BON ECHO PROVINCIAL PARK IN ONTARIO, CANADA AND ITS

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Open Access e-Journal
Earth Science India- www.earthscienceindia.info
Popular Issue, 9 (III), July, 2016, p. 1-16
BON ECHO PROVINCIAL PARK IN ONTARIO, CANADA AND ITS
SPECTACULAR SCENERY
Arun Kumar
The rock cliff face has over 260 pictographs
made by the native peoples of Canada some of
which are estimated to be over one thousand
years old……… Bed rock geology of this park is
dominated by gabbro and granite and northwest
trending geological faults have shaped its
landscape.
This
region
had
gone
through
several advances and retreats of ice-sheets
during
the
Quaternary
Ice
Age
causing
outcropping rocks to be eroded and become
rounded.
In the last weekend of August, 2015, I along with my friend PradeepPradhan, his
wife Neelam and their son Nikhil camped in the Bon Echo Provincial Park in south
central Ontario (Figure 1). This park covers an area of 66 km2and lies about 230 km
northeast of Toronto. This article describes and illustrates some of the natural wonders of
this park. The information in this article is primarily derived from websites 1 and 2.
The Bon Echo Park has several lakes, most famous being the Mazinaw Lake,
which is the second deepest lake in Ontario. This park is famous for the Mazinaw Rock
which is an almost two km long, vertical cliff that rises to one hundred meters on the
southeastern shore of the Mazinaw Lake (Figure 2). The rock cliff face has over 260
pictographs made by the native peoples of Canada some of which are estimated to be
over one thousand years old (Figure 5E). This is the largest collection of native
pictographs in Canada.
A boat excursion of the Upper Mazinaw Lake provides an opportunity for closeup views of the imposing Mazinaw Rock cliff (Figure 2), a variety of metamorphic rocks
and associated structures (Figure 4), the native pictographs (Figure 5E), various
evergreen and deciduous treesgrowing on this cliff and the famous ancient cedar trees
(Figures 2, 4 and 7A). These cedar trees are hundreds of years old and at least one of
them ‘the witness tree’ (Figure 7A) is estimated to be over one thousand years old
(website 3). Another interesting point is the 'turtle rock' (Figure 5A), in the folklore of the
local aboriginal people it was a symbol of a turtle deity that carries the world on its back.
There is a climb of over two hundred feet from the lake level through the lush green
forest to the top of the Mazinaw Rock. The top of the Mazinaw Rock offers spectacular
views of this provincial park. The Bon Echo Visitor’s Centre showcases snakes and
captive animals such as black bears. It also shows life in this area in the 1800s
showcasing the rich history of the region. For a wonderful journey to this park two
Youtube websites are recommended (websites 4 and 5).
1
A
B
C
Figure1: Location of the Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario. A. Google map showing
location of south central Ontario and nearby major cities. B. Google map showing closeup of the park and several lakes of the area. C. The Pradhan family at the narrows
separating the Upper Mazinaw Lake from the Lower Mazinaw Lake: Pradeep (standing),
Neelam (sitting in middle) and Nikhil (Photo: the author).
2
A
B
C
Figure 2: The Mazinaw Rock. A. A panoramic view nearing sunset. B. The Mazinaw
Rock and the Upper Mazinaw Lake; the author in foreground. C. Trees growing on the
slopes and along the cracks of the vertical cliff (All photos by Nikhil Pradhan).
3
Br ief histor y of the park
Once lumbering companies left the Bon Echo region Weston A. Price purchased
this area in 1889. He and his wife were fascinated by the Mazinaw Rock, the lake and the
surrounding area. They named this area "Bon Echo" because of the echo emanating from
the Mazinaw Rock and heard across the Mazinaw Lake. The Price family built a large
hotel at the narrows and named it the Bon Echo Inn. Few years later Mr. Price sold his
assets at Bon Echo to Howard and Flora MacDonald Denison. The new owners turned
the Bon Echo Inn into a popular place for artists, poets, and writers. The most notable of
these people was James Thurber; he was a famous American cartoonist and author.
Although Walt Whitman, another celebrated American poet and essayist, had never
visited Bon Echo, Flora admired his work so much that she commissioned a piece of his
poetry to be chiseled into the face of the rock in foot-tall lettering (Figure 3). The work
took all of the summer of 1919 to complete.
In 1936 the inn and many surrounding buildings were destroyed in a fire due to a
lightning strike and the inn was never rebuilt. In 1955 the Province of Ontario passed
legislation allowing Merrill Denison, the son of Howard and Flora MacDonald Denison,
to accept donations of land to form the provincial parks. Denison donated the land to the
province for the purpose of forming a park in 1959 and in 1965 the Bon Echo Provincial
Park was officially opened.
Geology of the par k
Bed rock geology of this park is dominated by gabbro and granite and northwest
trending geological faults have shaped its landscape. The bedrock is of Middle
Proterozoic age (generally older than 1.265 billion years) and lies within the Central
Metasedimentary Belt of the Grenville Province. This area had a complex geological
history interrupted by late-stage regional faulting.
Easton (1994) is suggested for people who are interested in a detailed description
of the geology of this park and the information presented in this article is primarily based
on this publication. The Grenville Structural Province in Ontario consists primarily of
metamorphosedsedimentary and igneous rocks and can be divided into two subdivisions:
a northern belt dominated by 1.4 to 2.7 billion years old gneisses known as the Central
Gneiss Belt and the southern belt dominated by 1.1 to 1.3 billion years old
metamorphosed sedimentary rocks known as the Central Metasedimentary Belt. The Bon
Echo Provincial Park is underlain by the Central Metasedimentary Belt (Figure 4).
East and northwest trending faults of Paleozoic age are probably related to the
Ottawa- Bonnecheregraben system that are exposed in this park (Williams et al.
1991).East and northwest trending faults most likely of Paleozoic age cut through this
park; the Mazinaw Rock and the Mazinaw Lake lie along one of these northwest trending
fault traces (Figure 3). The eastern section of the park has been uplifted from 0.5 to 1.5
4
kilometers relative to the western boundary of the park. This park lies in a geologically
unique area of eastern Ontario, the northwest trending faults exemplified by the fault
scarp of the Mazinaw Rock were critical in creating the park’s landscape (Figures 2 A
and B).
Figure 3: A piece of poetry by Walter "Walt" Whitman, an American poet is chiseled on
the face of the rock in foot-tall lettering. It was dedicated in August 1919. Flora
MacDonald Denison is under the "P" in "amplitude". Her son Merrill Denison is under
"know".(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Echo_Provincial_Park#/media/File:Bon_Ech
o_- _Old_Walt.png)
This region had gone through several advances and retreats of ice-sheets during
the Quaternary Ice Age causing outcropping rocks to be eroded and become rounded
(Figures 5 B and D). This glacial activity left several glacial deposits in the park
especially the Pleistocene till and glacio-fluvial deposits. For example the sand and
gravel located along the Mazinaw Lake near the park office are probably related to a fandelta deposit of a drainage of the past much larger Bon Echo Creek into a much larger
glacial lake occupying the Mazinaw Lake valley. These glacial deposits are overlain by
the Recent deposits composed of organic swamp and alluvial deposits.
5
A
B
Figure 4: Close-up views of the Mazinaw Rock. A. These rocks show granite sills within
amphibolite and metasediment host rocks (Easton 1994, p. 53). B. This photo is showing
foliations dipping east-southeast between 450and 750(Photos: the author).
6
A
B
C
7
D
E
Figure 5: Close-up views of the Mazinaw Rock. A. Canoeing under the ‘Turtle Rock’
which is a popular landmark of the Mazinaw Rock. B and E. Smoothly rounded surfaces
of the rocks indicating movement of glacial ice sheets over them. C. Quartz veins in
metasedimentary rocks. D. Aboriginal pictograph on the Mazinaw Rock face (Website 2:
Indian Art from Wikipedia by Gordon E. Robertson - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11444014 (All photos except D: the
author).
Glaciers are formed when the amount of snow falling from the sky exceeds the
amount of snow melting each season; a permanent body of ice forms i.e. a glacier. Ice
sheets are much larger forms of glaciers. In the geological past these gigantic ice sheets
covered entire continents, fed glaciers around their edges and ‘calved’ icebergs when
pieces of the ice sheet broke off into the oceans. Over 11,000 years ago glacial ice sheets
covered this region and have left their mark. As the ice melted lakes were formed with
the melted glacial ice approximately a quarter of a million freshwater lakes were formed
only in Ontario (Southerland, 2011 in website 6).
8
There are large isolated boulders found all over the park known as glacial erratics.
These are stones of various sizes that were carried by glaciers across North America
during the last ice age. Outcrops of granite sometimes show the direction these glaciers
once moved by noting striation marks which are a series of parallel indented grooves left
behind by glaciers.
Animals and Plants
The park has a variety of animals and plants that inhabit the park’s
topographically controlled diverse habitats like lakes, streams, swamps, forests, thin soil
and bedrock exposures, and cliffs etc. They support a variety of plant and animal
communities. Several lakes in the park have rock bottoms that were carved by glacial
movements, are relatively free of detritus and sand thus the water is normally clear and
cold. As a result these lakes are comparatively devoid of fish and plant species. Although
smaller fish can be seen closer to the shores and they may also crowd around the islands
in these lakes.
A variety of animals can be seen in secluded areas of the park, for example,
white-tailed deer, moose, black bears, red foxes, beavers and raccoons. Other animals in
this region areeastern cottontail rabbits, eastern chipmunks, red squirrels, gray squirrels
and voles. It also hosts Ontario's only lizard which is the five-lined skink. Several birds,
insects and fungi are common in the park.
The trees of this park are part of a new-growth forest (cut or burnt now
regenerating), making them relatively young. This region was logged extensively during
the mid-1800s for its old-growth pine trees yet the park is one of the few remaining oldgrowth forests in North America. Cliffs of the Mazinaw Rock support ancient White
Cedars (Thujaoccidentalis) which may live up to 1,500 years. There is one such tree
which is supposedly over one thousand years old; it is popularly known as the witness
tree (Website 3; Figure 7A). Their longevity is attributed to their extremely slow growth.
The oldest ones measure less than 3 meters tall and 30 centimeters thick (Richards, 2011
in website 6). The beginning of soil development on the cliffs of the Mazinaw Rock can
be noticed as pioneer species such as lichens and grasses are attempting to create soil
from the decomposition of their own tissue. The higher parts of the cliff have thinner soil
that cannot retain much water, only drought resistant species of plants can grow, thus
fewer large trees, and many juniper (Juniperus) shrubs occur here.
Bon Echo is part of the transition forest of the southern Canadian Shield; thus it is
a mixed forest region and contains a variety of coniferous and deciduous trees including
red oak (Quercusrubra ), spruce (Picea ) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). The fall
color changes in the forests of Bon Echo are stunning and can be observed almost daily.
Birch (Betula ) and poplar (Populus) trees show their beautiful yellow color while the
maple (Acer ) begins to show shades of red and orange. The fall view from the top of the
Mazinaw Rock is awesome.
9
A
B
10
C
D
11
E
Figure 6:A. A panoramic view of the Bon Echo Park from the top of the Mazinaw Rock
showing upper Mazinaw Lake and a variety of coniferous and deciduous trees. B. D. and
E. Native wild flowers. C. A patch of coniferous forest on top of the Mazinaw Rock. (All
photos: the author).
A
12
B
C
13
D
Figure 7: A. The witness tree is an ancient White Cedar (Thujaoccidentalis) which is
supposedly over one thousand years old. B. A model of Lake Mazinaw showing its depth
profile. C. A panel in the local museum showing various rock types and explains the
geology of the park. D. A sign board explains the cliff top rehabilitation project in the
park (All photos: the author).
A
14
B
C
15
D
Figure 8: Scenes of mist in the Mazinaw Lake. A. A canoe in the distance. B. Rising
mist on the lake. C. Sunrise through the mist. D. Tranquil water surface of the lake and
rising mist (Photos: A. B. and D. the author and C. Nikhil Pradhan).
Magical view of mist on the Mazinaw Lake
The morning of 28thAugust 2015 in the Bon Echo Park was quite cold, cloudy and
without any breeze. We woke up early and decided to go to Lake Mazinaw’s shore. The
view of the lake was just magical; lake waters were absolutely calm. Bluish mist was
rising from the lake surface, at times totally covering the Mazinaw Rock, but the upward
movement of mist opened frequent windows for the clear sight of these magnificent
cliffs. The place was absolutely quiet and the only sound that we heard was our own. In a
distance, almost in the middle of the lake, we observed a canoe silhouette and later a faint
sun appeared high above the cliffs. Figures 8 and 9 capture images of these almost
dreamlike moments.
16
According to the National Geographic website (website 7) mist is tiny droplets of
water hanging in the air and is formed when warmer water in the air is rapidly cooled
causing it to change from invisible gas to tiny visible water droplets. Mist often forms
when warmer air over water suddenly encounters the cooler surface of land. However
mist can also form when warm air from land suddenly encounters cooler air over the
ocean. Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air. It is
most commonly seen where warm, moist air meets sudden cooling. Fog and mist result
from the same natural phenomena but there is a difference between the two. Fog is denser
than mist, in fog visibility is one kilometer or less, in mist visibility is longer. Seen from a
distance mist is bluish.
A
B
17
C
Figure 9: Scenes of mist in the Mazinaw Lake. A. Mist rising from the lake surface and
the Mazinaw Rock is visible. B. Sunrise through the mist. C. Rising mist merges into the
clouds (All photos: the author).
Acknowledgements: I thank the Pradhan family for taking me on a camping trip to this park. Special
thanks to Nikhil for providing me with a few photographs that were used in this article. I also thank my son
Anshuman for linguistic improvements to this article.
Refer ences
Easton, R. M. 1994. Geology of Bon Echo Provincial Park, Frontenack and Lennox and
Addington Counties, Grenville Province. Ontario Geological Survey, Open File
Report 5899.
Williams, H. R.; Sutcliffe, R. H.; and Scott Thurston, G. M. 1991.Geology of Ontario.
Ontario Geological Survey Special Volume 4 Parts 1 & 2.
Inter net r efer ences
Website 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Echo_Provincial_Park Website 2:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11444014
Website 3: https://www.tripadvisor.de/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g1889154-d4588585i149508208-Bon_Echo_Provincial_ParkCloyne_Lennox_and_Addington_County_Ontario.html
Website 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z583Liema4A W ebs ite 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17hZATb4hOs&feature=youtu.be&t=2
Website 6:
file:///C:/Users/Arun%20Kumar/Desktop/Bon%20Echo%20article/Friends%20of%20Bo
n%20Ec ho%20Park_%20Echoes.html
Website 7: http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/mist/
About the Author
Prof. Arun Kumar, Ph.D. Department of Earth Science, Carleton University, 1125
Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 Canada. Email: arunkumarlko@hotmail.com
18

BON ECHO PROVINCIAL PARK IN ONTARIO, CANADA AND ITS

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