MANITOULIN ECO PARK

Manitoulin Eco Park

Tehkummah

2 rustic family campgrounds plus, on Highway 6 less than 10 minutes north of the ferry.  1) climax-forested and close to showers, playground, mini-putt, store, and a small WiFi access area,  2) open-field in Canada’s first RASC-designated commercial Dark Sky Preserve for astronomy enthusiasts,  plus 3) a scatter of hike-in tent sites for serious birders and trackers.  Established in 1990, this 260+ acre site hosts miles of hiking trails through 4 distinct ecozones, several rental Teepees and Bunkies for the tent-averse, 3 forest sites with 20 amp service (no water or sewage hookups) plus a plethora of trailer or RV sites for the self-sufficient, and an increasing roster of family-friendly and accessible stellar and nature events.

Ph. 705-859-2470
reservations@manitoulinecopark.com

Also in the area

Screaminreels Sportfishing Charters

Screamin' Reels

Sportfishing Charter

Captain Moe Gauthier is a full time Fishing Guide on Manitoulin Island.

He is the Owner/Operator of Screamin’ Reels Fishing Charters based out of South Baymouth,
Manitoulin Island.

With over 20 years fishing the waters of Lake Huron. Captain Moe grew up fishing and hunting Manitoulin Island. He is extremely knowledgable of the island and the water’s surrounding it.

Capt. Moe operates a 30ft Sea Sport Fishing boat and has the latest technology onboard.
This aides him in giving his clients “a trip to remember for a lifetime”. His passion for fishing is evident the moment you step on the Screamin’ Reels.

Captain Moe won 1st place and has multiple top 10 finishes in the Manitoulin Salmon Classic Fishing Derby.

Captain Moe Gauthier

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Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory Cultural Festival

Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory Cultural Festival

August 3rd, 4th & 5th

This event, begun in 1961, is the forerunner of all modern powwow festivals in central Canada and thus it has special status. Colonization had ended the tradition in the 1800s but the idea of traditional gatherings with dancing, drumming and singing never went away. Determining it was time to bring back the tradition to her community and make it public, Rosemary Fisher-Odjig made it part of her life’s work to rekindle the powwow spirit in her community and brought dancers and drummers from Saskatchewan the first year to help her cause. The rest is history and this important festival, held the Civic Holiday Weekend each August is part of a North American powwow circuit that brings competitive dancers from all parts of Canada and the United States where they compete, within their chosen categories, for prizes and cash. It is a very large cultural spectacle with crafts vendors from all over North America on hand.

Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory Traditional Powwow

Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory Traditional Powwow

June 15th & 16th

Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is Manitoulin’s and Northern Ontario’s largest First Nation community so it’s not surprising that it hosts two powwow events each year.

Each is different, though. The traditional powwow is held each year the third weekend in June at Thunderbird Park in the heart of the village of Wiikwemkoong. What makes this event unique is that, each year, it is planned and hosted by one of Wiikwemkoong’s satellite communities and each of these (Buzwah, Kaboni, Rabbit Island, South Bay, Murray Hill) will put their own mark on the powwow when it is their turn to host.

Little Schoolhouse Museum

Little Schoolhouse Museum

South Baymouth

It’s a little harder to imagine now, looking around the busy ferry transportation hub that is South Baymouth in the summer, the two-family fishing base of 1878 that became the foundation of a booming fishing industry, when the village became known as ‘The Mouth.’

The original fishing families, the Ritchies and the Wilmans, joined by other pioneers, also built the first school in 1891. Heading south to the ferry, that school is the last building before the terminal–a bright red wood structure, trimmed in white, with belfry and bell, it is now part of the complex known as the Little Schoolhouse and Museum, just the place to explore the humble but ambitious beginnings of the port village.

The Little Schoolhouse was in use until the 1960s and is fully furnished with all the accoutrements conducive to learning–small wooden desks, blackboards behind the teacher’s desk and cards along the top with the perfect cursive writing all pupils had to master, a globe, a wall map of the world, a woodstove, all authentic to Manitoulin schools in the 1940s.

The separate Museum building a few feet away, opened in 2001, is a large, bright space holding captivating displays on all sides and curio cases in the centre that feature this community’s important role in the development of the Island economy. Highlighted are the early activities of catching, salting and shipping fish, the subsequent commerce in fresh fish, the families, Green, Chisholm, Sim, Owen, who joined the original two in building South Baymouth’s thriving fishing industry, the beginnings of regular ferry service to and from Tobermory with the 14-car ‘Normac’ in 1932.

Among the mounted photos of early settlers, mills and scenes of home and farm life are a hundred-year-old ‘Log Cabin’ quilt, an alcove honouring spinning and weaving arts, the community’s first telephone switchboard, and photos and artifacts of WWI and WWII donated by local veterans’ families.

The Museum devotes a section of the exhibition area to the enduring story of the ‘ghost town’ of Michael’s Bay; the site of the old mill town lies 15 kilometres west of South Baymouth. Here, in the place of a former Odawa settlement that dates to the 1600s, as soon as Tehkummah was surveyed in 1866, a mill was built on the rushing Manitou River that before long cut and shipped millions of feet of pine, squared timbers and lath; in 1879, a town plot was laid out. Called ‘Stumptown’ for its only major commercial activity, timbering (which some say account for the rapid rise and fall of Michael’s Bay), it saw the building of boarding houses, stores, a hotel, taverns, a bakery, a school and soon spawned such occupations as millwright, cooper, carpenter, lighthouse keeper, fisherman. By the mid 1880s, the population of Michael’s Bay had grown to 400 souls.

The whole settlement burned in 1914, razing the mill and the homes and businesses to the ground; the booming town that had appeared overnight similarly vanished in smoke. All that is left today is a large expanse of flat field next to the falls where the mill stood, now almost totally hidden by large trees.

The mandate of the Michael’s Bay Historical Society (MBHS) is “dedicated to preserving the history and restoring the Michael’s Bay Townsite …. with the goal of purchasing the land.” The MBHS seeks to protect the five found cemeteries from development; one of these, a Methodist burial ground where 43 graves were found, is roughly signed on Michael’s Bay Road and may be visited by taking a short path leading into an overgrown, leafy glade where underfoot, little white crosses now bloom in the dense ground cover.

For now, the Michael’s Bay town site is under the auspices of the Federal Government due to an ongoing series of complicated previous land dealings; the old ghost town is closed to public access. Outstanding issues, including the Indigenous burial grounds and Anishinaabe land claims, must be resolved. 

The Little Schoolhouse Museum is the repository of the old survey maps of the town plot of Michael’s Bay and of records, photos and artifacts of the time of the lumber boom, the bust years that followed and of the ultimate tragic fire. There’s not much left now but the poignant memories and artifacts of Manitoulin’s first lumbering town and of the dreams and aspirations, not only of the early builders of South Baymouth and Tehkummah Township, but of those of seek to preserve them.

The Little Schoolhouse and Museum, South Baymouth. Tel: 705-859-3663. Open daily (May to October) 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. Admission by donation.

The Michael’s Bay Historical Society welcomes inquiries and new memberships ($10 annually) by mail at P.O. Box 7, South Baymouth ON P0P 1Z0

Article by

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry

Isobel Harry is a photographer and writer who has also worked extensively in the field of human rights advocacy. Her photos have been widely exhibited and she has published articles in many magazines; as programmes director and executive director for PEN Canada for twenty years, she worked on behalf of the right to freedom of expression internationally. Now living on Manitoulin Island, Isobel works as a freelance writer and photographer and is a frequent contributor to the weekly Manitoulin Expositor newspaper and the annual This is Manitoulin magazine. Her interests lie at the intersection of arts, culture and human rights.

McLean’s Park

McLean's Park

Difficulty ★★★★    •    Approx. 2 – 4 Hours

About the 
McLean's Park

This verdant 100-acre park is located on New England Road, a sideroad off Hwy 6 mid-way between Manitowaning and South Baymouth. The park, about 3km along the New England Rd. features hiking trails based on ancient logging paths. Hardwood bush with some huge trees. The walk takes about 1.5 hours.

You may wish to bring:

Tips from a Local

The trails on Manitoulin Island have some of the best views around. Bring along a camera to capture your trip and leave the trails exactly as you found them so others can enjoy the hikes. Remember: take only pictures, leave only footprints.

Manitoulin Eco Park

Manitoulin Eco Park

Difficulty ★★★★    •    Approx. 2 – 4 Hours

About 
Manitoulin Eco Park

On Hwy 6, just north of Hwy 542, this private park offers a nature interpretive centre with three complimentary hiking trails through five different eco systems (wetland, forest, meadow, pond, escarpment). The Interpretive Centre features mounted animal displays of bears, wolves, hawks and owls plus interpretive information on mushrooms, fossils, edible wilds, astronomy, birds, trees, wildflowers and animals. Picnic area, pool, mini putt, camping, tipi tenting, B&B and store. Observation Deck, Bird Blind, Dark Sky Sanctuary & Astronomy Observatory.

You may wish to bring:

Tips from a Local

Manitoulin hikes can to have a lot of elevation changes over rough terrain. Be sure to pack plenty of water for each person and carry it in a backpack or other hands-free carrier. That way, you’ll have your hands ready to help navigate the trails.

Bowerman Trails in South Baymouth

Bowerman Trails in South Baymouth

Difficulty ★★★★    •    Approx. 2 – 4 Hours

About the 
Bowerman Trails in South Baymouth

While you’re waiting for the Chi-Cheemaun ferry, or after you disembark, this trail is a great diversion. Access points are off the small boat harbour parking lot and across from the boat launch (south of the ferry terminal building) and also off Green Street in the same area. The trails take you up limestone steps, through the bush and offer Lake Huron views. Allow 1 hour.

You may wish to bring:

Tips from a Local

The trails on Manitoulin Island have some of the best views around. Bring along a camera to capture your trip and leave the trails exactly as you found them so others can enjoy the hikes. Remember: take only pictures, leave only footprints.

Garden’s Gate Restaurant

Garden's Gate Restaurant

Fine Dining

Garden's Gate Restaurant

Vibrant Gardens and Fine Dining’ is the way the owners-operators-chef advertise this unique dining spot that operates spring, summer and early fall (until Thanksgiving.) The fully licenced restaurant in Tehkummah beside Highway 542 and on the banks of the Blue Jay Creek is situated in a beautiful ever-changing garden and features unique specials using Manitoulin sourced ingredients. “A gift for the senses.”

Contact Information:

316 Hwy 542, Tehkummah

Chi-Cheemaun Dinner Cruise

Chi-Cheemaun Dinner Cruise

Fine Dining

About the Chi-Cheemaun Dinner Cruise

The Chi-Cheemaun offers a dinner cruise during specific sailing times, with limited seating, you must reserve in advance. 

May 3 to June 13, Friday evenings only at 6:10pm.

June 14 to September 2, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday evenings at 8pm. Thursday evenings at 5:50pm.

September 3 to October 20, Friday evenings only at 6:10pm.

(Please note, not available May 17, 2019, Victoria Day Weekend; Monday, July 1 Canada Day Weekend; Monday, August 5 Civic Holiday Weekend; Monday, September 2, Labour Day Weekend; October 11, 2019 Thanksgiving Weekend.)

Departures are from both South Baymouth and Tobemory. See their website for more information.

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