Wabakimi Provincial Park

The Second Largest Provincial Park In Ontario At About 8,920 Square Kilometres; A Roadless Boreal Wilderness Of Interconnected Rivers And Lakes With Over 2,000 Kilometres Of Canoe Routes And One Of Ontario'S Largest Woodland Caribou Populations · Armstrong, Ontario

Wabakimi is the SECOND-LARGEST PROVINCIAL PARK IN ONTARIO - about eight thousand nine hundred square kilometres of roadless boreal forest north of Armstrong, expanded fivefold in 1997 and still barely known outside the paddling world. It holds OVER TWO THOUSAND KILOMETRES OF CANOE ROUTES on interconnected rivers and lakes, and unlike Quetico to the south there is no quota, no crowd and often no one else at all - a two-week trip here can pass without meeting another party. It protects ONE OF ONTARIO'S LARGEST REMAINING WOODLAND CARIBOU POPULATIONS, a species that has retreated steadily northwards, and the boreal forest here is intact in a way very little of it still is. The way in is unusual: the VIA Rail Canadian stops on request at points along the park's southern edge, so paddlers get off a transcontinental train with a canoe and walk to the water. Float planes from Armstrong do the rest.

North of Armstrong, Thunder Bay District, Armstrong, Ontario, Canada

THE PADDLING SEASON RUNS ROUGHLY LATE MAY OR EARLY JUNE TO EARLY OCTOBER, bounded by ice-out and freeze-up. THERE IS NO GATE, NO VISITOR CENTRE AND NO STAFFED FACILITY IN THE PARK. INTERIOR CAMPING REQUIRES AN ONTARIO PARKS BACKCOUNTRY PERMIT, obtained in advance, but UNLIKE QUETICO THERE IS NO ENTRY QUOTA - you are unlikely to be competing with anyone. ACCESS IS BY FLOAT PLANE FROM ARMSTRONG, by a long paddle in, or BY VIA RAIL - the Canadian stops on request at points along the southern boundary and will carry a canoe, which is one of the more remarkable park approaches in the country. THERE ARE NO MAINTAINED PORTAGES IN much of the park and route conditions vary enormously; the Wabakimi Project's volunteer mapping is the practical source. No cell coverage anywhere.

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