Wabakimi Provincial Park

Wabakimi Provincial Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Nearest city	Armstrong, Ontario
Coordinates	50°45′36″N 89°32′27″W / 50.76000°N 89.54083°WCoordinates: 50°45′36″N 89°32′27″W / 50.76000°N 89.54083°W
Area	8,920 km^2 (3,440 sq mi)
Established	1983
Governing body	Ontario Parks

Wabakimi Provincial Park is a wilderness park located to the northwest of Lake Nipigon and northwest of Armstrong Station in the province of Ontario, Canada. The park contains a vast and interconnected network of more than 2,000 kilometres of lakes and rivers. The park covers an area of 8,920 square kilometres (3,440 sq mi) and became the second largest park in Ontario^[1] and one of the world's largest boreal forest reserves following a major expansion in 1997 (it was expanded almost sixfold that year).^[2] A number of local citizen groups and residents, including Bruce Hyer (former MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North) have been instrumental in the creation, expansion, and preservation of this region.^[3]

Armstrong Station has access points to this remote park by Caribou Lake Road,Little Caribou Lake,canoe, float plane, or rail. The main line of the Canadian National Railway skirts the south end of the park and Via Rail provides passenger service three times a week.^[4]

Paddlers (mostly canoeing) often travel the Allan Water, Flindt, Pikitigushi, and Ogoki River (along with a number of additional extended waterways) during the summer months. Wabakimi Provincial Park's waterways straddle a height-of-land from which water flows either to the Atlantic Ocean via Lake Superior or to the Arctic Ocean via the James Bay/Hudson Bay basins.

Several provincial waterway parks connect to Wabakimi:

• Ogoki River, to the east
• Albany River, to the north
• Kopka River, to the south
• Brightsand River, to the southwest

Many camps and outfitters use Wabakimi including Keewaydin Canoe Camp.

Wabakimi Project

The Wabakimi Project is a not-for-profit effort to re-discover and explore the lost and/or abandoned canoe routes that lie within Wabakimi Provincial Park and on adjacent Crown lands.

References

1. The largest is Polar Bear Provincial Park
2. Explorers Guide
3. Wabakimi Wilderness Park, http://www.wabakimi.com/ecotours.html
4. Accessing the Park

External links

• Wabakimi: Ontario Parks Website
• Explore the Boreal Forests of Wabakimi Provincial Park
• The Wabakimi Project not-for-profit mapping project