have wondered about the Eye of Quebec when looking at a map of Canada. Over 200 million years ago a meteor hit here, leaving a 70 mile crater. When the river was dammed for hydropower, the lake in the crater’s ring became permanent with an island in the middle. While it’s possible to drive an electric car up there, I didn’t have a lot of time to hike or kayak around the lake, and, while I support hydropower (with fish ladders), I don’t need to see a dam. I would like to go back to experience Innu culture, but for now I chose to visit the ecologically diverse coastal part of the biosphere.

On the drive here, I saw plenty of rivers, waterfalls, foliage and bays, but this is a particularly good place to get a sense of all of the ecosystems in close proximity, especially near the lowlands that are large enough to have subtle differentiation in plants reflecting how many days per year each part of the land is flooded. Between the Manicouagan River that powers the dam and the Outardes River, there is a delta with Outardes Nature Park on its southwest point. Here there’s a fine visitor center, campsite and good trails to see the different boreal forests, salt marshes and dunes. I saw a Cooper’s Hawk, several Black-bellied Plovers, and a Ruby crowned Kinglet, in just a few minutes. It’s a lovely spot.