Temagami

Temagami holds one of the largest remaining stands of old-growth red and white pine in North America, trees over three hundred years old and up to forty metres, in a country of interconnected lakes with a canoe route network of roughly two thousand four hundred kilometres of portages and waterways, some of them nobicheninj trails used by the Teme-Augama Anishnabai for thousands of years. A fire tower on Caribou Mountain gives a view over the lakes.

History

The region is n'Daki Menan, homeland of the Teme-Augama Anishnabai, whose land was divided into family hunting and trapping territories. The main fur trade route passed to the south, so European settlement began only in 1834, when the Hudson's Bay Company built a store on Temagami Island; Dan O'Connor founded the town in 1903 and by 1910 his company ran ten steamships on the lake, silver discoveries at nearby Cobalt in 1903 brought mining, and the Temagami Forest Reserve of 1898 kept the old pine uncut until logging began in the 1920s (Wikipedia, Temagami).

Highlights

• The old-growth pines - some of the last large stands of ancient white pine.
• The canoe network - about 2,400 kilometres of linked routes and portages.
• The fire tower - a lookout on Caribou Mountain over the lake country.
• The ancient trails - portage routes used by the Teme-Augama Anishnabai for millennia.

When to go

June to September for paddling; blackflies are severe in June and mosquitoes into July. Autumn colour on the lakes is excellent. Winter is used for dog sledding and skiing.

Practical notes

Routes are wilderness with no facilities and portages that are steep and long. Weather can pin parties on lakes. Outfitters and float planes need booking well ahead.

Nearby

North Bay lies south; Sudbury is southwest.

Key facts